Studio Masters

Albert Mangelsdorff – Tromboneliness (1977/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 43:06 minutes | 764 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

Albert Mangelsdorff stands alongside the likes of Jack Teagarten and J. J. Johnson in the pantheon of trombone greats. Recorded in 1976, this album affords the listener the opportunity to hear Albert solo in all his wondrous multiphonic diversity. It starts with the down-home singing harmonies on Do Your Own Thing. Trombonliness and Brief Inventions are essentially pieces improvised on the spot – ‘spontaneous compositions’.

Duke Ellington’s Creole Love Call is the only non-Mangelsdorff piece, “part of my feeling for the tradition of jazz. Ellington is very important to me”. Bonn “is a theme I thought of one day while strolling through the streets after a concert.” Questions to Come explores the trombone’s harmonics in more of a balladic form, whereas Mark Suetterlyn’s Boogie features Albert’s solo sped up to sound like a trumpet and dubbed over his trombone background, and Für Peter was dedicated to bassist Peter Trunk. Not only is this album a display of astounding invention and technique; it swings. Albert emphasized that, “to me, jazz is a rhythmic music – if you want to keep your playing exciting.”
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Albert Mangelsdorff – Birds of Underground (1973/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 43:17 minutes | 834 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff was a major innovator who has had an influence on jazz instrumentalists worldwide. His use of multiphonics, which utilizes vocalizing into the horn to produce chords and overtone effects, was ground-breaking. This 1973 album presented his newest group, with German saxophone great Heinz Sauer the one remaining member from Albert’s legendary 1960’s quartet. Saxophonist Gerd Dudek, lauded for his play with the likes of Manfred Schoof, Lester Bowie, and Joachim Kuhn, joins the front line. Buschi Niedergall was one of the most sought-after bassists on the avant-garde scene, and drummer Peter Giger is known best for his renowned group Family of Percussion. The exclusion of a chordal instrument allowed for a more open, exploratory approach. Wobbling notes and Fluted Crackle traverses through rip-roaring solos, muted segues, free-bop sections, and of course, Mangelsdorff’s astounding multiphonic gymnastics. Grive Musicienne finds the group in a communal exploration of the outer limits of sound. That collective exploration continues for the first few minutes of Birds of Underground before it resolves into a fantastic theme and swinging solos. 4-Xenobiosis concludes the group’s uncanny intuitive interplay. This exotic multi-colored flock of musicians are definitely birds of a feather. An intense exploration of form and freedom.
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Albert Mangelsdorff – Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends (1969/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:39 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

The afterlife for Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer’s storied MPS Records has been tough to track. After Brunner-Schwer sold the rights to Philips in the early ’80s, the label changed hands several times—Polydor picked it up and passed it through a subsidiary, Universal Music Group acquired its holdings, Speakers Corner Records took over on the vinyl side of the equation, and then Edel AG finally acquired it in 2014. Now, in an effort to make the most out of this German imprint’s back catalog, MPS’ current owners are digging into the vaults to bring us some special projects that deserve to be dusted off. Don Ellis’ Soaring (MPS Records, 1973), built with his signature fusion aesthetic and containing Hank Levy’s now-(in)famous “Whiplash,” is one of them; the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band’s All Smiles (MPS Records, 1968), presenting a swinging intercontinental ensemble with the likes of Benny Bailey, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Woode in the mix, is another; and this compelling gem from trombone maverick Albert Mangelsdorff is the third item to round out the early summer reissues list for 2017.
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