Manfred Schoof, Resonance

[David Ayers]

An unexpected surprise:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Resonance-Manfred-...t/dp/B002I9SBZ2

First CD issue of music from Manfred Schoof's three ECM/Japo albums of the 1970s - 'Scales', 'Light Lines', and 'Horizons' - brought together in a personal compilation. The trumpeter's quintet was a highly regarded band on the European scene in that era, and the 'Scales' LP won the German Critics Prize as Album of the Year (Grosser Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1977). One of the founding fathers of modern jazz in Germany, Schoof counts as the romantic amongst the free players, a strongly lyrical improviser. He still has a strong following, and 'Resonance' follows many requests from fans wishing to have this material on CD. The full range is here, the romantic ballad playing, stark dramatic post-bop soloing, and the squeezing-out-sparks free playing.

Manfred Schoof was born in Magdeburg in 1936. Amongst the first wave of German free players, he recorded with Gunter Hampel's band before forming his own ensembles. His 'European Echoes' (1969) launched the FMP label and is considered a classic. A long-time member of the Globe Unity Orchestra (which recorded for ECM/Japo), Schoof has also had playing associations with Mal Waldron, George Russell, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland and many others.

Personnel:

Manfred Schoof (trumpet, flugelhorn), Michel Pilz (bass clarinet), Jasper Van't Hof (piano, electric piano, organ), Rainer Brüninghaus (piano, synthesizer), Günter Lenz (double-bass), Ralf Hübner (drums)

Edited August 11, 2009 by David Ayers

[king ubu]

Crap - why not do a double disc with all the music?

If Jarrett and Charles Lloyd get double discs for their musings and noodlings (hey, I like some of both of their music...), why not get it right with these great albums?

Ok, I went and checked, not much seems missing after all:

CD tracklisting:

Disc: 1

1. Scales

2. Ostinato

3. For Marianne

4. Weep and Cry

5. Flowers All Over

6. Resonance

7. Old Ballad

Disc: 2

1. Source

2. Light Lines

3. Criterium

4. Lonesome Defender

5. Horizons

6. Hope

7. Sunset

Discography:

Scales - Japo (G)60013/ECM 19004

Manfred Schoof (tp,flhrn) Michel Pilz (b-cl) Jasper van't Hof (p,el-p,org) Gunter Lenz (b) Ralf Hubner (d)

Ludwigsburg, August, 1976

Scales

Ostinato

For Marianne

Weep and Cry

Flowers All Over

Light Lines - Japo (G)60019

same pers.

Ludwigsburg, December, 1977

Source

Light Lines

Criterium

Lonesome Defender

Resonance

Horizons - Japo (G)60030

Rainer Bruninghaus (p,synt) replaces Jasper van't Hof, rest same

Ludwigsburg, November, 1979

Horizons

The Abstract Face of Beauty ---- missing

Hope

Sunrise ---- missing

Old Ballad

Sunset

Edited August 11, 2009 by king ubu

[David Ayers]

Thanks for checking. Looks like just two tracks missing. That should mean that the two discs are pretty full so that is a positive.

I wonder if we might see the three Globe Unity titles on JAPO given similar treatment? I wrote ECM to suggest this some time back but strangely they didn't reply...

Edited August 11, 2009 by David Ayers

[clifford_thornton]

Indeed, this is a pleasant surprise.

Now if only somebody would (legally) collect the CBS, Wergo and FMP "early 5tet" sides... those records are marvelous!

[king ubu]

Btw, my initial rather negative post opening was typed before I went to look at the amazon link and discovered it's in fact a double disc set... but still: they just did those three 3CD set (Jarrett Trio, Steve Kuhn, Codona Trilogy) with cheap (but nice) packaging and for a prize not much higher than a regular double disc set, so it's still a bit of a pity!

[David Ayers]

Btw, my initial rather negative post opening was typed before I went to look at the amazon link and discovered it's in fact a double disc set... but still: they just did those three 3CD set (Jarrett Trio, Steve Kuhn, Codona Trilogy) with cheap (but nice) packaging and for a prize not much higher than a regular double disc set, so it's still a bit of a pity!

Well yeah, but the three 3 CD sets you mention are of disks that already sold well. The Schoof won't give the same kind of return I would have thought and in the present climate must be a bit of a gamble. I'm looking on the positive side with this one!

[king ubu]

Haven't considered that... in my ideal world, there'd be a huge market for such a reissue

[AndrewHill]

Looking forward to this one, since I have no Schoof leader dates!

[clifford_thornton]

European Echoes is a nice one.

[AndrewHill]

European Echoes is a nice one.

And its available! Gotta get it.

[peterintoronto]

Unless anyone else can suggest a contender, this has got to be the most unexpected re-issue of the past 2-3 years. It speaks sadly of the state of the music industry when I read this thread and thought it was a joke.

[Drew Peacock]

I've never heard of Manfred before this thread. I checked out his bio and discography at AllMusic which didn't seem to enthusiastic over his music. He has only a handful of recordings and the 'pick' is 10 years after these recordings were released with no other recordings during those 10 years.

There has to be a story behind this. I'm curious why there is so much interest in this re-release. I must be missing something.

[king ubu]

Schoof is a mainstay of european jazz... like Breuker, Brötzmann, Schweizer, Schlippenbach, Mengelberg, Hampel, and many others. He played with Globe Unity, George Russell, Hampel, the Clarke-Boland band, George Gruntz, and appears on many great records, this here could give you a rough idea:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Manfred+Schoof

AMG is notoriously crappy as far as European jazz goes...

Here's Schoof's homepage, which also has a little discography.

[Drew Peacock]

Thank you King!

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, he's great! I've got quite a few of his releases and some live performances as well.

European Echoes is a nice one.

And its available! Gotta get it.

Required listening if you're into the "free" stuff.

[king ubu]

info from ECM's website:

Manfred Schoof Quintet

Resonance

Manfred Schoof trumpet, flugelhorn

Michel Pilz bass clarinet

Jesper van`t Hof piano, electric piano, organ

Rainer Brüninghaus piano, synthesizer

Günter Lenz double-bass

Ralf-R. Hübner drums

CD 1

Scales

Ostinato

For Marianne

Weep And Cry

Flowers All Over

Resonance

Old Ballad

CD 2

Source

Light Lines

Criterium

Lonesome Defender

Horizons

Hope

Sunset

Recorded 1976-1979

ECM 2093

The first CD issue of music from Manfred Schoof’s three ECM/Japo albums of the 1970s – “Scales”, “Light Lines”, and “Horizons”. “Resonance” is the German trumpeter’s personal compilation of his favourite music from this era, released as two CD set. Schoof’s quintet was a highly regarded band on the European scene of the 1970s, and the “Scales” LP won the German Critics Prize as Album of the Year (Grosser Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1977). At the time, both Schoof and frontline partner Michel Pilz were also members of Alex Schlippenbach’s freewheeling Globe Unity Orchestra (indeed Schoof still plays with the GUO periodically) and also recorded for ECM/Japo with that formation (see the albums “Improvisations” and “Compositions”).

Release Date 28 August 2009

The blueprint for the quintet was to re-integrate lessons learned in free playing into melodically-intense small group jazz. Manfred Schoof “The 1970s, when these recordings were made, gave many musicians the opportunity to expand a scale of musical expression that originated from the free jazz of the 1960s. This led to a new kind of playing that did not hesitate to use and combine different means of expression – a process exemplified by the present recordings. The music on these CDs is contemporary and free in the best sense of these words; more so, it is timeless. Here the term “free” not only stands for a specific style of jazz that, in its beginnings, opposed with revolutionary gesture everything redolent of the past and reminiscent of tradition but rather the freedom to choose between a multitude of very different means of expression. Tradition, therefore, is viewed as a past experience that merges with and enriches a new style of sound.”

Schoof showcased some exceptional talent in his band. Michel Pilz was, in the era, the only European improviser who had committed himself exclusively to the bass clarinet. Inspired initially by Eric Dolphy, he developed his own distinctive sound, playing inside the ensemble textures as well as soloing with energy and imagination. Günter Lenz and Ralf R. Hübner helped to define the direction of modern jazz in Germany. Both bassist and drummer were members of Albert Mangelsdorff’s pioneering groups of the 1960s and their detailed interaction is crucial to the buoyancy of the Schoof quintet sound. Lenz can also be heard on ECM with the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Hübner with Eberhard Weber on “The Colours of Chloe” and “Chorus”. Together, for decades, they powered the rhythm section of the Jazzensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks – see the ECM album “Atmospheric Conditions Permitting”.

The pianists in the Schoof group were players of the next generation. Dutch keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof came to Schoof after playing with Pierre Courbois’s Association PC and the collective Pork Pie, which also included Charlie Mariano and Philip Catherine, in a time when rock and jazz were influencing each other.

source: http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2000/2093.php

[David Ayers]

Perhaps reflecting the manner in which he tends to just 'pop up', Schoof does not even have his own page at Peter Stubley's European free improv site (which I assume people know...http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/)

[xybert]

I found this album new and sealed in a bargain bin for an absolute steal so picked it up on a 'nothing to lose' buzz... found the music to be seriously excellent. Was really surprised that this music wasn't more widely celebrated, definitely hold this up with the best of the 70s era ECM classics.

[king ubu]

Yes!

[romualdo]

Yeah, he's great! I've got quite a few of his releases and some live performances as well.

European Echoes is a nice one.

And its available! Gotta get it.

Required listening if you're into the "free" stuff.

there are excellent live WDR quintet (including Tchicai) recordings that fill the gap (70-74) in his discography - should be officially released

[Rooster_Ties]

Just found a relatively cheap ($10) copy of Light Lines on vinyl over the weekend, and I'm diggin' the hell out of it.  Not exactly 'inside' - but not too acerbic either.  It's got a bit of that ECM sheen to it, but in this case, I think it helps the other-worldly aspects of it go down a little more easily (for instance, I had it on with Mrs. Rooster around, and she wasn't too put off by it).  Beautiful bass clarinet too.  Very adventuresome, without being too in your face about it constantly.  Very free, but not crazily so.

Then some Googling around today, I found an 8-song concert playlist on YouTube, from 1977 -- and it's just as wonderful...

NOTE:  In case the above embedded YouTube video doesn't play the entire playlist, here's another link to it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuoCjto_axE&list=PL2QepMLlfwKqYYQi8V9pDrXP5rGDrxboO

Or do a search on "Manfred Schoof Quintet - Konzert 1977" on YouTube, and that should bring it up.  Gotta be an hour's worth of live footage.

I have Schoof on a Mal Waldron date from around this same time, but I think that's all I've ever heard from him before (except embedded in a couple much larger ensemble things).  And these three Schoof leader-dates for JAPO (which seems to be a sub-label for ECM) are just fantastic.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

I just got the Resonance 2CD comp in the mail today, and looking forward to hearing the 1.5 albums that I didn't already have from it.

Been a while since I listened to the one album from this that I do have (Light Lines), and I remember it being both adventuresome and also sonically less in-your-face than a lot of similar stuff.  For instance, back when I first got Light Lines, I had it on with my wife around (a few times even!) - and she *didn't* run screaming from the room, which is quite a rarity for something with adventuresome bass clarinet playing on it.

[Rooster_Ties]

New live double-cd coming next month, recorded in 1978 (presumably pretty much the same group (or similar) as his mid-to-late 70’s ‘Japo’ recordings).

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/123217

No Dusty verbiage about it yet (for the moment).

 

Manfred Schoof Quintet – Live In Bremen 1978 

CD (Item 123217) Moosicus (Germany), 1978 — Condition: New Copy

2CDs — $18.99

Preorder: This title is scheduled for release about Friday, September 9.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

[mjazzg]

Line up etc here 

https://www.discogs.com/release/24035900-Manfred-Schoof-Quintet-Live-In-Bremen-1978

 

[clifford_thornton]

I'm sure it is excellent.