Orchester Kurt Edelhagen (LP)
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Arthaus
Cat No: 101742
Format: LP
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Jazz
Release Date: 5th January 2015
Contents
Artists
Mary Lou WilliamsOrchester Kurt Edelhagen
Conductor
Kurt EdelhagenArtists
Mary Lou WilliamsOrchester Kurt Edelhagen
Conductor
Kurt EdelhagenAbout
Germany, 1954 - a nation under Allied occupation and still bearing the scars of its Nazi past, tuned its radios to witness the 'Miracle of Bern' and world cup victory just nine years after being at war. At the same time in Baden-Baden, a perfectionist bandleader sporting a baton and horn-rimmed spectacles was drilling his musicians.
Kurt Edelhagen arrived in Baden-Baden in 1952, after seven years on the road touring the British and American soldiers clubs. Now he was at Südwestfunk, rehearsing for international celebrity. His rehearsal discipline was dubbed 'Prussian' on account of his severity with musicians, his goal being to follow in the footsteps of his great idol Stan Kenton: hermetically tight, steely cold, but with a momentum and swing that went to the head.
the old standard You Go To My Head returned to the programme with the first seductive whiff of modern jazz from Miles and Dizzy, Bud Powell and Clifford Brown. Reason enough, then, for Edelhagen to record his own version, with the Konitz-cool Franz von Klenck on alto.
Like any bandleader of distinction, Edelhagen was open to influence from outside, inviting arrangers and stars to work with his orchestra in a quest for movement, timing, glamour. In April ’54, for example, Klaus Ogermann appeared as a guest on 'Jazztime Baden-Baden'. The orchestra then headed to Freiburg, and an encounter between the grande dame of stride piano, Mary Lou Williams, and 'Colonel' Edelhagen.
Williams was living in Paris at the time, and if sources are to be believed, this was the only concert she ever gave in Germany. Audibly moved, Edelhagen told the audience: “We are truly speechless that she is here playing with us today”.
Of the six pieces performed (two available as bonus tracks with the digital download), Williams played five in a trio with Werner Schulze on bass and Bobby Schmidt on drums, all of them audibly inspired – as in Blues On The Bongo Beat – by the rhythmic energy of the great lady.
In late 1954, Edelhagen made another studio recording: Alpha Jazz by Roland Kovac. A showpiece that turned into a suite, with sweeping gestures, he contrasts intricate ostinati with dense soundscapes over Latin American rhythms.
Contents:
Side A
- You Go To My Head
- Tuxedo Junction
- 3 x 2
- Tiny’s Beat
- Minor Sound
- Trip To Mars
Side B
- Theme Song
- The Man I Love
- Yesterdays
- Blues On The Bongo Beat
- Nancy And The Colonel
- Alpha Jazz
Studio Recordings SWF Baden-Baden: April, July and December 1954
Live Recording Paulussaal Freiburg: November 29, 1954
Total Duration: 46:31
This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here