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!

ALBERT MANGELSDORFF, J.F. JENNY-CLARK, RONALD SHANNON JACKSON – Albert Live In Montreux! (LP-1981)

Label: MPS Records ‎– 0068.261, MPS Records ‎– MPS 15572

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1981

Style: Post Bop, Avant-garde Jazz

Recording Live at Casino Montreux, July 16, 1980, Switzerland.

Cover – Studio Icks

Photography By – Encore Photographics

Mixed By – Albert Mangelsdorff, J.E. Berendt, Paul Landsiedel

Mixing dates: Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 1980.

Producer – Joachim-Ernst Berendt

Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): 0703 900 S 1 0068 261 S1 3 20 A 1

Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): 0703 900 S 2 0068 261 S2 3 20 B 1

A1 - Dear Mr. Palmer ........................................................................................... 16:02

A2 - Mood Azur ..................................................................................................... 5:57

B1 - Stay On The Carpet ....................................................................................... 5:57

B2 - Rip Off .......................................................................................................... 16:08

Musicians:

Albert Mangelsdorff – trombone

J.F. Jenny-Clark – bass

Ronald Shannon Jackson – drums, percussion

Trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff was considered a major innovator on his instrument, not just on the European free improvisation scene but also worldwide. He performed in a wide range of settings from solo to big band with some of the finest musicians of the era. On this live recording from the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson and bassist J. F. Jenny-Clarke join him.

“Dear Mr. Palmer” starts off with bleats of brass and bass as the band joins together for some thoughtful interplay. Blasts of trombone build choppily unaccompanied in open space. The bass and drums begin to roil the music with thickly plucked bass and nimbler percussion making for a musical high wire act. Mangelsdorff again takes a solo section making eerie sounding noises before the entire trio takes the music out with a fast and hard conclusion. The length of the performance allows the group to fully explore the possibilities the trio format offers. There is a raw and forlorn sensibility to the leaders trombone on “Mood Azure” with high pitched bass and roiling drums setting an abstract foundation for the trombone to solo over. The music is kept under control, and flurries of faster playing strain at the leash in this moody and atmospheric performance. “Stay on the Carpet” opens with drums rolling and trombone stuttering, uttering high pitched streaks and streams of notes. Bass and drums join together to make for a powerful team and show that the group can turn on a dime and take their improvisation in unexpected directions. They can work in quiet whispers as well as moving dynamically to screaming louder passages. Mangelsdorff takes “Ripp Off” in his own direction, cleaving the open space with grumbling and sputtering trombone. He probes and explores the silence to see what possibilities lay there, adrift in space and time. There is a radical shift as the bass and drums move in and he even tips a sly wink to his forbears, adding a hint of swagger like he’s in a postmodern New Orleans parade. Both Jackson and Jenny-Clarke are afforded solo opportunities, which they take full advantage of before the trio ends their concert together to rousing applause.

(Review by Tim Niland)

If you find it, buy this album!