Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – 100 – The Unreleased WDR Jazz Recordings 1957 – 1974 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

This 3-CD box set of unreleased recordings by the Kurt Edelhagen Jazz Orchestra made for the German Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) radio station in Cologne presents a fascinating snapshot of an important episode in the history of European jazz. The collection has been put together by Dr Bernd Hoffmann, a German broadcaster and musicologist, who has made the selection from more than 3000 tracks in WDR’s archives. The “100” in the title refers to the fact that the centenary of Edelhagen’s birth was in June last year and that this release celebrates the anniversary.

The Kurt Edelhagen Jazz Orchestra was formed in 1957 under the leadership of Edelhagen, an arranger and teacher of jazz who taught on the jazz programme at the Cologne Musikhochschule. Edelhagen had, from 1952 to 1957, led an earlier big band, the Südwestfunk, which performed at the prestigious Donaueschingen contemporary music festival in 1954. In 1957 the band started working on contract for the WDR, making television shows, soundtracks for films and music for dancing in addition to the jazz work which is documented here. It was also sent to international festivals, notably in Russia and the Middle East as a ‘jazz ambassador’. It played at the opening ceremony of the Munich Olympics in 1972.

There is some wonderful music in the collection, and over the three CDs we see how the music of the band in the domain of jazz developed over its history from 1957 to 1974.

Tracklist:
1-1. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Tubbes (03:02)
1-2. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – El Mo (03:52)
1-3. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Mosquito´s Nightmare (04:24)
1-4. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Snap It (03:39)
1-5. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – K_JD 485 (02:59)
1-6. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Fatsination (03:08)
1-7. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – I Remember Clifford (03:47)
1-8. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Blues for Bohemia (04:21)
1-9. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Save Your Love for Me (04:44)
1-10. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Till (03:29)
1-11. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Sweet Georgia Brown (03:04)
1-12. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Sumphin (05:30)
1-13. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Black Velvet (05:52)
1-14. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Bohemia After Dark (06:06)
1-15. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Flookey Pootsey (02:57)
1-16. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – KE (07:30)
2-1. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Yah-Yah-Blues (06:54)
2-2. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Sabbath Message (03:08)
2-3. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Chinatown, My Chinatown (05:14)
2-4. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Blues Fifteen (11:22)
2-5. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Shaw´Nuff (05:39)
2-6. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Beach (04:27)
2-7. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – A Cool Day (05:51)
2-8. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Russian Roulette (06:09)
2-9. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Oliver Haydn Whigham III (03:43)
2-10. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – 4 for Berlin (04:49)
2-11. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Work Song (03:35)
2-12. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – In the Night (05:47)
2-13. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – I Will Give You (05:42)
3-1. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Our Delight (05:34)
3-2. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Ole (08:42)
3-3. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Mo`Jo (04:10)
3-4. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – The Sentence (08:39)
3-5. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – 4+3 (03:25)
3-6. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Mc Arthur Park (02:58)
3-7. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Oni Puladi (09:39)
3-8. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – No Later Now (04:51)
3-9. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Triple Adventure (07:04)
3-10. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Black Eyed (07:08)
3-11. Kurt Edelhagen & His Orchestra – Ow Dallab (07:36)