Box Set of the Day - "Peter Herbolzheimer: Big Band Man"

Box Set of the Day
Peter Herbolzheimer: "Big Band Man - The MPS & Polydor Studio Recordings" (Universal) 2008
Project coordinated by Sergej Braun
A 4-CD set comprising 7 full LPs recorded from 1970 to 1978. Attractive 24-page booklet with rare pics (all by Hans Harzheim) and liner notes in English & Germany. State-of-the-art 192kHz/24bit remastering at Greenlight Studio (Langenhagen).
Peter's albums stand out as one of the most powerful & groovy big band recordings ever made. The rhythm section includes drummers Alex Riel (Bill Evans), Tony Inzalaco and Kenny Clare (not to be confused with Kenny Clarke). Jimmy Pratt, who recorded a famous LP with Baden Powell, besides being heard on percussion, co-produced some of the early sessions. Dannish virtuoso Niels Pedersen surprises by providing very rare funky bass lines on the electric bass (!) along with the usual classy performances on the acoustic bass. There are great flugelhorn solos by Art Farmer, Kenny Wheeler and Ack van Rooyen.
Jiggs Wigham shines on trombone, as also does Philip Catherine on the electric guitar. Bassist Jean Warland is the same who recorded Airto's "Missa Espiritual".
Top tracks: Weldon Irvine's "Mr. Clean" (made famous on Freddie Hubbard's "Straight Life"), Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly", Nat Adderley's "Jive Samba", Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" (with vocalist Inga Rumpf), Chick Corea's "Spain" and George Duke's "Someday" that justify the slogan "Eine Elefanten zum Tanzen bringen", ie, "To make an elephant dance" like London jazz critic Derek Jewell said after attending Herbolzheimer's gig at Ronnie Scott's club.
Very interesting extra "colors" and a distinctive approach come by courtesy of such keyboardists as Dieter Reith and Ingfried Hoffmann (playing Hammond B3 organ), Rob Franken (on both acoustic and electric pianos) and Horst Muhlbradt, who plays Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes pianos, plus clavinet (dig "Superstition") and Arp Strings. The versions of Zawinul's "Birdland" and Bobby Troup/Leah Worth's haunting ballad "The Meaning of the Blues" are also worthy of a listening, although the latter souns too similar to the Woody Herman recording on his Grammy-winning album "Giant Steps" (Fantasy). But both were cut in 1973, both feature trombone solos, so it's difficult to say who inspired who... Btw, Peter's arrangement was recorded at the marvelous Cornet Studio, in Cologne, where some tracks from Ithamara Koorax's "Love Dance" CD, which Arnaldo DeSouteiro produced, were cut in 2002.
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Aavailable at Dusty Groove; their comments:
"A groovy dream come true -- the complete studio recordings of German bandleader Peter Herbholzheimer -- easily one of the funkiest European talents of the 70s! Although Herbholzheimer's got a clunky name, his sound is incredibly fluid and tight -- a large group approach to funk that rivals some of the best American work of his time -- including classics from Lalo Schifrin, Johnny Pate, and other key maestros of the blacksploitation era. Peter's got a way of taking a large group of players and really making them groove -- a sound that's kind of an electrified extension of the styles first laid out at MPS by the Clarke-Boland Big Band, but served up with a hipper, funkier 70s approach to rhythm. Like the CBBB, Herbholzheimer's groups often feature American players -- such as Art Farmer on trumpet or Herb Geller on saxes -- alongside more familiar MPS talents like Dusko Goykovich on trumpet, Dieter Reith on organ, Ferdinand Povel on flute, Jiggs Whigham on trombone, and Sigi Schwab on guitar -- joined by the legendary Sabu Martinez on a few of the best sessions here! The 4-CD set is a massive discovery in music -- as it features not only Herbholzheimer's Rhythm & Brass albums for MPS and Polydor, but also records under the group names Certain Lions & Tigers and The Galactic Light Orchestra. The package features a whopping 8 albums in all -- Soul Condor, Time Travellers Galaxis, Waitaminute, Wide Open, Hip Walk, Touchdown, and I Hear Voices -- most of which have never been reissued before -- a whopping 61 long funky jazz tracks!" © 2008, Dusty Groove America, Inc.