THE JOACHIM KÜHN GROUP – Bold Music (MPS Rec. – 15 239 ST / LP-1969)

Label: MPS Records ‎– MPS 15 239 ST

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: W. Germany / Released: 1969

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on June 2/3, 1969 at MPS-Tonstudio, Villingen, Black Forest, W. Germany.

Graphics [Graphic Work] – Wolfgang Baumann

Photography By [Photos] – Alf Bludschun

Interviewee [Liner Notes] – Joachim Kühn

Interviewer [Liner Notes] – J. E. Berendt

Liner Notes [Translation] – O. E. Syman

Producer – H. G. Brunner-Schwer, Joachim E. Berendt

Recorded By – H. G. Brunner-Schwer, Willi Fruth

Rare original pressing on pink label MPS

Matrix / Runout (Side A – etched): A / 15 239 ST - 1

Matrix / Runout (Side B – etched): B / 15 239 ST - 2

side 1:

A1 - My Friend The Yogi ........................................................................................... 3:43

A2 - Nobody Knows You Tomorrow .......................................................................... 4:51

A3 - Bold Music ......................................................................................................... 4:27

A4 - Vampire Castle .................................................................................................. 4:30

side 2:

B1 - Depression And Illusion ..................................................................................... 3:25

B2 - The Third World War ......................................................................................... 9:10

B3 - Message From Upstairs ..................................................................................... 3:45

B4 - The Child Out There – Somewhere ................................................................... 3:26

Musicians:

Joachim Kühn – piano, alto saxophone, horn, shanai, bells, gong, steel drums, voice

J.F. Jenny-Clark – bass, cello

Jacques Thollot – drums, steel drums, tambourine, voice

Stu Martin – drums, bells, voice

1_   The title Bold Music says everything and nothing, this is a challenging and ambitious avant-jazz date that features Joachim Kühn tackling everything from piano to alto sax to antelope horn. It's nevertheless most audacious for tempering its outré leanings with soulful, melodic grooves and insistent rhythms that make the music more accessible and more idiosyncratic. Working in collaboration with bassist/cellist Jean-François Jenny-Clark, drummer Stu Martin and percussionist Jacques Thollot, Kühn fuses improvisational skronk and sound-library smoothness to make a record that occupies both extremes of the MPS label sound at the same time. Somehow, Bold Music is both free and easy, and that's a rare feat indeed.
(Review by Jason Ankeny / AllMusic)

2_   Bold music, indeed – a tremendous blend of avant garde jazz and groovier moments 
from pianist Joachim Kuhn! The style is a great illustration of the two key poles of the MPS label at the end of the 60s – the company's willingness to take a chance on freer jazz artists, but also its ability to sometimes focus those artists in a bit more, and get them to record tunes with a strong rhythmic pulse and nice sense of groove. Kuhn's working here not only on acoustic piano, but also alto sax, gong, antelope horn, and more – and other members of the group include JF Jenny-Clarke on bass and cello, Jacques Thollot on percussion, and Stu Martin on drums and bells! Titles include the groover "Depression & Illusion", plus "Third World War", "Message From Upstairs", "The Child Out There Somewhere", "Vampires Castle", and "My Friend The Yogi".

( © 1996-2018, Dusty Groove, Inc.)

If you find it, buy this album!