Various Artists - Spiritual Jazz 17: SABA / MPS

This is a pre-order item and is expected 24th January 2025.

The German SABA and MPS family of labels extended this sentiment to include music from musicians all around the world, no matter where they were from - and here on Spiritual Jazz 17 SABA MPS we explore that very theme.

Throughout the '60s & '70s both labels released a wealth of music from a wealth of international jazz musicians coming from both North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean and the Far East. The aim was to release jazz that was exciting, innovative and interesting, regardless of style: there was swing, blues, bop, avant-garde, fusion – and spiritual jazz. Plurality became a defining feature and the immense breadth of their output made both SABA and MPS worthy European counterparts to American imprints such as Blue Note and Impulse.

On Spiritual Jazz 17 SABA MPS we feature, among others, international contributions from Americans Elvin Jones, Nathan Davis & Dave Pike, Europeans Pedro Iturralde, Jef Gilson, and George Gruntz, and the Japanese Hideo Shiraki. In our extensive liner notes we outline the history of the SABA and MPS labels, and go some way to explain the spirit and philosophy behind the long-standing record company and the musicians who bore their souls to the recording process.

Friedheim Schulz, who oversaw many of the sessions, has fond memories, "These guys had ideas, they had their special thing, it was the time when there were lots of ideas and new sounds and what have you, and [SABA proprietor] Hans Georg was always of the mind that people should do their own kind of music. So he gave them the chance to record and then he would just put out the albums and that was it! The musicians would really play what they wanted to play."

Their great legacy is a lineage of music that has transcended the fatigues of time, and we've picked prime examples from the SABA & MPS catalogues to uphold our own legacy in our long-running series of Spiritual Jazz.

TRACKLISTING

01: Tony Scott and the Indonesian Allstars - Gambang Suling
02: Elvin Jones Jazz Machine - Little Lady
03: Nathan Davis - Evolution
04: Dave Pike Set - Raga Jeeva Swara
05: Hideo Shiraki Quintet & 3 Koto Girls - Matsuri No Genzo
06: Albert Mangelsdorff Quartet - Never Let It End
07: Orchester Roland Kovac - Blue Dance
08: Fritz Pauer - Gratuliere - Movement A
09: Joachim Kühn Group - Depression and Illusion
10: George Gruntz - Hightime Keepsakes
11: Pedro Iturralde Quintet - Veleta de tu Viento
12: Jef Gilson Nonet - Ouverture San Remo

PRODUCT DETAILS

Artist:  Various Artists
Label:  Jazzman
Condition:  New 
Genre:  Jazz & Blues
Format:  Vinyl LP
Cat Number:  JMANLP146
Released:  24th January 2025