┌┬┬┐┌─┬─┬─┬┬┬┬─┬─┬┬┐
│ ┤└┤*│││┌┤ │ ┤┌┘ ┤
·--─┘ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────-·
artist · various artists
release · forum west: wewerka archive 1962-1968
year · 2004
genre · jazz
label · sonar kollektiv
catalogue · sk019lp
website · www.sonarkollektiv.de
date · 03-may-2004
quality · 193kbps/44,1khz
source · vinyl
·--────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·
a1 wolfgang lauth sextet - intrada 2:22
a2 hans koller ensemble - mingus privat 3:52
a3 joe haider septet - straight out 5:34
a4 hans koller ensemble - casa loma 2:49
a5 joe haider & his orchestra - hymnus for che 5:10
b1 rolf & joachim kⁿhn quartet - arabia rock 7:11
b2 a. mangelsdorff quintett - sakura waltz 3:27
b3 hans koller ensemble - saint john perse 4:32
b4 wolfgang dauner trio - freefall 3:46
c1 ronnie ross & his band - last of the wine 2:58
c2 joe nay & fritz pauer - beta draco 4:11
c3 ronnie ross & his band - tranquology 6:34
c4 hans koller ensemble - call me eric 4:29
d1 fritz pauer trio - red roof 3:39
d2 hans koller ensemble - lucky tom 2:40
d3 hans koller ensemble - zoot 2:02
d4 joe haider septet - eternal oil lamp 5:45
d5 wolfgang dauner trio - ten notices 5:41
playtime · 01h 16m 42s
·--────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·
forum west - wewerka archive 1962-1968
compiled by jazzanova & s. steigleder
despite the increasing number of compilations of rare jazz
recordings in recent years, there has been very little focus on
west german jazz from the sixties. how come?
a lack of creative output during this era cannot be blamed.
especially in the sixties, when a new generation of jazz musicians
emerged in germany. this generation was stylistically open,
somewhere between modern jazz and avant-garde with a unique
european style of expression. recordings from artists such as
wolfgang dauner, joachim kⁿhn and albert mangelsdorff were
beginning to appear. these artists would, among others, later
establish the world-wide reputation of german jazz musicians. the
question "how come?" still remains.
one clear reason is, apart from the major music companies with
their jazz departments, the relatively small number of independent
jazz labels that existed at the time. a well-known example of an
independent german label is the saba record label. it was founded
in 1962 and was headed by hans georg brunner schwer. he was later
in 1968 to found mps (musik produktion schwarzwald). although the
label mps became the biggest independent in europe, by far the
most jazz releases on the german market at this time were
predominantly recordings from america or random releases from
neighbouring countries such as france or england.
so where are all the recordings, which must have been produced in
this highly creative period, if they weren't brought out as
records? they have, in fact, been slumbering, partly forgotten,
partly hidden in publishers' archives. they had acquired the
rights to most of the recordings of the time.
this compilation is a result of the hans wewerka's music
publishing company, which is one of the most comprehensive
publishing archives in west germany. its repertoire contains more
than 12,000 titles of all music styles and, in particular, a jazz
catalogue with recordings from the sixties by top-ranking national
and international musicians. from this archive we have chosen
tracks that will be released for the first time, except the
recordings from wolfgang dauner and albert mangelsdorff (vinyl
only).
who is the man behind these recordings? right from his birth hans
wewerka was surrounded by music. famous soloists of their time
visited and performed contemporary chamber music in his parents'
house in vienna. consequently, he has always had contact to the
music industry. hans wewerka progressed through life with two
professions. on the one hand, he was a film and television
producer -- he began as a production manager in 1945 for the
austrian news reel and film production company in vienna and from
1949 onwards he oversaw the introduction of the first commissions
for american tv series. on the other hand, he also headed his own
publishing company from 1946 onwards.
wewerka, who is a complete autodidact and plays two instruments
(piano and bassoon), never committed himself to one particular
style. his goal was always to work with the best musicians.
whether as in 1949, when he made the first tv series for america
and was busy with the vienna philharmonic as a tv and music
producer, or when working on the many jazz recordings which form
the foundation for this compilation. wewerka never allowed himself
to be restricted. be it folk music, wind or light opera, the
quality of the recordings and the participating musicians was of
crucial importance to him. it was the same with jazz, which holds
a special place in his heart. he established vienna's first jazz
club, where from the beginning, he had contact to world class
musicians. for example, joe zawinul and friedrich gulda played
jazz on two pianos in his club.
however, it would have been too one-sided for him to concentrate
only on the jazz label. he focussed more on his publishing company
and continually tried to combine the mediums of music and tv. he
describes himself happily as a cross-mediant. in 1952 he moved
from vienna to germany and continued work on his publishing
company, edition modern in neuburg by the donau. in the following
years, edition modern developed into one of the leading jazz
publishers in germany. another example of his affinity to jazz, is
the fact that in 1947 wewerka set up the magazine musikwelt, this
was the predecessor of today's german jazz podium. he acquired a
very good reputation among musicians and especially among the
young german jazz enthusiasts thanks to his many connections and
contacts, his commitment, openness and finally his willingness to
take financial risks. wewerka was quick to act whenever a famous
jazz musician was in his new home town, munich, and would invite
them for spontaneous sessions in his studio. because of this, many
first class recordings with national and international greats
exist, especially from the sixties. he was and still is a
workaholic, who produced jazz out of pure enthusiasm. in his long
career, he can look back on about 1500 lp productions of all
different musical branches and about 400 tv and film productions.
in the fifties he belonged to the most sought-after film producers
and received offers from metro-goldwyn mayer in america. he worked
as a music producer not only in germany, but also in america and
england and soon acquired a reputation in the scene as a trouble
shooter.
why has the overwhelming majority of his jazz productions never
been released?
wewerka had a contract with emi for a short time, but, for many
reasons, his sub-label "orange" was never taken seriously by the
record company. he was also too busy as a producer and publisher
to be able to bring in the required income to make the label
successful. this meant that many of the recordings just lay in his
archive and the majority of them were never commercially released.
due to wewerka's worldwide connections, the recordings were also
available in large international archives and were used in england
and america for film and tv productions.
his very high production standards are obvious. many of the
recordings here were recorded on the first take. wewerka was
helped by many experienced recording technicians, particularly
willi schmidt. according to wewerka, his personal relationship
with the musicians was of utmost importance for the quality of the
production. as a kind of patron he brought the musicians together
in varied sessions and gave them the possibility to express
themselves in new formations and artistic ideas. because most of
the sessions had no commercial purpose, wewerka offered the
musicians a unique creative forum.
this compilation can only provide a glimpse into the vaults of the
hans wewerka archive. nevertheless, the chosen tracks bear witness
to a very important creative period in the west-german jazz-scene.
almost 40 years after being recorded, these tracks well deserve to
be finally released.
stephan steigleder, berlin, october 2003
***
while our luscious sisters released the cd version a little
earlier, we kept the double-lp to celebrate klangwerk's 3000th
release.
·--────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·
visit ln~#klangwerk