Miles Davis Group live at Jazzgipfel Stuttgart 1988

Miles Davis (tp)
Kenny Garrett (as, fl)
Bobby Irving, Adam Holzmann (keyb)
Joe Foley McCreary (gt)
Benjamin Rietveld (b)
Ricky Wellmann (dr)
Marilyn Mazur (perc)

recorded live at Liederhalle Stuttgart, July 11, 1988

1. Star People   
2. Me And You
3. Human Nature
4. Wrinkle
5. Tutu
6. Time After Time

Is there anything more to say about Miles? He is a true legend and needs no introduction. Go and be sure to buy the official live album "Live Around The World".

Brad Mehldau Trio live at KITO, Bremen 1997

Brad Mehldau, piano
Larry Grenadier, bass
Jorge Rossy, drums

recorded live at KITO, Bremen, September 7, 1997

1. Ron’s Place (Brad Mehldau)
2. Countdown (John Coltrane)
3. Moonriver (Henry Mancini)
4. The Way You Look Tonight (Jerome Kern)
5. Bewitched, Bewildered & Bothered (Richard Rodgers/ Lorenz Hart)

This concert was recorded in 1997, that same year the trio recorded their second album for Warner, "Live At The Village Vanguard: The Art Of The Trio (Volume 2)". Mehldau comments on the legendary club, “Something about that room inspires us every time we’re there, and we’re able to go to some different places musically together in a week’s time. I always end the week there feeling like we had a growth spurt as a band.”

This collection is characterized by extremes – either super fast tempos or ballads, with only one exception, the medium swinger, ‘Monk’s Dream.’ The record, like the two subsequent live dates, stands in contrast to the studio albums – the trio is more exploratory, stretching out the material of the standards and abstracting the melody, harmony and rhythm to a much greater extent. “One thing in particular we were focusing on in this period together was a way of approaching fast tempos in a looser fashion, with me phrasing longer, slower phrases through the meter. This is the first record where Larry found a different way to approach those tempos, buoying Jorge and I with a more open-ended thing that nonetheless acted as an anchor. That approach of his has continued to develop over the years and is fundamental to our sound.”

 

WDR Big Band Köln feat. Manfred Schoof: 75th Birthday Concert

Lica Cecato – voc
Manfred Schoof – tp, ld
Bodek Janke, perc
Markus Lüppertz – p
 
recorded live at Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal, WDR Funkhaus Köln, February 27, 2011


1. Suggestion (Manfred Schoof)
2. Blue Friday (Kenny Dorham)
3. Copacabana (Lica Cecato)
4. 5+4 (Manfred Schoof)
5. Source (Manfred Schoof)
6. Forms And Feelings (Manfred Schoof)
7. Fire Waltz (Mal Waldron)
8. But Not For Me (George Gershwin)
9. Maresias (Lica Cecato)
10. Zazueira (Ben)
11. Two Bass Hit (John Lewis/ John Birks Gillespie)
12. Hornsalut (Manfred Schoof)

Manfred Schoof grew up perfecting his innovative jazz style, often practicing on either his jazz trumpet or his flügelhorn. By the time he reached high school, Schoof was composing his own arrangements. In 1955, Schoof decided to purse a musical career, enrolling in the Music Academy (Musikakademie) at Kassel. After studying and performing there for three years, he moved to further his studies at the Cologne Musikhochschule. While there, Schoof took a jazz class by Kurt Edelhagen, a West German bandleader who also had his own radio program. Schoof and Edelhagen established a musical connection, with the pupil contributing to the teacher's Radio Big Band radio show. At the same time, Schoof began touring with Gunter Hampel. In 1965, Schoof created a free jazz quintet with Gerd Dudek and Alex von Schlippenbach. It would be the foundation for another band he formed in 1969, the Manfred Schoof Orchestra. The group toured throughout Germany and Europe, featuring Evan Parker and Irène Schweizer, among others. In 1969, he joined the George Russell Orchestra and stayed with the band until 1971. Throughout the next two decades, Schoof expanded his musical horizons, recording and performing with several groups, including Global Unity Orchestra and Jasper Van't Hof. He also began composing classical music pieces, often composing them for the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

Julia Hülsmann Trio live in Karlsruhe 2011

Julia Hülsmann - Piano
Marc Muellbauer - Bass
Heinrich Köbberling - Drums
recorded live at Jazzclub Karlsruhe, March 31, 2011

Grand Canyon (Hülsmann)
Juni (Hülsmann)
A Light Left On (Hülsmann)
Who's Next (Hülsmann)
Kauf Dir einen bunten Luftballon (Hülsmann)
Zahlen bitte! (Köbberling)

On the second ECM disc from the popular Berlin-based Julia Hülsmann Trio, the leader’s themes stand out in stark relief, as if stamped or printed into the surrounding improvisation. “Imprint” offers highly communicative jazz in which melody, clearly-etched melody, is paramount. Hülsmann is a gifted jazz-composer and there are surprises amongst her pieces here, including a powerfully-swinging Thelonious Monk tribute entitled “Who’s Next”. Bassist Muellbauer and drummer Köbberling also contribute intriguing tunes of their own, and this year’s offbeat cover version is a lilting Austrian Schlager tune from the 1940s, “Kauf dir einen bunten Luftballon”. 

Nils Wogram/ Simon Nabatov Duo live at NDR 2011

Nils Wogram, trombone
Simon Nabatov, piano

recorded live at Rolf-Liebermann-Studio, NDR, Hamburg, March 18, 2011

1. Moods and Modes (Wogram)
2. Mark This (Nabatov)
3. Assuming (Wogram)
4. Moving In (Wogram)
5. Danca Nova (Nabatov)
6. Lady sings the Blues (Nichols/ Holiday)

Simon Nabatov played in Nils Wogram Quartet, Nils Wogram played in Simon Nabatov Quartet. The only logical step for both seemed to form a duo, which they did in 1997. After the premiere at LOFT, Cologne, a highly successful appearance at the Moers New Music Festival '97 followed.
Since then the duo played numerous concerts and recorded a CD "As We Don't Know It" (live at WDR, Cologne), which has been released by the Berlin label Konnex Records.
March 2000 the duo has made the second recording "Starting A Story" (again at WDR), released in 2002 on ACT Music label.
In December 2002, during another tour throughout Europe, the third recording "The Move" was made in LOFT, Cologne.
It was released on Between The Lines Records in 2005. Another recording (live) made in LOFT and entitled "Jazz Limbo" was released in 2007 on Leo Records
The 5th recording "Moods and Modes" was made in the Studio of the Radio Zurich SDR II, July 2009. It has been released on the new label NWOG Records.

Peter Weniger & David Friedman: Duo Élegance live at Birdland, Hamburg, 2010

Peter Weniger (sax)
David Friedman (vib)

recorded live at Jazzclub Birdland, Hamburg, November 13, 2010

1. Improvisation Alpha (Weniger/ Friedman)
2. O Grande Amor (A.C. Jobim)
3. Emily (Johnny Mandel)
4. So In Love (Cole Porter)
5. Pent-up House (Sonny Rollins)
6. Cançion de triste (David Friedman)
7. Lover (Richard Rodgers/ Lorenz Hart)

On their duo album "Rétro" (Skip Records) Vibrafonist David Friedman and saxofonist Peter Weniger dive into a cosmos of captivating beauty, that one listens breathlessly as classic compositions like "Body And Soul" or Cole Porter's "So In Love" are transposed into pure poetry. A duo - recording of casualness and authenticy. 

 

John McLaughlin Trio live in Stuttgart 1989

John McLaughlin - acoustic guitar, vocals
Kai Eckhardt - bass, vocals
Trilok Gurtu - percussion, vocals

recorded live at Theaterhaus Stuttgart, 5th Theaterhaus Jazztage Stuttgart 1989

1. Florianapolis
2. Are You The One?
3. Mother Tongues
4. The Wall Will Fall
5. Zakir
6. JM's Interview

"Four long years had passed since McLaughlin's last record when JMT released Live at the Royal Festival Hall in 1990. The brilliant percussionist Trilok Gurtu, of Oregon fame, joined him—along with superb bassist Kai Eckhardt—to form an exciting band which was to exist in one form or another (with revolving bassists) for five more years. The mostly acoustic music which fills this album, augmented by electric bass and John's guitar synthesizer, is a mix of standard jazz, fusion and Indian-influenced rhythms and melody lines. The rhythms do tend to overwhelm the compositions, but to a degree that represents the signature mark of this particular band. That fact could also be because McLaughlin was making a comeback from a potentially career-threatening injury to his index finger, and thus found rhythmic playing easier to handle than extensive soloing. At any rate, the structure of the Trio is such that rhythm assumes as much of a role in the compositions as melodic themes. This unusual personality leads to many exciting and good-humored musical excursions. This band is fun to listen to because its members are clearly enjoying themselves. " - Walter Kolosky, allaboutjazz.com

Emil Mangelsdorff Quartett live at Jazzfest Berlin 2010

Emil Mangelsdorff alto sax
Thilo Wagner piano
Vitold Rek bass
Janusz Stefanski drums

recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Side Stage, November 3, 2010

1. A Night in Tunesia (Dizzy Gillepsie)
2. I Remember Clifford (Benny Golson)
3. Confirmation (Charlie Parker)
4. All the things you are (Jerome Kern)
5. Nica's dream (Horace Silver)
6. Blues for Ever (Emil Mangelsdorff)

Few musicians’ lives embody the continuity of German jazz as emphatically as that of Emil Mangelsdorff. The Frankfurt-born musician is an authority in many respects. Originally trained as an accordion player, he studied clarinet in the early 40s and clandestinely performed with the Frankfurt-based Hotclub Combo. His dedication for the music he loved was enough for two, though – he also introduced his younger brother Albert to jazz.
After the war, Mangelsdorff rapidly advanced to become the driving force of Frankfurt’s jazz scene. Originating from swing, and never being among the iconoclasts of German jazz he yet always had an open ear for innovations such as free jazz and jazz-rock.
Constantly refining his tremendously light, relaxed tone has always been of the greatest importance to him. For Emil Mangelsdorff, jazz was and still remains to be an expression of joviality and vitality from the perspective of an artist who has seen life in all of its shades. The quartet released a fine CD calles "Blues forever" in 2007.

Ulrich Drechsler Cello Quartet live at Jazzfest Berlin 2010

Ulrich Drechsler (bcl)
Rina Kacinari (violc)
Christoph Unterberger (violc)
Jörg Mikula (dr)

recorded live at Georg-Neumann-Saal, Jazz Institute Berlin, November 7, 2010

See with your ears, hear with your eyes (Ulrich Drechsler) 05:26
Our Source (Ulrich Drechsler) 05:28
Eternal (Ulrich Drechsler) 04:52
Life-Long Mystery (Ulrich Drechsler) 06:00
Dance if you like to (Ulrich Drechsler) 04:43
Common Ground (Ulrich Drechsler) 04:32
Angel from the past (Ulrich Drechsler) 03:54
Don't try to understand everything (Ulrich Drechsler) 04:10
Gravity (Ulrich Drechsler) 04:02
A love affair (Ulrich Drechsler) 02:06

Ulrich Drechsler loves those low and semi-low sounds. In his new quartet, he surrounds himself with two celli and a drumset, while he himself favours the bass clarinet. His lines’ energetic elegance rests on the intensive study of Thelonious Monk, to whom he dedicated his 2004 album The Monk In All Of Us. The irresistible attraction of Drechsler’s songs not leastly harks back to the fact that as a nine-year-old, he played the clarinet in the marching band of his hometown. The dark, yet never gloomy sound of his Cello Quartet is absolutely unfamiliar in the jazz context. Nordic planes of sound encounter oriental ornaments, Balkan romanticism clashes with the modernism of a Viennese café, Mozart’s playful ease dissolves into Dolphy’s thoughtful complexity. In 2010 the Ulrich Drechsler Cello Quartet released the album "Concinnity".
“Elegant and quiet chamber jazz. Drechsler has switched from saxophone to bass clarinet, and this shapes the soundscape. Drawing beautiful melodic lines with such a rough instrument brings about a contrast resulting in a touching vulnerability. Drechsler has full command of the instrument. He treats tonality and song-like qualities in ways that brings lightness without tipping into soggy easy listening.”

Denis Colin & la Société des Arpenteurs live at Jazzfest Berlin 2010

Denis Colin bass clarinet
Tony Malaby saxophones
Sylvaine Hélary flutes
Antoine Berjeaut trumpet, flugel horn
Benjamin Moussay Fender Rhodes
Julien Omé guitar
Stéphane Kerecki bass
Thomas Grimmonprez drums
recorded live at Georg-Neumann-Saal, Jazz Institute Berlin, November 5, 2010

1. Jungoso (Sonny Rollins)
2. Ouverture définitive (Denis Colin)
3. Sujet à changement (Denis Colin)
4. Hopperation (Denis Colin)
5. Chicago Blues for Malachi/ Par Cheminement

French clarinettist Denis Colin is one of the veterans of the European jazz emancipation. Since the 80s his trio is persistently experimenting on the fine line between chamber music and free jazz. Since 1995 he in addition is pursuing an entirely different concept with his variably sized project by the name of la Société des Arpenteurs (“Society of Land Surveyors”).
Point of departure for the group dynamics between the musicians was the engagement with silent movies. In the manner of a slapstick flick, Colin confronts his fellow musicians with abrupt transitions between musical moods, constellations and intentions. In this band the surprise factor is incomparably high and it is not for nothing that the group’s new album is titled Subject to Change. With the bizarrely tantalizing flow of his “Society of Land Surveyors” Denis Colin once more demonstrates that the roots of the avant-garde always lie in the past.

 

Bill Frisell "Disfarmer - musical portraits from Herber Springs" live at NDR 2011

Bill Frisell (git)
Greg Leisz (pedal steel git, dobro)
Viktor Krauss (b)
Carrie Rodriguez (viol, git)

recorded live at Rolf-Liebermann- Studio, NDR, Hamburg, March 18, 2011

1. Disfarmer Theme (Frisell)
2. Lonely Man (Frisell)
3. Lost, night (Frisel)
4. Farmer (Frisell)
5. Focus (Frisell)
6. Peter Miller's Discovery (Frisell)
7. That's alright Mama (Arthur Crudup)
8. Exposed (Frisell)
9. The Wizard (Frisell)
10. Think (Frisell)
11. I am not a farmer (Frisell)
12. Arkansas (Part 2) (Frisell)
13. I'm so lonesome I could cry (Hank Williams)

Bill Frisell launched an 11-city European tour featuring the music of his last Nonesuch album, Disfarmer, with this concert in Hamburg, Germany. Joining him on tour are steel-guitar player Greg Leisz, bassist Viktor Krauss, and violinist Carrie Rodriquez. In the multimedia piece, inspired by the life, work, and subjects of eccentric photographer Mike Disfarmer, projected images of Disfarmer's portraits illuminate Frisell's musical perspectives on this fascinating character.

The late Michael Disfarmer was an odd, curmudgeonly character in the rural community of Heber Springs, Arkansas, who, despite his anti-social character, chose to record the stark images of his fellow townspeople, during the 1940s and '50s, in cheap black-and-white photographic portraits. Decades after the photographer’s passing, a cache of work made by this solitary and oft-reviled man was rediscovered, and he has come to be regarded as an important outsider artist. Among the many drawn to his plain yet deeply evocative pictures was Chuck Helm, Director of the Performing Arts at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio, who introduced guitarist and composer Bill Frisell to Disfarmer’s oeuvre on the hunch that Frisell might be inspired by it.

John Scofield Trio live at Stadttheater Neuburg an der Donau 2010

John Scofield, guitar
Steve Swallow, bass
Bill Stewart, drums

recorded live at Stadttheater Neuburg an der Donau, November 12, 2010

1. "How deep" (John Scofield)
2. "Green tea" (John Scofield)
3. "Everything I love" (Cole Porter)
4. "Just a girl I used to know" (George Jones)
5. "Pretty out" (John Scofield)
6. "Chicken dog" (John Scofield)
7. "Someone to watch over me" (George Gershwin)
8. "The low road" (John Scofield)
9. "Lawns" (Carla Bley)

I introduced the last great trio recordings "This meets that" and "Enroute" earlier on this blog. The latest album featuring Sco was released by Vince Mendoza and the Metropole Orchestra. The collaboration heard on 54 had its origins back in the 90's when Vince Mendoza asked John Scofield to play on his first album. John has since been featured on two of Vince s records and his guitar sound and improvisational skills work well within Vince s concept. When Mendoza assumed directorship of The Metropole Orchestra, he and Scofield decided to collaborate again with a primary focus on Mendoza s arrangements of Scofield compositions as performed with The Metropole Orchestra.