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Three albums from pianist Klaus Ignatek – all served up in a single set! First up is Jacaranda, a set that shows that Klaus is a great player on his own, but also a really great leader – one who always has a special ear for putting a group together, and bringing out the best in the musicians on his sessions! This record is a great example of that talent – as it really seems to bring out the best in trumpeter Claudio Roditi, driven on strongly by Mario Gonzi on drums and Paulo Cardoso on bass – all stretching out on long tracks that move easily between lyrical moments and harder-burning numbers – with more than a few great originals to remind us of the compositional talents of Klaus! Titles include "Blues For Lee", "Day For Night", "Jacaranda", "Let's Take A Break", and "Monster Mood" – plus nice takes on "Eu E Brisa" and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". Don't Stop It Is an overlooked 80s cooker from pianist Klaus Ignatzek – a set that's full of imagination, right from the very first note – thanks to a string of all original material that matches the strong performances on the set! Trumpeter Claudio Roditi is a key part of the quartet – and maybe gets a showcase here that's as strong as some of his better-known albums from the decade – really finding his groove with the material that Ignatzek brings to the record, in ways that are also nicely distinct, and show just how much Claudio can add to a session. Other players include Paulo Cardoso on bass and Mario Gonzi on drums – and the record's a gem through and through, with titles that include "Summer & Spring", "Move It", "Ballad For Ulli", "Whisper Yes", "That's It", and "Blue Energy". New Surprise is a record with a really joyous groove, and maybe one of the tightest sets we've ever heard from pianist Klaus Ignatzek – and that's saying a lot, as all of his records are pretty darn sharp! The groove is great – rock-solid basslines from Paulo Cardoso and drums from Mario Gonzi – with sparkling solos over the top from Claudio Roditi on trumpet and Tim Armacost on tenor – plays who spark all sorts of color and light on the great material that Klaus brought to the session! Titles include "Monster Mood", "Horace Gold", "For Sure", "Black Humour", and "New Surprise". CD

A prog rock masterpiece from Ash Ra Temple – a set that still has the group in very pschedelic, jamming, and improvisational territory – as they serve up two album-length tracks that really soar to the skies on wings of sound! The group here still features lots of great keyboards and electronics from Klaus Schulze, but on side one most of the energy comes from the core interplay between the fantastic guitars of Manuel Gottsching, bass of Harmut Enke, and drums of Schulze – players who really take their combination of instruments in very different directions than UK trios of the time! Side two definitely has some spacier moments that let the keyboards dominate a bit more, alongside cool vocals from Rosi, used in very light ways – but there's plenty of jamming too – on titles that include "Freak N Roll" and "Jenseits". CD

A prog rock masterpiece from Ash Ra Temple – a set that still has the group in very pschedelic, jamming, and improvisational territory – as they serve up two album-length tracks that really soar to the skies on wings of sound! The group here still features lots of great keyboards and electronics from Klaus Schulze, but on side one most of the energy comes from the core interplay between the fantastic guitars of Manuel Gottsching, bass of Harmut Enke, and drums of Schulze – players who really take their combination of instruments in very different directions than UK trios of the time! Side two definitely has some spacier moments that let the keyboards dominate a bit more, alongside cool vocals from Rosi, used in very light ways – but there's plenty of jamming too – on titles that include "Freak N Roll" and "Jenseits". CD

A prog rock masterpiece from Ash Ra Temple – a set that still has the group in very pschedelic, jamming, and improvisational territory – as they serve up two album-length tracks that really soar to the skies on wings of sound! The group here still features lots of great keyboards and electronics from Klaus Schulze, but on side one most of the energy comes from the core interplay between the fantastic guitars of Manuel Gottsching, bass of Harmut Enke, and drums of Schulze – players who really take their combination of instruments in very different directions than UK trios of the time! Side two definitely has some spacier moments that let the keyboards dominate a bit more, alongside cool vocals from Rosi, used in very light ways – but there's plenty of jamming too – on titles that include "Freak N Roll" and "Jenseits". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare German session by Hampton Hawes – recorded in trio format with backing by two of Europe's best rhythm players, bassist Eberhard Weber and drummer Klaus Weiss – and in a groove that's really wonderful! There's a great tone to the record that's evident from the very first note – a warmth, and almost bell-like quality that we don't always remember from other Hawes albums, and which makes this one really special. Backing is by Eberhard Weber on bass and Klaus Weiss on drums – and both players are heard here in rapt reverence to Hampton's work on the keys, but still with enough of a force to color in the record with their presence, especially in the case of Weber's bass. Titles include some tasty originals – like "Hamp's Blues", "Rhythm", "Sonora", and "Black Forest Blues" – plus versions of "Autumn Leaves" and "I'm All Smiles" LP, Vinyl record album

Proof that jazz can work with the same sort of supergroup energy as classic rock – especially when the overall sound is as rock-heavy as this! The album presents live material recorded in celebration of Klaus Doldinger's 20 years in music – and although issued as part of his Passport run for Atlantic Records, the album's much more of an all-star jamming affair – with guest work from progressive jazz luminaries like Volker Kriegel, Alexis Korner, Pete York, and Brian Auger – plus American tenorist Johnny Griffin, almost an odd choice for this sort of a record, but a surprisingly good fit – and no doubt chosen because of his work with some of the players in the MPS scene of the time! Tracks are a bit more jazzy than some of the other Passport work – although still quite jamming, with a rock-propelled bottom – and titles include "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Handmade", "Lemuria's Dance", "Rockport", "Rock Me Baby", and "Schirokko". CD

The first album from Klaus Doldinger's legendary Passport – a jamming little group that was one of THE European fusion combos of the early 70s! The sound here is much more fierce and full on than Doldinger's straighter jazz recordings of the 60s – but it's also kind of a nice extension of that work too – one that takes the soul jazz influences of the earlier decade into a more rock-driven sound than many other groups were hitting at the time. In a way, the progression is similar to the move from beat group to progressive styles followed by a fair bit of UK jazzers – but Doldinger tops his style off here with some nice electricity on moog and keyboards! Other players include Jimmy Jackson on organ and Udo Lindenberg on some mighty heavy drums – and titles include "Madhouse Jam", "Continuation", "Lemuria's Dance", "Uranus", "Schirokko", "Nostalgia", and "Hexensabbat". CD

A Krautrock classic from start to finish – and very much the sort of music from the early 70s German scene that had a huge impact on music well into the 21st Century! The songs here are maybe a bit shorter than on some of the contemporary albums from the scene, but no less experimental overall – mixing conventional instrumentation with wild production and effects – so that sounds from players like Harald Grosskopf on drums, Manuel Gottsching on guitars, and Klaus Schulze on keyboards all end up sounding much wilder than you might expect! Dieter Dierks serves a key role as the "magier em mischpult" – helping weave the amazing sounds throughout in his legendary studio – on titles that include "Elektronenzirkus", "Intergalactic Radio Guri Broadcasting", "Der Planet Des Sternemadchens", "Planet of Communication", "Der Narr Im All", and "Intergalactic Nightclub". CD

A fantastic lost legacy in European free improvisation – the complete works of a group who were first known as Modern Jazz Quintet Karlsruhe, then later as Fourmenonly – presented here in a beautiful 3CD set! First up is the album Trees – issued on a small label in 1968, but a set that matches the groundbreaking energy of the early work on FMP – played by a group that features Helmuth Zimmer on piano, Wilfreid Eichorn on tenor and soprano sax, Claus Buhler on bass, Rudi Thielmann on drums, and Herbert Joos on flugelhorn, Mellophon, piston, and percussion! The group have a melodic vibe at the core – often feeling out the initial space as a unit, then exploding with sound and color – and really making especially great work of the talents of Joos and Eichorn – players who work together with great power, driven on by the others. Titles include "Lonely Time", "Trees", "Schnee Verbrennt", "Change Of Beauty", and "The Devil Is Green Blue Yellow". CD also features a bonus unreleased improvisation too! Next is Position 2000 – a record of even longer improvisations, and one that shows the quintet really developing their sound – strongly aware of the farther reaches, but always beginning in some more colorful passages that almost have a melody, before exploding out with very vibrant energy! The lineup is the same as on the debut – with Herbert Joos on flugelhorn, mellophone, Indian flute, and percussion – and Wilfried Eichorn on tenor, soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute, and percussion – alongside Helmuth Zimmer on piano, Klaus Buhler on bass, and Rudi Thielmann on drums. Titles include "The Sun Is Coming Over", "Position 2000", and "Where Love Forever Shines". CD also features an unreleased improvisation. For the next album, bassist Buhler has departed the group – who are renamed Fourmenonly! Their first record is a brilliant set of free jazz from the German scene of the 70s – very different than other work of the time, in that there's maybe more of a future-thinking balance between sounds and silence, frenzy and fragility – all served up by a quartet that features Herbert Joos on trumpet and flugelhorn, Wilfried Eichhorn on tenor and soprano sax, Helmuth Zimmer on piano and percussion, and Rudi Theilmann on drums and percussion. Titles include "Viridiana/Ich Und Meine Bruder/Compulsion" and "Count Down/Excess". On the album Eight Science Fiction Stories, the Fourmenonly lineup is expanded by trombonist Wolfgang Czelusta – and perform some fantastic work billed as "science fiction stories", all composed by Herbert Joos. The sound is as revolutionary as on the group's earliest material, but also maybe more compact as well – nicely focused, with especially strong emphasis on the interplay between Czelusta on trombone, Wilifried Eichorn on bass clarinet, flute, and oboe, and Herbert Joos on flugelhorn, trumpet, and mellophone. The piano of Helmuth Zimmer is amazing – almost Cecil Taylor-like in intensity at times – and drummer Rudi Theilmann does a great job of moving from passages of full-on power to more spacious percussion. Titles include "Lucifer Is Marching On", "Dead Season", "The Beauty Without A Face", "Departure", "Plastic Happiness", and "Space Wall". CD

A great one – and the kind of European jazz album that kicks like a Clarke/Boland Big Band album! Hans Koller directs a large-scale swinging big band of some of the best European and American expatriot players of the time – like Sahib Shihab, Benny Bailey, Donald Byrd, Johnny Griffin, and Albert Mangelsdorff – and the set screams with intense solos, and a tight groove that pushes past any of the cliches you could imagine for a set like this. One of the things that makes the session great is some groovy organ, played by Infried Hoffman, the German player who was in Klaus Doldinger's early group. Doldinger's also on here, and his sound is way better than on his 70's work. Titles include "Hip Hit", "Revelation", "Conversation", "Knodel-Waltzer", and "Blazy Bones Revisited". LP, Vinyl record album

A Krautrock classic from start to finish – and very much the sort of music from the early 70s German scene that had a huge impact on music well into the 21st Century! The songs here are maybe a bit shorter than on some of the contemporary albums from the scene, but no less experimental overall – mixing conventional instrumentation with wild production and effects – so that sounds from players like Harald Grosskopf on drums, Manuel Gottsching on guitars, and Klaus Schulze on keyboards all end up sounding much wilder than you might expect! Dieter Dierks serves a key role as the "magier em mischpult" – helping weave the amazing sounds throughout in his legendary studio – on titles that include "Elektronenzirkus", "Intergalactic Radio Guri Broadcasting", "Der Planet Des Sternemadchens", "Planet of Communication", "Der Narr Im All", and "Intergalactic Nightclub". CD

A Krautrock classic from start to finish – and very much the sort of music from the early 70s German scene that had a huge impact on music well into the 21st Century! The songs here are maybe a bit shorter than on some of the contemporary albums from the scene, but no less experimental overall – mixing conventional instrumentation with wild production and effects – so that sounds from players like Harald Grosskopf on drums, Manuel Gottsching on guitars, and Klaus Schulze on keyboards all end up sounding much wilder than you might expect! Dieter Dierks serves a key role as the "magier em mischpult" – helping weave the amazing sounds throughout in his legendary studio – on titles that include "Elektronenzirkus", "Intergalactic Radio Guri Broadcasting", "Der Planet Des Sternemadchens", "Planet of Communication", "Der Narr Im All", and "Intergalactic Nightclub". CD

A Krautrock classic from start to finish – and very much the sort of music from the early 70s German scene that had a huge impact on music well into the 21st Century! The songs here are maybe a bit shorter than on some of the contemporary albums from the scene, but no less experimental overall – mixing conventional instrumentation with wild production and effects – so that sounds from players like Harald Grosskopf on drums, Manuel Gottsching on guitars, and Klaus Schulze on keyboards all end up sounding much wilder than you might expect! Dieter Dierks serves a key role as the "magier em mischpult" – helping weave the amazing sounds throughout in his legendary studio – on titles that include "Elektronenzirkus", "Intergalactic Radio Guri Broadcasting", "Der Planet Des Sternemadchens", "Planet of Communication", "Der Narr Im All", and "Intergalactic Nightclub". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous work from the brothers Rolf and Joachim Kuhn – and exactly the kind of record that will have you completely rethinking your opinion about the clarinet in jazz! Rolf's a player with roots in more traditional modes, but by the time of this mid 60s session he was a very committed modernist – and uses the instrument here in modes that feel a lot more like the soprano sax spirit of John Coltrane or Steve Lacy at the time – open, free, unbridled – and often set to a modal groove that bubbles up perfectly from Joachim's work on piano! Sometimes Joachim's a bit too out for us, but he hangs nicely on the inside here – not entirely straight, but always working with a sense of rhythmic progression, which gets support from Klaus Koch on bass and Reinhard Schwartz on drums. Yet Rolf's the real star of the show – as he blows with a fantastic range of sounds and phrasing – searing at some points, soulful at others – and blowing us away on titles that include "The Man Man", "Life From The Moon", "Mobile Waltz", "Green Stocking", and "Corruption". CD

A cosmic leap forward for Passport – a record that's even more keyboard-heavy than some of the group's earlier work, and which stretches out in a spacey sound that's very much in keeping with the cover! The keys here are handled by (yet again) another new player in the group – Kristian Schulze on Fender Rhodes and organ, who seems to play with a tone and a ringing clarity that's a great counterpart to Klaus Doldinger's rich tones on tenor and soprano sax – brighter than before somehow, and with a focused groove that only further intensifies the sound the group explored on their first few records. Titles include "Eternal Spiral", "Rockport", "Looking Thru", "Tarantula", "Ready For Takeoff", and "Things To Come". CD