Two older greats from the MPS label scene of the 70s – coming together here in a later set that shows a wonderful maturation of their talents! Both Jean-Luc Ponty and Wolfgang Dauner had an early talent to stun the ears with great use of electronics – but both musicians are all-acoustic here, and really sounding wonderful in a set of extended duets recorded at the Bern Jazz Festival! Dauner's got a stunning ear for the full range of tones and colors in the piano – almost as if he inherited a new sonic spectrum from his early electronic experiments, then turned them back to straighter jazz – in modes that also have Ponty following suit with these long-flowing lines that remind us how great he can be in just the right mode. Each player gets one solo track, but the record is mostly duet material – and titles include "Suite For Claudia", "Once Upon A Dream", "Pamukkale", "Sketch Up & Downer", "Hong Kong Fu", and "Two Thousand One Years Ago". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous early work from German saxophonist Joki Freund – a player who would go onto much greater fame in the progressive years at the end of the 60s, but who already sounds plenty darn great on this early combo side from 1963! The style of the work is incredibly hip – with a definite John Coltrane modal groove in place, but also a sense of globally conscious jazz that's very much in the spirit of classic Saba/MPS work, but which predates most of that by a number of years! Freund plays tenor and soprano sax here – in a sextet with Wolfgang Dauner on piano, Emil Mangelsdorff on flute and alto, Eberhard Weber on bass, Karl Theodor Geier on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums – and the record is overflowing with great tunes that more than live up to the compelling title and cover image! Lots of "Eastern" styled numbers – and titles include "Aisha", "Carribean Ringo", "Yogiana", "HL 20", and "Killer Joe". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool set, with work by players who include Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, Ack Van Rooyen and Manfred Schoof on trumpets, Gunter Lenz on bass, Wolfgang Dauner on piano, and Rolf Kuhn, Heinz Saur, Gerd Dudek, and Emil Mangelsdorff on saxes! LP, Vinyl record album

All star session with George Shearing, Joachim Kuhn, and Wolfgang Dauner on piano; Niels-Henning Orstred-Pedersen, Andrew Simpkins, and Peter Warren on bass; Philip Catherine, Larry Coryell, Diz Disley, and Ike Isaacs on guitar; Daniel Humair, Rusty Jones, and Oliver Johnson on drums; and Isla Eckinger on bass. LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful early album from the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty – a set that's maybe more straight jazz than some of his later work, and which also represents a pivotal shift in the use of the violin in jazz! Ponty's phrasing here is very different than previous players who handled the instrument in such a setting – almost more informed by a saxophone than earlier instrumentalists – often with notes that are not nearly as sweet as others, and heard to perfection in the company of this quartet! The whole group is great – Wolfgang Dauner on acoustic piano, also straighter than in later years – plus Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. Titles include "Sunday Walk", "Cat Coach", "Suite For Claudia", and "Carole's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual session for Robin Kenyatta – featuring the leader on alto and flute, plus Wolfgang Dauner on clavinet and piano, Arild Andersen on bass, and Fred Braceful on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A really tripped-out, messed-up session from Don Sugarcane Harris – recorded live in Berlin, but with a freaky experimental style that's much farther out than most of his studio work! The group here is totally hip – a combo of mad hippies that includes Robert Wyatt on drums, Wolfgang Dauner on keyboards and electronics, and both Terje Rypdal and Volker Kriegel on guitars – playing with twin electric frenzy that adds a lot of great sound to the album! Sugarcane plays electric violin and sings just a tiny bit – and despite the "blues" in the title of the record, the album's more of a freaked-out fusion record than anything else – in the best MPS electric tradition of the time, thanks to the presence of Dauner and Kriegel. Titles include "Sugar Cane's Got The Blues", "Where's My Sunshine", "Liz Pineapple Wonderful", and "Song For My Father". LP, Vinyl record album

The great saxophonist Joki Freund leads an unusual group here in a very unusual setting! The lineup features Freund on tenor and soprano, Emil Mangelsdorff on alto and flute, Wolfgang Dauner on piano, Eberhard Weber on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums – all working under the direction of producer Joachim E Berendt, who invited Harald Leipnitz to the session to read works by Jack Kerouac, William S Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Allen Ginsberg! LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful early album from the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty – a set that's maybe more straight jazz than some of his later work, and which also represents a pivotal shift in the use of the violin in jazz! Ponty's phrasing here is very different than previous players who handled the instrument in such a setting – almost more informed by a saxophone than earlier instrumentalists – often with notes that are not nearly as sweet as others, and heard to perfection in the company of this quartet! The whole group is great – Wolfgang Dauner on acoustic piano, also straighter than in later years – plus Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. Titles include "Sunday Walk", "Cat Coach", "Suite For Claudia", and "Carole's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Wild sounds in a range of different styles – jazz, rock, and more outside modes – all served up in support of a legendary list made years ago by the group Nurse With Wound! The list was a secret guide to all things weird and unusual – put together decades back, and now famous as kind of a Rosetta Stone for stepping into music from the farther left side of the spectrum – here served up from a range of German recordings from back in the day, most recorded during a key moment when the scene was really breaking down boundaries in styles! There's a fair bit of electric elements here, and you'll recognize a few artists as being heroes from the prog and MPS generations – on titles that include "Fritz Muller Traum" by Fritz Muller, "Jazzi Jazzi" by Tomorrow's Gift, "Output" by Wolfgang Dauner, "Black Sand" by Brainticket, "Trauma" by Gomorrha, "Big City" by Thirsty Moon, "Snakeskin Tango" by Brainstorm, "Scorpion" by Association PC, "The Executioner" by My Solid Ground, "It Loves Want To Have Done" by Anima Sound, and "It's So Nice" by Ex Magma. LP, Vinyl record album