Volker Kriegel

[Paul Christie]

Howdy folks,

I'm looking for the Volker Kriegel 2CD set which is a compilation of his MPS recordings - it's called "Zoom: The Legendary MPS Sessions" - released by Universal in Europe. It's out of print and not available anywhere online, as far as I can tell.

I was wondering if anyone has seen a copy anywhere that I could follow-up on. I'd prefer a new copy (I assume some must be out there, as the set was only released in 1999) - but used would be OK too.

I'd be grateful for any leads on this one.

Cheers,

Paul

christie.paul@saugov.sa.gov.au

[Stan C]

I've noticed the Volker Kriegel Zoom 2CD is listed as a special order on a couple of Canadian online sites www.absound.ca and www.hmv.com. There used to be some MPS import titles around about a year ago but they seemed to have disappeared .

[henning55]

Not exactly what you are looking for, but may be of interest:

Kriegel, Volker "DAS BESTE AUS DEN 70ERN - Die MPS-Jahre 1972-79."
(ie. : The best of the 70s - the MPS years 1972-1979)

This is a double CD for only 7.99 EUR available exclusively at www.zweitausendeins.de. They ship worldwide.

They have another album covering the 80s.

Henning

[Paul Christie]

Thanks for those suggestions - I will definitely follow them up.

I'm still kind of amazed that the "Zoom" compilation that I mentioned above, which was only released in 1999, is already out of print. I guess the pressing run for something like this is not that large.

[Edward]

Paul, I will certainly keep an eye out for this 2-CD set for you.

Your name actually came up in conversation with another ex-BNBBer who lives in my area last week. What place have you called home since that board's demise? I do hope that you will frequent the AAJ board often as you were certainly one of the classiest and most civil posters on the BNBB.

[Bev Stapleton]

I have "DAS BESTE AUS DEN 70ERN - Die MPS-Jahre 1972-79." and can recommend it - very 70s jazz-rock. Kriegel writes some lovely ballads on top of the funkier items.

He's also excellent on the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble CDs.

[Paul Christie]

Edward, thanks for the nice words - I was at a bit of a loss when the BNBB shut down, and it was just a hunch that led me to see what's happening here at AAJ - at to my delight, I see that a number of the old faithful are here.

I suppose there are other forums where ex-BNBBers have gone off to - but this place seems like a good one.

Bev, I am seeking out that "Best of" compilation that you mention - thanks to henning55 for the tip on where to get it. I have made an inquiry with www.zweitausendeins.de and the response has been very helpful. I am also interested in the United Jazz-Rock Ensemble stuff, although I've yet to hear any of their stuff.

I have a number of MPS compilations from Japan and Germany (including the "Between or Beyond" compilations released by Crippled Dick Records), as well as a bit of Dave Pike stuff with Kriegel - everything I've heard with V. Kriegel thus far I really like.

[henning55]

Which 'MPS compilations from Japan', Paul? What do they add to the 'Between or Beyond' CDs?

BTW: The first jazz concert I ever attended (in the early seventies) was some kind of MPS concert evening with Volker Kriegel and other MPS musicians. Thus he will always be an important part of my personal jazz history (despite of the fact that I somehow lost the interest in his music later). He also has a reputation as an author and cartoonist. Very amusing.

Henning

[Paul Christie]

Henning, the most recent MPS compilations I picked up were "The Future Sound of MPS" and "Our Kind of Saba", both Japanese issues released in 2000 by Universal. These are Japanese productions, but do seem to have been prepared in collaboration with the German label - acknowledgements are given to HG Brunner -Schwer and Matthias Kunnecke.

The Future Sound compilation has a nice selection of fairly spacey fusion tracks, with more of a prog=rock feel in places - it includes tracks by George Duke, Volker Kriegel and Charlie Mariano. "Our Kind of Saba" has more of a "world fusion" emphasis, but is still very diverse and includes some quite full-on experimental pieces - includes tracks by Joachim Kuhn, Embryo, Rhythm Comination & Brass, Wolfgang Dauner, Chris Hinze Combination, Tony Scott & the Indonesion All stars, and george Duke, among others. Overall, I would say that these two compilations have a more progressive and avantgarde focus on the label compared to the two Between or Beyond sets, although they all share some pretty funky grooves at times.

We are lucky that the Japanese seem to really dig MPS - Universal Japan have released quite a few of the label's albums over the years (the last major batch was in 2000 I think, in the paper sleeves). The latter batch seemed to have the full involvement of the German folks in preparing 24-bit masters.

[henning55]

Thanks for the interesting info, Paul. It seems that these Japanese compilations are a great addition to the 'Between and Beyond' albums. Unfortunately, I have never seen the albums you mentioned here in Germany and if they ever pop up, the prices will probably be at astronomical height.

There is another thread in the 'New releases and reissues' forum indicating that parts of the MPS catalog will re-issued on CD. Let's hope this will materialize soon.

Hennning