Manfred Schoof Quintet: Resonance (ECM 178 0453)
The 40th year celebrations for ECM haven’t just involved a lot of new releases with the accent on the now; there have been a couple of looks back, one of which is this one.
The German trumpeter’s three ECM/Japo albums from the 1970s were never released on CD, so this double-disc compilation from them, chosen by Schoof himself, is an important document and one which should generate a load of new fans for the the band. It is very good indeed.
The pianists Schoof used will be familiar names – Jasper Van’t Hof and Rainer Bruninghaus – and another player of note, and one vital to the sound of the band, is Michel Pilz, who, unique in European jazz at the time, devoted himself solely to the bass clarinet.
Some of the players had backgrounds in the free and experimental jazz of the time, but here they have brought that kind of freedom to bear on sometimes gentler, more atmospheric stuff. There is gorgeous use of bass and bass clarinet in tandem over skittering brushes and synth washes, Schoof playing high and expressively over the top. It is all so thoroughly ECMish in sound and conception and, so, timeless in its appeal.
If, like me, you had not been aware of Schoof and this band, do get to know them – it’s highly rewarding stuff.
Categories: CD review
thejazzbreakfast 
Leave a comment