Informally the third volume in the "Between or Beyond" series of funky jazz of the '70s, this time venturing east to Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Which was not a terribly fertile time nor place for this type of music, yet they've sifted and sifted for a few nuggets. The only artist I imagine you may be familiar with here so far would be the Novi Singers, who have by now been honorably reissued, but most other musicians here might need a little introduction, even the ones who worked with Krzysztof Komeda. Though most of these seem quite influenced by Miles Davis, they diffused their work a number of years later (most of these are 1976-78) and brought in samba, big-band jazz along with the more expected sinuous flute solos, wordless vocals, and electric piano riffs. Stars? The rock fusion of Mahagon, the blatting afro horns with soundtrack funk of Big Band Katovice, bouncy Herbie Hancockish funk of the Namyslowski Quartet, space jazz (a la a slick Sun Ra) of the Grupa Organowa. Plus many more. For restrictive political systems that ultimately sent many innovators into exile, somehow a number remained, occasionally even thriving on the state-run Supraphon and Polskie Nagrania labels. Liner notes include cover shots of the rare records these tracks were taken from, many delightfully awkward '70s designs that make my graphic design side drool.
More pictures: http://smiledavis.blogspot.com/2007/07/between-or-beyond-iron-curtain-rare.html
Tracklist
1. Wojciech Karolak - A Day In The City 4:00
Conductor - Jan Wróblewski
Trumpet - Tomasz Stanko
Vocals - Novi Singers
Written-By - W. Karolak
Taken from the LP "EASY!",
(P) 1974 Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# SX 1069
rec. 1974
2. Gustav Brom And His Orchestra - Bounty 6:45
Guitar [Electric] - Igor Vavrda
Piano - Milan Vidlak
Saxophone [Baritone] - Josef Audes
Trumpet, Written-By - Jaromír Hnilicka
Taken from the LP "POLYMELOMODUS",
(P) 1977 Supraphon
cat# 11 52143 H
rec. 11.12.1976
3. Adam Makowicz - Drinking Song 4:00
Drums, Percussion - Czeslaw Bartkowski
Piano - Adam Makowicz
Written-By - A. Makowicz
Taken from the LP"UNIT",
(P) 1973 Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# SX 0963
rec. 1973
4. Mahagon - Divka's Jablky [Dívka S Jablky] 3:10
Bass, Written-By - Petr Klapka
Guitar [Electric] - Jiri Jelinek
Vocals - Zdena Adamova
Taken from the LP "MAHAGON",
(P) 1978 Supraphon
cat# 1 15 2145
rec. 09.03.1977
5. Novi Singers - Tanczace Orzechy / Dancing Nuts 2:00
Double Bass - Janusz Kozlowski
Guitar - Janusz Sidorenko
Percussion - Jerzy Bartz
Piano - Andrzej Matyzkowicz
Vocals - Ewa Wanat , Janusz Mych , Waldemar Kawka
Written-By - J. Mych
Taken from the LP "Bossa Nova",
(P) 1967 Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# XL 0415
rec. 1967
6. Jazz Celula - Probuzeni [Probuzení] 4:48
Trumpet - Laco Deczi
Written-by, Piano [Uncredited] - K. Ruzicka
Taken from the LP "Ohen Az Pozar",
(P) Supraphon/Phanton 1976
cat# 1 15 2145
rec. 11.04.1976
7. Big Band Katowice - Sorcery 4:35
Arranged By - J. Mietana
Leader - Zbigniew Kalemba
Piano - Wladislaw Sendecki
Saxophone [Tenor] - Andrzej Olejniczak
Trombone - Lucyna Dziwoki
Written-By - Keith Jarret
Taken from the LP "MUSIC FOR MY FRIENDS",
(P) 1977 MUZA
cat# SX 1560
rec. 1977
8. Martin Kratochvil's Jazz Q - A Dance [Tanec] 3:40
Bass - Premysl Faukner
Congas - Jiri Tomek
Drums - Libor Laun
Guitar [Electric] - Frantisek Francl
Synthesizer, Written-By - Martin Kratochvil
Taken from the LP "ELEGY",
(P) 1977 Supraphon
cat# 1 15 1983
rec. 22.02.1977
9. Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet - Mango Boogie 6:58
Bass - Pawel Jarzebski
Drums - Janusz Stefanski
Guitar - Marek Blizinski
Percussion - Jozef Gawrych , Wieslaw Kowalewski
Piano - Slawomir Kulpowicz
Saxophone [Alto] - Zbigniew Namyslowski
Written-By - Z. Namyslowski
Taken from the LP "Zbigniew Manyslowski Quartet",
(P) 1977 Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# SX 1493
rec. 1977
10. Grupa Organowa Krzysztofa Sadowskiego - Alfa Centaura 3:45
Bass - Pawel Dabrowski
Congas - Jozef Gawrych
Drums - Tomasz Butowtt
Organ [Hammond] - Krzysztof Sadowski
Saxophone [Alto] - Wlodzimierz Nahorny
Trumpet - Eddie Engels
Vocals, Flute - Liliana Urbanska
Written-By - K. Sadowski
Taken from the LP "Na Kosmodromie",
(P) 1972 Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# SXL 0748
rec. 1972
11. Karel Velebný And His SHQ - The Newcomer [Nový Muž] 5:30
Bass [Double Bass] - Petr Korinek
Drums, Written-By - Josef Vejvoda
Leader, Vibraphone - Karel Velebný
Saxophone [Tenor] - Rudolf Tichacek
Taken from the LP "MOTUS",
(P) 1972 Supraphon
cat# 1 15 1138
rec. 09.02.1971
12. Impuls - Sextant 4:42
Bass [Double Bass] - Frantisek Uhlir
Drums - Jaromir Helesic
Guitar [Electric] - Zdenek Fiser
Synthesizer, Written-By - Pavel Kostiuk (2)
Trumpet - Michal Gera
Taken from the LP "IMPULS",
(P) 1977 Supraphon/Phanton
cat# 11 0684
rec. 25.08.1977
13. Mahagon - Pisecne Presypy [Písecné Presypy] 3:55
Bass, Written-By - Petr Klapka
Saxophone [Soprano] - Jiri Niederle
Trumpet [Electric] - Jindrich Parma
Taken from the LP "MAHAGON",
(P) 1978 Supraphon
cat# 1 15 2145
rec. 14.03.1977
14. Prague Big Band - Helemese / Gee Whiz [Heleme Se] 3:28
Conductor [Uncredited] - Milan Svoboda
Flute, Written-By - Jirí Stivín
Taken from LP "PORTRAIT",
(P) 1977 Phanton
cat# 1 15 2145
rec. 30.09.1977
15. Laboratorium - Funki Dla Franki 4:43
Bass - Krzysztof Scieranski
Drums, Percussion - Mieczslaw Gorka
Guitar [Electric] - Pawel Scieranski
Leader - Janusz Grzywacz
Saxophone [Alto] - Marek Stryszewski
Written-By - J. Grzywacz
Taken from the LP "Modern Pentathlon"
(P) Polskie Nagrania MUZA
cat# SX 1418
rec. 1976
16. Hubert Katzenbeier Quintett - Quartett 5:00
Bass - Hans Schätzke
Drums - Wolfgang Winkler
Flute, Saxophone [Tenor] - Konrad Körner
Leader, Trombone - Hubert Katzenbeier
Piano - Manfred Schramm
Written-By - H. Katzenbeier
Taken from the LP "JAZZ",
(P) AMIGA
cat# 8 55 307
rec. 1972
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