Volker Kriegel – Volker Kriegel: Mainz Studio Recordings (1963-1969) [Remastered Extended Version] (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

When the Darmstadt teenager Volker Kriegel (1943-2003) officially debuted his first chords in the late 1950s, the guitar was still an outsider instrument in jazz. It could boast a few luminaries, but actually everything was still open when, in 1963 and 1964, the autodidact from Hessen won first prizes as guitarist and soloist at the amateur jazz festival in Düsseldorf. The debut recordings in 1963, which Südwestfunk (SWF) recorded with the nineteen-year-old guitarist in trio at the Deutschhaus in Mainz, and the 1969 studio sessions in the Kammersaal Studio, are worlds apart. For one thing, the guitar itself had carved out a career. On top of this, Kriegel had gained in self-confidence. But above all, he had found a counterpart in Claudio Szenkar, who opened up perspectives not only in terms of communication and composition but also through Kriegel’s own instrument. The combination of vibraphone and guitar was then still fairly new. In 1968, Kriegel decided to make music his main profession. Thanks to “With A Little Help from My Friends” and an appearance at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, he achieved the breakthrough into public recognition. Together with the vibraphonist Dave Pike, the bassist Hans Rettenbacher and the drummer Peter Baumeister, he founded the Dave Pike Set, which became for four years his artistic center and a beacon combo of European jazz rock. And for the SWF (Südwestfunk, today SWR) he went twice into the sound studio. With the exceptions of The Beatles’s anthem “Norwegian Wood” and “Mother People” by the young guitar berserker Frank Zappa, hardly any pieces by other musicians are still to be heard in these recordings.

Tracklist:
01. Volker Kriegel – Django (06:18)
02. Volker Kriegel – Tabu (07:16)
03. Volker Kriegel – Israel (06:05)
04. Volker Kriegel – Blue Moon (06:47)
05. Volker Kriegel – Polka Dots and Moonbeams (06:45)
06. Volker Kriegel – Blues for Django (06:10)
07. Volker Kriegel – St. Louis Blues (02:59)
08. Volker Kriegel – Rhythm-A-Ning (03:06)
09. Volker Kriegel – Les enfants š’ennuient le dimanche (03:53)
10. Volker Kriegel – Autumn Leaves (07:16)
11. Volker Kriegel – Three Seconds (04:17)
12. Volker Kriegel – Tea and Rum (02:36)
13. Volker Kriegel – Morandi (04:44)
14. Volker Kriegel – Don’t Wait (02:55)
15. Volker Kriegel – Half and Half (05:20)
16. Volker Kriegel – Na Na Imboro (04:54)
17. Volker Kriegel – Nyleve (03:23)
18. Volker Kriegel – Teamwork (03:06)
19. Volker Kriegel – Ten O’Clock Blues (04:45)
20. Volker Kriegel – Octopus (04:33)
21. Volker Kriegel – Connie’s Blues (08:27)
22. Volker Kriegel – Viande (04:41)
23. Volker Kriegel – Traffic Jam (04:04)
24. Volker Kriegel – Little Pear (04:47)
25. Volker Kriegel – Norwegian Wood (04:42)
26. Volker Kriegel – Five by Four (04:33)
27. Volker Kriegel – Royal Harp (03:44)
28. Volker Kriegel – Soul Eggs (05:50)
29. Volker Kriegel – Cry It Out (03:20)
30. Volker Kriegel – Noisy Silence, Gentle Noise (06:31)
31. Volker Kriegel – Somewhat, Somewhere, Somehow (05:01)
32. Volker Kriegel – Sitting on My Knees (03:23)
33. Volker Kriegel – Teaming Up (09:32)
34. Volker Kriegel – Slums on Wheels (04:26)
35. Volker Kriegel – I’m on My Way (04:10)
36. Volker Kriegel – Blue Flower (03:52)
37. Volker Kriegel – Pluns (02:56)
38. Volker Kriegel – Mother People (06:40)