Michael Naura Quartett – Call (1970)
Michael Naura Quartett – Call (1970)
A1 Soledad De Murcia 5:57 A2 M.O.C. 3:37 A3 Forgotten Garden 5:53 A4 Take Us Down To The River 3:58 B1 Why Is Mary So Nervous? 5:28 B2 Don't Stop 4:56 B3 Miriam 3:48 B4 Call 5:03 Bass – Eberhard Weber Drums – Joe Nay Electric Piano – Michael Naura Vibraphone – Wolfgang Schlüter
This is a wonderful album by German pianist / composer Michael Naura recorded in a quartet setting with vibraphonist Wolfgang Schluter, bassist Eberhard Weber and drummer Joe Nay. The album comprises of eight original compositions, all by Naura.
This album finds Naura in a transition period between his earlier days as one of the German Jazz scene pioneers, when he played mainly Bebop and Hard Bop, moving boldly into the Jazz-Rock Fusion idiom as one of its pioneering representatives in Europe. He plays electric piano on this album, which blends wonderfully with the vibraphone, creating a very unique ambience. Supported by a superb rhythm section of Weber and Nay the two soloists are able to weave long atmospheric melody lines and contemplative phrases. In retrospect this music sounds remarkably fresh and inviting and its legendary status is fully justified.
The cooperation between Naura and Schluter, which started in the 1950s, continued for several decades and produced some of the finest German Jazz music in many different settings. Their later recordings for ECM are especially noteworthy, some of them in my favorite Jazz & Poetry setting. Schluter is just one of many extraordinary vibraphonists hailing from Germany, where this instrument seems to be more popular in the Jazz idiom than in any other European country.
It is the beautiful blend of four individual voices that creates the charming atmosphere, which in time made this album an icon of early European Fusion and the original vinyl album into a highly sought after collectors´ item. This reissue enables new listeners to get acquainted with this important and aesthetically outstanding music, an opportunity not to be missed! ---adambaruch.com
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