Studio Masters

Jonny Teupen – The Harp in Swing and Sweet (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:13:25 minutes | 810 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Jube Legends

Jonny Teupenonny Teupen was a German harpist and composer of modern jazz and easy listening. Teupen studied with Max Saal at the Academic University of Music Berlin. After stints at the Theater des Volkes and the State Opera Unter den Linden, he moved to the NWDR in 1949, where he became solo harpist of what is now the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, of which he was a member until 1985. In addition, he could also be heard in WDR productions with Paul Kuhn and Helmut Zacharias. The musical short film “Young Man with a Harp” was built around him in 1961. He recorded several jazz-oriented albums under his own name (especially for MPS) and also composed for the film (Mini Killers, 1969). In the 1960s and early 1970s he was known in Germany as “Harpist No. 1”. He also worked under the pseudonym Jean-Pierre Valmer.
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Jonny Teupen – Play Harp (1966/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 41:30 minutes | 787 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

The harp may not be considered a major instrument in jazz, and Casper Reardon Dorthy Ashby may not be household names, yet the instrument has a long and continuing history in the music. Jonny Teupen belongs to the European part of that history. Much sought-after for his ability to fit in both classical and pop musical worlds, Teupen played with the Berlin City Opera, and performed in concert and on radio and TV throughout Europe. On Play Harp, Teupen intertwines baroque with mainstream jazz, and in so doing weaves a colorfully rich musical tapestry. An all-star rhythm section includes three Afro-American stalwarts, bebop drum legend Kenny Clarke, bassist Jimmy Woode, known for his work with Duke Ellington, and reed player Sahib Shihab. Harpsichord, vocals, and a string quartet thread their ways into the works as well. The music varies from intimate quartet to full-blown chamber orchestra, but the intent is the same: to demonstrate that baroque swings. Minuett Nr. 1 with its cordial flute-harp embrace and solid walking bass, the string-backed swing of Barockin’ The Blues with it’s filigree harp and breathy flute solos, the exquisite counterpoint of the vocal-harp duet on the first part of Handel’s Concert for Harp and Orchestra, and the harp’s beautiful courtly dance with the bass on Pavane express the universality of music; it’s a mix that makes for laid-back listening pleasure.
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Jonny Teupen – Harpadelic (1969/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 37:00 minutes | 710 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

Jonny Teupen was one of the few who could make the harp swing. The late German musician, a classically trained harpist and composer who could play in an orchestra as well as any jazz band, enlisted top musicians from both jazz and rock to back him on this 1969 recording. The Günter Kallmann Choir, at the time internationally renowned, takes care of the nostalgic mood on Teupen’s relaxing “easy listening” compositions. What’s more, the nine-piece vocal group could come up with a swinging scat chorus. Teupen’s love for modern jazz is shown on the piece Harp Revolution; every member improvises over the theme and even dares venture into the realm of free jazz.
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