''Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra'' is the debut album by the ensemble of the same name. It was recorded in May 1989 at RIAS Studio 10 in Berlin, and was released in 1990 by

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

. The music was conducted by the group's founder,

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orchest ...

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Brian Olewnick wrote: "this album... is a good deal less raucous than one might otherwise expect. All three compositions... are only a step or three away from fairly mainstream big band jazz... the... release is solid and reasonably enjoyable, but much less 'contemporary' than one might have hoped." The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' awarded the album 4 stars, calling it a "superb set," and stated: "Wheeler's 'Ana' is a long, almost hymnic, piece whose mournful aspect nevertheless doesn't soften some powerful soloing... Mengelberg's 'Reef Und Kneebus' and 'Salz' are very much in the line of a post-war Dutch style in which jazz is almost as dominant an element as serial procedures... Thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking music." Writing for Between Sound and Space, Tyran Grillo commented: "This is a full recording, one that accentuates the breezy rhythm section and keeps the brass well separated. The band blows free and easy and tries its best to keep us out of the compositional rut with some freer gesticulations."

Track listing

# "Ana" (Kenny Wheeler) – 22:29 # "Salz" (Misha Mengelberg) – 7:41 # "Reef Und Kneebus" (Misha Mengelberg) – 19:28

Personnel

* Paul van Kemenade – alto saxophone * Felix Wahnschaffe – alto saxophone *

Gerd Dudek Gerhard Rochus "Gerd" Dudek (28 September 1938 – 3 November 2022) was a German jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor and Soprano saxophone, soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist. Dudek studied clarinet privately and attended music school in the ...

– soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute * Walter Gauchel – tenor saxophone * E. L. Petrowsky – baritone saxophone *

Willem Breuker Willem Breuker (4 November 1944 – 23 July 2010) was a Dutch bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and clarinetist. Career During the mid 1960s, he played with percussionist Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg, co-founding the Insta ...

– baritone saxophone, bass clarinet *

Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Institute ...

– trumpet *

Thomas Heberer Thomas Heberer (born 13 November 1947 in Offenbach/Main, Germany) is a Senior Professor of Chinese Politics & Society at the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Education Thomas Heberer studied Social Anthropology (major), Philosophy, Politica ...

– trumpet * Henry Lowther – trumpet *

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn * Henning Berg – trombone * Hermann Breuer – trombone * Hubert Katzenbeier – trombone * Utz Zimmermann – bass trombone *

Aki Takase (born January 26, 1948) is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Biography Takase was born in Osaka and started to play piano at age 3. Raised in Tokyo, she studied classical piano at Toho Gakuen School of Music.Ankeny, Jaso"Artist Biography".A ...

– piano *

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

– piano * Günter Lenz – bass *

Ed Thigpen Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biography ...

– drums *

– conductor

References

{{Reflist Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra albums 1990 albums Big band albums Jazz albums ECM Records albums