Original concert recording remastered

Album download included

It's hard to believe this concert lay all but forgotten in the archives for almost 50 years without a thought to release it. For this is the more intense live version of the album Now Jazz Ramwong, recorded just a short time earlier. That album marked the global breakthrough of Germany's one true international jazz star.

Albert Mangelsdorff had grown up in Nazi Germany listening to jazz on banned radio stations with a keen ear and burning desire. In 1945 the Americans arrived; at last the jazzman could jazz. Ten years after the war, bebop and cool jazz were in vogue.

But before long, Germany had undergone political restoration and in 1964 the Goethe Institute was forced to back the Mangelsdorff Quintett's tour of Asia against considerable resistance. The risk paid off: 50 sold-out concerts, international honors, an overwhelming success. In Bangkok even King Bhumibol climbed onto the stage brandishing a saxophone for a West-meets-East jam session.

Mangelsdorff pioneered the art of jazz polyphonics, introducing to the avant-garde the symphonic tradition of playing multiple notes simultaneously. Word of Mangelsdorff's prowess on the trombone soon reached his fellow musicians, and in 1952 he made his recording debut in support of saxophonist Hans Koller. He also worked in small groups and with the Dance Hesse Radio Orchestra throughout the decade, and in 1958 was selected to serve as the German representative for the Newport Jazz Festival International Band, an opportunity that resulted in collaborations with U.S. giants like Gerry Mulligan and Louis Armstrong.

From that point on, Albert Mangelsdorff would remain one of the greats of international jazz until his death in 2005. This album was recorded live at Audimax Freiburg in June 1964.

Track Listing
Side 1
Now Jazz Ramwong
Set ‘Em Up

Side 2
Raknahs
Burungkaka
Theme From Pather Panchali