RARITY # 15

JAZZ SALON DORTMUND 1957
Hans Koller - Roland Kovac
(EP 45 rpm, METRONOME 1138)

Considering the popularity of the previous postings of rare German Jazz EP, here is another offering thanks to onxidlib.

Quite a line up: Koller, Kovac, Zoller, Gary Peacock ... I wish I could travel back in time and witness this band live.  But this is a very good aural record of how they sounded.
And it is a rare opportunity to hear Hans Koller on drums!

Date: March 6, 1957
Location: German Jazz-Salon, Dortmund, Germany 
Label: Metronome
Hans Koller (ts, d, leader), Attila Zoller (g), Roland Kovac (p), Gary Peacock (b), Siegfried Koszorski (d)

a. Topsy  (Eddie Durham)
b. Jeepers Creepers  (Harry Warren, Johnny Mercer)
c. There Will Never Be Another You  (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren)

All titles on: -     Metronome EP 7": MEP 1138

Omit Hans Koller (ts) on b. Omit Attila Zoller (g) on b. Omit Roland Kovac (p) on c. Hans Koller (d) on b only. Omit Siegfried Koszorski (d) on b.
(source of discographical info: here).

There's more Koller and Brandt in the pipeline but you'll have to wait til next month!

RARITY #14

RARITY # 14 : JUMPIN' with HELMUT BRANDT COMBO
(EP 45 rpm, METRONOME 1730, GERMANY, 1958)

Almost a year ago I posted the EP "SWINGIN' with the Helmut Brandt Combo" as Rarity #7.
What I did not know at the time was that this EP was part of a three EP series showcasing the versatiliy of the leader in different styles.

It is onxidlib who unearthed this second volume and brought it to my attention.  The music and the playing style will come as a surprise after hearing "Swingin'".
It may even raise of few eyebrows among "highbrow" jazz specialists who tend to regard with suspicion anything hinting at "low brow" rhythm' and blues.
It these four tracks, Mr Brandt is clearly delving into the realm of Earl Bostic and consorts. And he does it with flying colors.  Next time you organize a blindfold test, play any one of these tracks and see what will be suggested (Can't be Bostic as it's tenor ... Arnett Cobb ? Red Prysock ? Early King Curtis ...).

Tough Tenors have always figured among my favorite blowers, from Illinois Jacquet to Fathead Newman, I dig 'em all.  

 I hope you'll enjoy these four sides as much as I do.  To the best of my knowledge they have never been re-issued.


HELMUT BRANDT COMBO  "JUMPIN'"

Helmut Brandt, tenor saxophone
Gert Mann, piano
Erich Gerosch, bass
Heinrich Schröder, drums

A1. Charmaine              2:09
A2. Lover Come Back To Me  2:53
B1. Armer Gigolo           2:08
B2. Love Letters           2:40

Recorded at Studio Frankfurt (Alter Funksaal), Frankfurt, Germany on 25th August, 1958.

METRONOME MEP 1730

Now what about the third EP of the series?  It is supposed to showcase Brandt's ability in a fifties cool / west coast setting.  I'd love to hear it or, even better, to post it.  If you have it and if you are willing to share, drop me a line.

THE BEST! BELGIAN BIG BAND

THE BIG BELGIAN BAND
Conductor / arranger: SADI / Starring on guitar JEAN BLATON
(Alpha 7008, Belgium, 1972)

This excellent album was released in 1972 on the ALPHA label, the same label that had released BABS ROBERT & THE LOVE PLANET.  It was not a jazz label, most of the production was in the field of classical music with an emphasis on early music / Renaissance music played on period instruments, long before it became fashionable, and on regional folk music (Jofroi et les Coulonneux, les Musiciens de Neufchateau ...). 

They also released dixieland albums (Cotton City Jazz Band). 

If you have any interest in European Jazz, you are already familar with Belgian vibraphonist SADI (aka Fats Sadi), one of the major exponents of this instrument in Europe during the second half of the XXth Century.

What is probably less known is that SADI was also a world-class composer / arranger and conductor.

Jean Blaton, entrepreneur, racing-driver and jazz musician

This album amply demonstrate his skills in these fields.

The guest star is guitarist JEAN BLATON  also known as JEAN BEURLYS  and probably even better known as a racing pilot and classic cars collector (unfortunatelly his superb car collection was sold in 2005). 

Un soir, j’écoute un obscur trio de jazz au Pol’s. pas mal. Le leader, un guitariste, dit s’appeler Beurlys. Je les fais jouer à l’Os au tarif en vigueur : 250 francs belges par musicien, qu’ils empochent sans sourciller. Quelques mois plus tard, on apprend que Wes Montgomery, le plus grand guitariste de jazz du monde, en tournée en Europe, est libre un dimanche aprèsmidi. Le cachet est exorbitant pour nous, mais en nous associant à l’INR et mon ami Benoît Quersin, on tente le coup, dans la salle du théâtre 140. Succès total. A la sortie, on revoit Beurlys, qui nous invite chez lui pour un fastueux souper dans une propriété hollywoodienne près de Wavre. Stupéfaits, nous y retrouvons Wes Montgomery, engagé pour un concert privé ! Renseignements pris, Beurlys n’était autre que Jean Blaton, l’opulent constructeur de nos autoroutes… (L'Os a Moelle, Bruxelles)

Le Mans 1963 - Ferrari 250P #24 - Pilotes : Jean Blaton "Beurlys"/ Gerhard Langlois van Ophen - 2ème
Pink-Kar CV037

Jean Blaton had an extensive collection of cars (probably 30 or more) in his private museum inside his house. Many -- but not all -- had a Belgian racing connection; for instance, there were several cars raced by Theirry Boutsen, including at least one Williams F1. There were a number of ex-LeMans cars, and several open wheelers, including one or more Indy/CART cars. Blaton's tastes were quite universal, with large back-lit photos around the balcony overlooking the collection; these included the Indy 500 and start of the NASCAR Daytona 500 among other scenes (Source) 

SADI (Photo: J Van Der Plas)

Blaton's composition DOREEN (aka Dorine) was recorded by Jimmy GOURLEY on his GRAFFITI album (1977).

I never had the time to rip and clean my copy of this classic LP. Luckily Paul D. had both the time and the album.  He did a superb restauration work, as we have come to expect.  Many thanks to him.

. 

MORE THOMAS - PELZER

NDR JAZZ WORKSHOP No.28 (1962)

Rene Thomas

 Another contribution from onxidlib. 


Fans of Belgian Jazz will rejoice as this session brings together three of the better known Belgian Jazzmen: reedman Jacques Pelzer and his buddy, guitarist Rene Thomas, plus legendary basman Benoit Quersin.
They're in very good company: Don Ellis, Klaus Doldinger, Kenny Clarke ... almost a dreamband!

Jacques Pelzer

Benoit Quersin

The session was part of the NDR Jazzworkshops series.  Apparently it has never been released commercially. 



NDR JAZZ WORKSHOP No.28


Don Ellis, trumpet
Jacques Pelzer, alto saxophone, flute 
Klaus Doldinger, tenor saxophone
René Thomas, guitar
Ingfried Hoffman, piano, organ
Benoit Quersin, bass
Kenny Clarke, drums
Hans Gerthberg, announcer


01. Quintenzirkel (Doldinger) (05:49)
02. Theme for Freddie (Thomas) (06:33)
03. Signal (Doldinger) (05:31)
04. 6/8 Pleasure (Dolidinger) (06:11)
05. Crepuscule with Nellie (Monk) (03:10)
06. Scene (or Pam?) (Doldinger) (03:14)
07. After You've Gone (H. Creamer-T. Layton) (03:14)
08. Summertime (G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin-D. Heyward) (06:14)
09. Mason Jason (or Hasten Jason?) (Clarke) (02:34)
10. Solo (Ellis) (03:31)
11. Country Session (Ellis) (06:35)
12. For Two Only (Doldinger-Hoffmann) (05:23)
13. Sweety's Bounce (or Dance?) (06:03)
14. Woody'n You (Gillespie) (06:16)
15. Bessie (Hoffmann) (03:11)
16. Come Rain or Come Shine (H. Arlen-J. Mercer) (04:20)
17. Crescendo in Five (Hoffmann) (incomplete) (01:49)


Recorded at Studio 10, Grosser Sendesaal des NDR Funkhauses, Hamburg, Germany.
Date: December 7, 1962.


For a comprehensive list of NDR Jazzworkshops, check here


If you are interested in Belgian Jazz and can read french, check these pages from the Mediateque website : Petite Histoire du Jazz en Belgique.

DRINK BEER & SUPPORT JAZZ EDUCATION

BROTHER THELONIUS 

I'm just back from a short professional trip to Washington, DC.  I managed to find the time to visit a couple of record-stores (Some Records and CD Cellar) and came back with some 15 LPs, some of them I may post in the future.


I also discovered the BROTHER THELONIUS Belgian Style Abbey Ale.


I remember the first time I visited the States some thirty years ago, I found that American beer was pretty dreadful ... cat piss rather than beer.  But it seems that a quiet revolution has happened over the years and that American people have discovered the "real" thing eventually.  I was pleasantly surprised to see and taste a good range of ales, from tradiitonally british Indian Pale Ale to traditionally belgian "Saison" Beer.


But my favorite is without contest this BROTHER THELONIUS Abbey Beer.


OK I'd be lying if I'd say that it compares with a Rochefort, West Vletteren or a Chimay because nothing compares to these divine nectars. But Brother Thelonius is a pretty decent beer nevertheless.  I even brought a few bottles to share with friends in Belgium.  But what's intenresting is that  North Coast Brewing Co. is in a partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in support of Jazz education. The Brewery makes a donation to the Institute for every bottle of Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale sold.
"  when you buy Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale you also help to support the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz whose mission is to offer the world's most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters and to present public school-based jazz education programs for young people around the world.  All of these programs are offered free of charge to the students and schools."

Isn't that a beautiful initiative!  Drinking and at the same time sponsoring jazz education.
Hey bartender, bring me another one, it's for a good cause!

NIGHT BOUNCE AND A REQUEST

ATTILA ZOLLER TRIO (1962)

 These tracks were sent to me by onxidlib and are of interest because of the quality of the music – Attila Zoller is one of the most original guitarists ever, very much underrated unfortunately - but also because four of the tracks are a bit of a discographic enigma.

The eight tracks sent by onxidlib were recorded in April 1962 at Trixi Studio, Munich, Germany and produced by Hans Wewerka.

They are not "rare" tracks as they have been re-issued a few years back on a budget compilation CD entitled Night Bounce (Inmus CD 20008).  The other tracks on the CD were recordings by Ronnie Ross and by Wolfgang Dauner (not included in the post)

.

The musicians:

·         Attila Zoller, guitar

·         Helmuth Csucovits, bass

·         Rune Carlsson, drums

·         Carlos Diernhammer, piano (only on track 3, 4 & 8)

The tracks

01        Road Song - 3:47  (Attila Zoller)

02        Hedwigs Lied - 3:13  (Heinrich Heine, Attila Zoller)

03        Chickless - 3:38  (Attila Zoller)

04        Cellar Stairs - 3:23  (Attila Zoller)

05        Knochta - 3:04  (Attila Zoller)

06        Night Bounce - 4:22  (Attila Zoller)

07        Ullas Erinnerung [Ullas Memories] - 2:19  (Attila Zoller)

08        Wash Day - 3:32  (Attila Zoller)

 Four titles were used for the movie "Das Brot der frühen Jahre" (The bread of our early years) based on a novel from Heinrich Böll.  The movie was shown at the "XVe Festival international du Film Cannes" and the music received an Award in Germany for Best Film Music the same year.

An EP was pressed in a low quantity as a  promotional give-away at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Pressed for “Atlas Filmverleih G.m.b.H.” and for “Edition Modern” (wich was owned by Hans Wewerka), the EP was never available commercially.

But what become interesting is that the  four tracks used for the soundtrack were recorded at a different date– not listed in Attila Zoller discography - before the Munich session and with a different rhythm section. 

According Kurt Bong's website the line-up for the EP was Jürgen Ehlers, bass & Kurt Bong, drums : 

(...) 1961 mit Attila Zoller und Jürgen Ehlers die Musik zu dem Film "Das Brot der frühen Jahre". Die Musik bekam einen Filmpreis.

Now it would be great if somebody owning a copy of this rare EP, could share it so that we could compare the versions … 
Who knows?  Marvels pop out of the blogsphere sometimes …

ANOTHER OBSCURITY FROM THE LOW COUNTRIES

EDDY HOUSE QUINTET 

LIVE @ THE ACOUSTIC CLUB

(NRS 79.002, BELGIUM - 1979)

 I found this album on a “brocante” (street flea market)  in Brussels in the late Nineties, with a few other Belgian / Flemish jazz and pop/rock albums (Old Gate Swing Quartet, Jean Blaute …) that I’ll post later on.  It is very rare to find such obscure jazz albums on flea markets and garage sales nowadays. 

This album has definitely a nice Seventies feel with electric piano, bluesy / funky tunes: the excellent Blues Nine Plus is highly recommended.

I googled Eddy House (born Eddy Huys – Huis means House in Dutch) but there is hardly any information on the web apart from a small biography in Dutch on the Lundis d’Hortense website.  Eddy House died only a few months ago (8 December 2011).  He worked for several TV and Radio orchestras where his talent as an arranger was highly appreciated. He wrote arrangements for = among others - Randy Crawford and worked in the Netherlands with Pim Jacobs and Louis Van Dijk.  He had his own Big Band in the Seventies which was very popular in Flanders and the Netherlands. 

This Live album  recorded at the Acoustic Club in Merksem (Antwerp) - basically a private pressing to be sold at the Club - finds him in a quintet format with a young Bert Joris on fluegelhorn.  Probably among Bert's first appearances on record (although he was already a full-fledged member of the BRT-Jazz Orkest at that time).

The other musicians were all locals but very competent – I really enjoyed Peter Peeters ‘ electric piano, especially on the bluesy tracks.  These guys don’t even get a mention in the Lundis d’Hortense‘s list of Belgian Jazz Musicians (but we know it is far from being complete).

Musicians:

Tracks:

And if you understand Dutch you will enjoy the sleeve notes by Sim Simons, author of several books on jazz and co-author of The Finest in Belgian Jazz.

(Get this box set, the 10 CD are all gems!)

RE-POST

TRIODE LIVE – WINTER 78 – CHAPATI

(BABA Records - Br 001, Belgium)

 Another contribution, from ushaped this time and long overdue for a re-post.

If you don’t read the comments, you 're gonna miss lotsa things as this one was hidden for over a year in the comments of the ACT Big Band post.  It was sent by ushaped in April last year.   I want to thank him again for this very rare record that should be of interest to any Bill Frisell's fan or fan of inventitve fusion-based electric guitar music .

Bill Frisell , Vinnie Johnson and Kermit Johnson recorded three albums in Belgium. 

• ·         Triode Live – Winter 78 – Chapati
• ·         Good Buddies (1978, with Michel Herr)
• ·         Oh Boy (Steve Houben / Mauve Trafic, feat. Michel Herr)

     He also contributed to an album by Walloon singer / instrumentalist Guy Cabay.  

 They are all very rare and awfully expensive. None has been re-released on CD to the best of my knowledge. 

With thanks again to ushaped

And if anybody has a copy of Mauve Trafic ... you're most welcome to contribute.

THREE HANS KOLLER 78 RPM

HANS KOLLER QUINTET / NEW JAZZ STARS

DAS IS JAZZ 

 If you’re a regular of this blog - and a few other ones of the same inclination in the blogsphere – you are probably already familiar with Austrian saxplayer Hans Koller.  If not, google his name and you’ll learn everything that you need to know. 

About a week ago, onxidlib (of Inconstant Sol fame, for those who wouldn’t know yet) asked me in the comments of a post whether I’d be interested in posting some early Hans Koller sides he came across in the most unlikely place: an airport shop!

I always welcome collaboration and good music, so here it is, recorded almost 59 years ago – only a few weeks younger than me - la Crème de la Crème du Jazz Allemand of the Fifties::

Hans Koller, tenor saxophone

Albert Mangelsdorff, trombone

Jutta Hipp, piano

Shorty Roeder, bass

Rudi Sehring, drums

Tracks

1. S'Wonderful (Gershwin)                       02:45

2. Moonlight In Vermont (Süssdorf - Blackburn)   04:03

3. Stompin' At The Savoy (Sampson - Razaf)      04:36

4. Sound Koller (Mangelsdorff)                  04:01

5. Come Back To Sorrento (de Curtis)            03:37

6. Honeysuckle Rose (Waller - Razaf)            02:57

Recorded on June 21, 1953 in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Original 78 RPM

Tr. 6 + 1 Brunswick 82769 (4940SM + 4941SM)

Tr. 2 + 3 Brunswick 82778 (4947SM + 4948SM)

Tr. 4 + 5 Brunswick 82777 (4949SM + 4950SM)

Four tracks were later re-realesed on the DECCA Promo LP "Das Is Jazz" DL 8229 MONO (Jutta Hipp with Hans Koller New Jazz Stars and others).

The titles were: Sound-Koller - Honeysuckle Rose - Come Back To Sorrento - Moonlight in Vermont.

(Source for the rip: "Jazz Collecttor's Classics"  Polydor 517621 - this CD was only available at the Lufthansa Airport Shops ).

With all my thanks again to onxidlib. 

Visit him @ Inconstant Sol.