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Inspired by the captivating and breathtaking landscape of Ibiza, which Rolf Kühn discovered for the first time in 1970, the album “Symphonic Swampfire” was created in 1978. Rolf Kühn had spent many summers in Ibiza, his brother Joachim is now living there since several years.
The album was recorded in the Hamburg RÜSSL studio. After Kühn had written orchestral compositions for commissioned works for film, TV and radio productions, he was able to fulfill his long-standing wish to record one of his jazz albums with an orchestra. “Symphonic Swampfire” is the first collaboration with sound engineer Walter Quintus, with whom Rolf and Joachim Kühn should collaborate many more times.
 

I was interested in larger jazz setups and symphonic music all my life,from studying music theory and composition in Leipzig as a young man to eventually recording „Symphonic Swampfire“ in 1978. I wrote my first orchestrations as a musician in the big band of Leipzig radio and the RIAS Berlin dance orchestra. I tried to develop constantly by always taking lessons, from, among others, classical conductor Charles Mackerras. After composing a lot for film, TV and advertising, parallel to my work in jazz, „Symphonic Swampfire“ was the first album that brought it all together.
Thanks to great support of Brunner-Schwer everything was made possible to realise my musical ideas, like working with an entire brass section as well as a complete string band. (Rolf Kühn)