GRAWE QUINTET, GEORG - New Movements

"German pianist Georg Gräwe, one of the most impeccable and imaginative improvisers in contemporary free music, made his debut recording, New Movements, in 1976, under the auspices of Free Music Production, the legendary Berlin-based organization run by Jost Gebers. At FMP's Jazz Now festival, in April of that year, Gräwe presented his working band, a classic hard-bop configuration with trumpet, saxophone, and rhythm section. Indeed, some vestiges of that hard-bop feel permeate the music, however it's been fractured and expanded in its ambitions to include post-bop, freebop, free jazz, and free improvisation, all with an overall set of structures that betray Gräwe's deep interest in contemporary classical forms. It is an audacious debut, one of the most thrilling jazz-related European outings to emerge from the FMP program. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Harald Dau is spectacular, reminiscent in places of the great Gerd Dudek's work with Manfred Schoof Sextett -- tough as nails, free within a blues-oriented context, totally inventive. He's matched by lithe trumpeter Horst Grabosch, and Gräwe's rhythm team is impeccable, with Hans Schneider's bass and Achim Kramer's drums. The album kicks off with a 22-minute-long rollercoaster ride written by Gräwe, and continues with two more long tracks by Dau, all of them featuring thrilling interplay and brilliant tunes. First reissue since it was first available in the mid-1970s. Licensing directly from FMP, with newly remastered music direct from the original tapes, CvsD put this important piece of free music history back into circulation, throwing light on the early years of Georg Gräwe's music and expanding the picture of what FMP's vanguard mission meant. Edition of 500." - Corbett Vs. Dempsey.