released December 6, 2024

REVIEWS

All Music Guide: 4 Stars

“One of the strongest improvising big bands in the world joins forces with the Choir of the NDR-Broadcast, performing pieces By Schlippenbach and Schoof. The overall effect is much more vibrant than most contemporary classical pieces involving voices and instruments due in small part of the free ranging improvisational abilities and spirit of the players involved. A tremendously effective album.”
- Cadence Magazine

“This radio project for the NDR Jazz Workshop paired the Globe Unity Orchestra with the NDR Choir, with Schlippenbach's goal being to contribute "to humor in music." As usual as the pairing may seem, it is an even more remarkable listening experience, one that highlights majesty, absurdity, bravado, and potency that never ceases to thrill. The first track is an eight-section piece, beginning with a jocular spoken intro that melds into a combination of the shifting voices and ‘an English quartet’ highlighted by a majestic Wheeler solo… The piece ends with a brilliant, operatic fanfare that shifts to a circus-like conclusion that must be heard.”
-One Final Note

“One happy outing blessed with the heart and structure that gives classical music its throb, and the freedom that jazz invests in imaginations that are constantly seeking the unusual. “Kontraste und Synthesen” is a Manfred Schoof composition from the '60s. Schoof uses voice to float like clouds over the brass, the trombones blowing straight lines, the other horns billowing in whirls. It is a rather rowdy offering, like a market square on a busy morning.”
- All About Jazz

“A remarkable recording.”
-Jazz Podium

Manfred Schoof: trumpet
Kenny Wheeler: trumpet
Peter Brötzmann: reeds
Rüdiger Carl: alto & tenor saxophone
Gerd Dudek: soprano & tenor saxophone
Evan Parker: soprano & tenor saxophone
Michel Pilz: bass clarinet
Günter Christmann: trombone
Paul Rutherford: trombone
Derek Bailey: guitar
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Peter Kowald: double bass, tuba
Han Bennink: drums, percussion, clarinet
Paul Lovens: drums, percussion
and the Choir of the NDR-Broadcast conducted by Helmut Franz

Recorded during the 105th NDR JazzWorkshop on November 19th, 1974, Funkhaus Hamburg, Grosser Sendesaal.
Recording engineer: Werner Münchmeyer.
Editor: Michael Naura.
Produced by Alexander von Schlippenbach & Jost Gebers.

Cover design by Dieter Hahne.