In three broadcasts, I’ll try to give an image of European jazz music in the fifties and sixties, accompanied with three articles in which I’ll sketch the scene and some of its musicians and recordings. Although the tracklists are quite representative, I want to stress that they are completely based on my personal taste.

‘Why European jazz?’, I hear you thinking. Well, as a record collector I have a thing with locally released records, but more important is the fact that the music is special too. Jazz from the US has a hundred year old history, going way back to the slavery. It evolved out of negro spirituals and had influences of traditional African music from the very beginning. During the years, it was influenced by Afro Cuban rhythms in the fourties, gospel and r&b in the fifties and soul and funk in the sixties and seventies.

When jazz arrived in Europe somewhere in the 1920s, the first groups to play jazz were orchestras who had been playing variety music. On top of that, Europe has a very deep and old tradition of classical music and during the years influences of local traditional and folk music could also be heard in European jazz recordings. That’s why, for example, the distinct sound of Polish jazz is not the same as the sound of Italian jazz.

In this series, I’ll put the main focus on the modern jazz recordings from the mid fifties until the late sixties, which was really the golden era in my opinion, but I’ll make some sidesteps to the seventies too.

Pedro Biker – Wives And Lovers
We start our Trans European Journey in Denmark, which had a very vivid jazz scene in the fifties and sixties, with lots of great local musicians and lots of American expats who played there, and of course the legendary Montmartre jazzclub, where a lot of live recordings took place and where almost all of the big names performed. One of the local talents was singer Pedro Biker, who was actually a tv presenter and radio dj. This track comes from the second volume of the On The Spot series, by Ricky Tick records, two compilations on the nordic jazz scene that are highly recommended.

Tubby Hayes – You For Me
Tubby Hayes (from London) was one of the giants of European jazz. He played saxophone, flute and vibraphone and was one of the key figures in the UK jazz scene, playing together with people like Ronnie Scott, with whom he formed the Jazz Couriers, and trumpet player Jimmy Deuchar. Tubby Hayes went to the United States two times, first in 1961, where he recorded the album ‘Tubbs in New York’, with people like Horace Parlan, Clark Terry and Eddie Costa. From this album I selected ‘You For Me’.

Orchester Klaus Lenz – Zottos
Eastern Germany, had been a poor region for a long while and was totally blocked from all western influences in 1961, when the Berlin wall was built. Somehow, some brave musicians managed to play really beautiful and modern music and have it released on the state-owned Amiga record label, the only label they had access to. One of them was trumpet player Klaus Lenz, leader of the Modern Jazz Big Band. The sixties Eastern German jazz scene was well documented by Jazzanova on the compilation “Formation 60” (Compost records), from which the track ‘Zottos’ by Orchester Klaus Lenz was taken.

Staffan Abeleen Quintet – Pia
Back up north then, for some Swedish jazz courtesy of Staffan Abeleen and his Quintet. Swedens capital Stockholm was, together with Paris, the epicentre of European jazz in the fifties. This beautiful piece of music called Pia comes from the first volume of the On The Spot series, and is one of my favorites. I love the opening melody, a very beautiful theme that evolves into a great piece of hard-bop.

Joe Haider Trio – Tante Nelly
Here’s another track from Germany, a favorite of jazz-dj’s because of the catchy melody and the devastating rhythm section. Pianist Joe Haider recorded another version of this song with an extended orchestra featuring Slide Hampton, but the track I selected is the version by Joe Haiders trio.

Romano Mussolini – Brasiliana
Although he was the son of a notorious dictator, Italian Romano Mussolini chose a career in jazz and cinema. In fact, he was one of the best pianists in Italy, if not Europe. He played with Chet Baker a lot when he was in Europe, and recorded some solo albums, including one in the notorious Jazz From Italy series on the Carossello label, on which you can hear the latin-influenced Brasiliana.

Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass – Timbales Calientes
Trombonist and composer Peter Herbolzheimer released a numerous of heavy jazz records on the MPS label. Herbolzheimer was a versatile composer who put the possibilities of his orchestra (the cream of German and European jazzcats) to maximum use, often integrating elements of funk, latin and asian music into his compositions. In the liner notes of ‘My Kind Of Sunshine’, of which the latin jazz dancer ‘Timbales Calientes’ was taken, he says: “It is definitely jazz, but we also introduce elements from other types of music which provide inspiration. (…) You will find hard bop, swing and free jazz, but there are also Latin American rhythms, some effects from Asian music and a good deal of rock.” That says it all to me.

Rita Reys – I Cried For You
One of the first jazz artists to play modern jazz in Europe was drummer Wessel Ilcken from The Netherlands. He introduced his wife, singer Rita Reys, to jazz and she has been the leading lady of European jazz ever since. They lived in Stockholm briefly in the fifties, but returned home rather quickly. They were invited to record in the USA, but Wessel wasn’t allowed to go because he got caught smoking joints. In the states, Rita Reys recorded a few tracks with none other than the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1956.

De Millers – Calypso Blues
Another group from The Netherlands are De Millers, an orchestra that actually played a lot of old style jazz, but also recorded this one track that I absolutely wanted to play for you. It’s a great jazz dance version of Nat King Coles standard Calypso Blues.

Eero Koivistoinen Sekstetti – Odysseus
We stay in the jazz dance mood with a track from Eero Koivistoinen and his sextet. He is a saxophone player who is still very active on the Finnish jazz scene today, he even recored with The Five Corners Quintet a few years ago. In 1969 he released his second lp entitled Odysseus.

Erik Andresen Quartet – Cordon Bleu
If you like the sound of European jazz, the countries to look out for are definitely the Scandinavian ones. I want to mention the On The Spot series (Ricky-Tick Records) again, simply because those compilations are great from start to finish and the original records are very hard to find. One of my favorite tracks on those compilations is Cordon Bleu by Erik Andresen Quartet from Norway.

RTB Big Band – Balkan Ekspress
Looking beyond the Iron Curtain again. I’m not a specialist on the subject of Eastern European jazz and fusion, but there are two tracks that I feel you should hear. Balkan Ekspress is a great late seventies big band fusion track by the RTB Big Band, which was the orchestra of the Radio and Television from Belgrado.

Novi Singers – Five Four Three
A European country that put out lots of jazz records was Poland. You might know the Polish jazz series, which are notorious and sought after by dj’s and record collectors. I don’t have too many knowledge of the Polish jazz scene, but I know that this topic has been well covered, and you can find a lot of compilations, radio shows and dj mixes dedicated to this music, so I’d suggest that you search the internet for it. To close this first episode, I selected one of my favorite Polish tracks by scat jazz/fusion group The Novi Singers.

I know that I didn’t cover all European countries or important recordings, but in the next article and radio broadcast, which is all about Americans in Europe, I’ll add some more pieces to the puzzle.

Links:
- Cosmic Sounds London
- Ricky Tick Records
- The Dutch Jazz Archives
- Birka Jazz Archives