If hurried, the trombone tends to take on a flustered, indignant sound. If attempts are made to break away from its long, purring sounds and deep sonorities, it can become slurred, spluttery, like a far-gone drunk. Albert Mangelsdorff, who has died aged 76, allowed nothing to block his determination to expand this awkward instrument's eloquence.
He was one of the most original jazz musicians to have developed outside the US. His multiphonic approach - playing more than one note simultaneously, and humming or singing and playing at the same time - defied the limitations of the trombone's plumbing, and he also led some of the most distinctive bands in European jazz, applying a palette of startling sound effects and phrasing both to Europeanised mutations of American jazz practices and new developments.
While honing his style in the late 1940s and early 50s, Mangelsdorff had the option of joining the New Orleans revivalist movement or pursuing the more taxing modern paths offered by innovators such as JJ Johnson, mimicking the faster phrasing of saxophones and trumpets. He took the latter course eventually, but preferred the long legato lines of west coast cool-school players to the more frenetic melodies of bop's first wave. His playing retained a fascination with melody and an impatience with knee-jerk reactions, stagey climaxes or "hot licks".
Mangelsdorff was born in Frankfurt am Main, but the family moved to Pforzheim, near Stuttgart. His brother introduced him to jazz during the Nazi prohibition of the music, and it had to be explored via the secret "Frankfurt Hot Club" and the "enemy radio station".
He studied violin and classical music theory but in 1946 taught himself the guitar, and began playing professionally, initially in the big band of Otto Laufner, which played US Army bases and clubs. In 1948 he took up the trombone under the guidance of Frankfurter Oper musician Fritz Stahr.
Stahr's tuition, and a fascination with the complex logic of cool jazz guru Lennie Tristano's music, saw Mangelsdorff emerge as a sophisticated trombonist. In the early 1950s he began working with pianist Joe Klimm, and then with Austrian saxophonist Hans Koller's New Jazz Stars. Mangelsdorff joined the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt in 1955 and in 1957 became leader of the station's resident jazz ensemble. The following year he played the Newport Jazz Festival in the US in an international youth band - a turning point, with its opportunities for him to meet jazz innovators and find a personal path.
In 1961 he formed an experimental quintet with tenor saxophonist Heinz Sauer which, with various changes, dominated the West German modern jazz scene until 1971. (by John Fordham)
This is a rare and great FM broadcast concert; please notice that all announcements and interviews are in German ... But the music is international ! Albert Mangelsdorff was without any doubt one of the pioneers of German Jazz !
Recorded live by Bayerischer Rundfunk @ Stadttheater, Lindau (Germany)
November 20, 1961
November 20, 1961
Personnel:
Rune Carlsson (drums)
Joki Freund (saxophone)
Albert Mangelsdorff (trombone)
Emil Mangelsdorff (saxophone)
Günter Kronberg (saxophone)
Günter Lenz (bass)
Heinz Sauer (saxophone)
Tracklist:
01: Radio announcer 0.26
02: A Baptist Beat (Mobley) 4.51
03: Goldie (Morgan) 4.44
04: Anything Else (Freund) 4.52
05: Band intros 2.13
06: Albert Mangelsdorff announcement 0.08
07: Sister Sadie (Silver) 6.05
08: Interview with Albert Mangelsdorff 1.16
09: Grand Street (Rollins) 5.27
10: Madame B (Freund) 5.09
11: Tension (A.Mangelsdorff) 5.12
ARMU 2123
ARMU 2123 (zippyshare)