The Rowohlt Jazz Encyclopedia characterizes keyboard player Dieter Reith as a “Master of rhythmic tension”. Born in Mainz, Germany in 1937, this multi-talented musician created just such tension by forming a band with four American expatriates for his 1975 MPS album Knock Out. Bassistguitarist Dave King had “Krautrock” experience through his work with the German rock group Embryo. Percussionist Sabu Martinez had already worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. Reith demonstrates his know-how on piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, and as composer-arranger. His themes, played in unison with Jamaican saxophonist Wilton Gaynair, sound full, big-band-like, and then flow into slickly constructed jazz-rock thunderstorms. On Dark Green, Reith’s solo piano artistry shines over a two minute stretch before the dynamic band comes in. Dieter Reith was taking piano lessons by the age of five. He quit his music and physics studies to become the pianist for Germany’s Southwest Radio Dance Orchestra, which he later led. Reith became well-known as an organist. His playing had a significant impact on the sound of Peter Herbolzheimer’s Rhythm & Brass Combination. Reith played with the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra and, along with Herbolzheimer and Hollander Jerry van Rooyen, composed the music for the opening of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.
