From 1965 to 1981 Munich’s Domicile jazz club was a mecca for international jazz. This live 1971 album brings together that period’s ‘who’s who’ of the German jazz scene; Coda commented in 1974 that, "This band at best can blow most modern American big bands right off the stage". At the center, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff’s legendary quartet with Heinz Sauer (s), Günter Lenz (b), Ralf Hübner (dr). All originals, the pieces display the players’ compositional and improvisational strengths. On the freely-played Out of Reach Gerd Dudek’s soprano solo stretches out over a densely layered background; gripping solos by Mangelsdorff and Manfred Schoof (trp). Figures begins with a warm Latin pulse before a trumpet dialogue between Schoof and the great Dutch trumpeter Ack van Rooyen. Gebäude takes a couple of musical turns before setting on a powerful minor key groove with strong solos from Albert’s brother Emil on alto, followed by Ack. Hübner drives in Hammerkopp with a striking drum solo leading into a phantasmagoria of solo and ensemble play. The short, hard-swinging melody Epilog appropriately ends the first album. The big band sound and rock beat of Nuggis spurs on sterling solos by van Rooyen and Dudek on tenor, followed by keyboard giant Wolfgang Dauner on piano and synth. Sweet Lament features the virtuoso scatting of singer Willi Johanns, while on Hornsalut the hard-swinging drums and bass propel impressive solos by van Rooyen, Mangelsdorff, Schoof, and trombonist Rudi Feusers. Lenz’s furious walking bass brings the band back home. When Lights are High again features Johanns’ vocal pyrotechnics lit up by the swinging big band background. A fiery live recording, it displays a dynamic 70’s German jazz scene that was as inventive as any; the music sounds as fresh today as it did back then.
