Jazz Rock

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, and going by 'Jazz Rock’, nor a record by its title. Though entering into jazz territory and featuring some distorted guitar, 'Jazz Rock' is more a beautiful marriage of funky breakbeat drumming and spiritual jazz instrumentation, combined with traditional Min'yō music performed on the koto and shakuhachi.

Wolfgang Dauner has now been highly active on the scene for more than fifty years. Dauner hired top young musicians to be around him for the current upgrade to United 2.0. The second United generation, like the first one, is eagerly researching the crossing points between jazz, rock, funk and world music. Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond the Ensemble began life in 1975. Pianist Wolfgang Dauner, initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), put together a rotating cast of musicians, and shared writing and arranging duties with guitarist Volker Kriegel.

Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond, the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble began life as a loose studio aggregation assembled for a youth-oriented German television show in 1975. Hoping for a contemporary balance between rock and jazz, producer Werner Schretzmeier called upon pianist Wolfgang Dauner, the former leader of Et Cetera, an avant-garde jazz group Schretzmeier had managed until their breakup in 1972. Initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), Dauner put together a rotating cast of musicians that were at first dubbed the Eleven and a Half Ensemble (after the program's airtime); this group featured guitarist Volker Kriegel (who shared writing and arranging duties with Dauner), drummer Jon Hiseman, trumpeter Ack Van Rooyen, and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff…

Wolfgang Dauner has now been highly active on the scene for more than fifty years. Dauner hired top young musicians to be around him for the current upgrade to United 2.0. The second United generation, like the first one, is eagerly researching the crossing points between jazz, rock, funk and world music. Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond the Ensemble began life in 1975. Pianist Wolfgang Dauner, initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), put together a rotating cast of musicians, and shared writing and arranging duties with guitarist Volker Kriegel.

Various Artists - Jazz Rock (2008)
compilation of tracks from 1968-1982
EAC | FLAC tracks +CUE +LOG +600 dpi Full Scans = 510 Mb | RAR 3% | RS
Genre: Jazz/Jazz-rock | Label: Verve Records | Catalog Number: 06007 5307294

Following the controversial innovations of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson, fusion spun off in myriad directions, some far more creatively rewarding than others. This entry in the ongoing Jazz Club compilation brings together 11 choice cuts from the Verve vaults series for an admirable if erratic attempt to encapsulate an era that defies simple definition or interpretation. The title Jazz Rock fails to account for the sheer multitude of sounds and styles the disc embraces, veering from cosmic funk to psychedelic soul. The best performances approach the complexity of classical music as well as the mainstream appeal of soul, but at worst the music is unfocused and maddeningly self-indulgent. Highlights include George Duke's "Old Slippers," Don Sebesky's "The Word," and Tony Williams' "Emergency".