Herb Geller - An American In Hamburg: The View From Here +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Artist ..... : Herb Geller | | Album ...... : An American In Hamburg: The View From Here | | Year ....... : 2013 | | Label ...... : Tramp Records | | Cat.No ..... : TRLP 9024 | | | +-------------------------------[Release Info]-------------------------------+ | | | Genere ..... : Jazz-Funk | | Tracks ..... : 09 | | Duration ... : 75:23 min | | Source ..... : WEB | | Street Date : 2013-08-12 | | URL ........ : www.discogs.com/release/4805958 | | Webstore URL : http://tramprecords.bandcamp.com | | | | Release Size : 172.7 MB | | Ripping Tool : n/a | | Encoder .... : Lame 3.99.5 | | Quality .... : 320kbps / 44.1kHz / Joint-Stereo | | Rip Date ... : 2015-08-27 | | | +--------------------------------[Track List]--------------------------------+ | | | 01. Herb Geller feat. Earl Jordan - Rhyme And Reason Time 07:15 | | (Our Birthday Party) | | 02. Herb Geller feat. Mark Murphy - Sudden Senility 11:46 | | 03. Herb Geller feat. Mark Murphy - The Power Of A Smile 09:50 | | 04. Herb Geller feat. Mark Murphy - Space A La Mode 08:59 | | 05. Herb Geller - Title Wave 09:01 | | 06. Herb Geller - Sudden Senility (Instrumental) 09:51 | | 07. Herb Geller - Rhyme And Reason Time (Instrumental) 04:22 | | 08. Herb Geller - The Power Of A Smile (Instrumental) 05:59 | | 09. Herb Geller - Space A La Mode (Instrumental) 08:20 | | ----- | | Total: 75:23 | | | +-------------------------------[Release Notes]------------------------------+ | | | This record kicks from the very beginning, in a way you would't expect | | when looking at the cover: A white man in a brightly glittered suit | | and hat holding his alto sax. A posture somewhere between a down-and- | | out tv series cop and James Last. If you open the fold out cover the | | misleading signals continue A b/w picture of an intellectual (the same | | man) and his flute; this might fit really well for Rachmaninoff! | | | | Such subterfuge belongs to those that do precision work. Tramp Records | | situated a few miles north of Munich in the approach path of its | | airport carries out such precision. Tobias Kirmayer is a record digger | | re-releasing rough and raw Funk and Soul singles from the smallest and | | now defunct labels on vinyl. Some recordings from the 1960s often have | | more soul (in literal meaning) than nearly everything recorded within | | the past 30 years. | | | | But now let's return to the enigma from 1975: The man on the sleeve is | | Herb Geller, an American responsible for all compositions, lyrics and | | up to six reed instruments. Further musicians hail from Germany, | | Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, including such jazz and fusion greats as | | Wolfgang Schlueter, Palle Mikkelborg & Philip Catherine. And man! This | | record really sounds fantastic! | | | | "An American in Hamburg: The View from Here" really is a special | | recording. The last release of the album (called "Rhyme and Reason" in | | the US, and without instrumental versions) goes back some 29 years, | | making it a quite sought-after collectable. A CD release doesnt exist. | | One can hear 2 absolutely soulful singers that rarely appeared in such | | jazz fusion contexts. These are Earl Jordan from the Les Humphries | | Singers and Mark Murphy, one of the greatest American jazz singers, | | recording under his own name since1954. His combination of beat poetry | | and jazz on Bop for Kerouac is still highly acclaimed -one of his last | | works was with German mainstream trumpet star Till Br÷nner. | | | | Similar to Mark Murphy, Herb Geller worked with nearly all jazz greats | | one can imagine. After a tour through Brazil with Benny Goodman Geller | | didn't return to the US but rather moved to Berlin in 1962 and later | | Hamburg. He worked for SFB (Radio Free Berlin) and NDR (North German | | Radio) and played with the two most distinctive European Big Bands of | | that time - the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band and Peter | | Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination & Brass. In January 1975 Geller | | recorded the first album under his own name since 1959. | | | | And, this outing kicks in different ways: There are (subtle) political | | vocals that may lead one to think about the real reasons for his not | | returning to the US - the official version was due to the death of his | | first wife. You've got really crazy solos on synths and saxes, and | | Philip Catherine is playing some really tight guitars, snapping akin | | to bass and drums. This is collectively framed by complex, but not too | | piled-on, horn arrangements (though Herb Geller does overdub himself | | with six audio tracks). | | | | Martin Buerkl | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+