Yellow + Blue Rolf Kühn Unit

Album info

Album-Release:
2018

HRA-Release:
01.06.2018

Label: MPS

Genre: Jazz

Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz

Artist: Rolf Kühn Unit

Album including Album cover

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FLAC 48 $ 13.50
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  • 1 Both Sides Now 04:30
  • 2 Angel Eyes 06:59
  • 3 Yellow and Blue 06:02
  • 4 Impulse 05:14
  • 5 The Second Time 04:34
  • 6 Train to Norway 03:45
  • 7 I'm Through with Love 06:51
  • 8 Conversation III 05:31
  • 9 Mela's Interplay 06:28
  • 10 Body and Soul 04:03
  • 11 What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? 07:56
  • Total Runtime 01:01:53

Info for Yellow + Blue



Quiescence and awakening. Tradition and innovation. Body and soul. Rolf Kühn finds such opposing forces attractive. With his new album "Yellow + Blue", the 88-year-old clarinetist once again improvises and swings his way through uncharted musical territory. "Europe's greatest clarinetist and free spirit" (Jazzthetik) plays ballads and legendary love songs on his new MPS album. In so doing, he delivers new meaning and a fresh sound to the pieces. A sentimental look back is simply not his thing. Together with his new quartet of pianist Frank Chastenier, bassist Lisa Wulff, and percussionist Tupac Mantilla, Kühn contrasts his sensitive side with his unbridled desire to experiment.

"I've chosen some of my favorite ballads for this album. These pieces have nothing to do with any sort of trend. For me, they are poignant and beautiful; they are simply timeless," says Kühn. "I found it especially appealing to combine these particular choices with my latest compositions." The album opens with "Both Sides Now", a classic by Joni Mitchell. Kühn liked the poetic text, and says that, "Somehow, in life there are always two sides, but it's best when they enrich each other and can smoothly merge in order to create something new."

One of five new compositions, the title song "Yellow + Blue" encapsulates the two perspectives: the flamboyant, the impulsively vibrant yellow next to the soft, sensitive, warm bluesy-blue tonal color. In turn, a new musical color is created out of the contrast.

The son of a circus acrobat, Rolf Kühn was born in 1929 in Cologne, Germany, and, regardless of the difference in age, there is a palpable admiration between Kühn and his much younger fellow musicians. Kühn’s other recordings for the MPS label, 2015’s "Stereo" and 2016's "Spotlights", consisted of continually changing constellations of duos, trios and quartets. With "Yellow + Blue", the two-time ECHO prize-winner once again unfurls "great music in a small group format" (West German Regional Newspaper). In the process he has created a surprising concatenation of tonal colors. Kühn enthused, "We were already having big fun on the first day of rehearsal. I immediately felt that we had the right chemistry. From the first moment on it was an exchange of ideas among equals, and there was an unusual feeling of mutual trust."

The clarinetist infuses every standard with the memories of his musical relation to the piece over the decades. His play is living jazz history. The repertoire ranges from a favorite of Ella's and Sinatra's, "Angel Eyes", through the Michel Legrand standard, "What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life", to the song that Marilyn Monroe made immortal in the film "Some Like It Hot", "I'm Through With Love".

For the first time in his career, Kühn has recorded that jazz ballad par excellence, "Body and Soul". This master clarinetist still sees himself as a learner on his instrument. He also feels that every piece has its innocence, something pure, and he aims to probe those essentials. "In doing this, the text is very important to me. When I play I always have it in my head; that and how can I get the clarinet, in all its fullness, to sound like a human voice?"

The prestigious Die Welt newspaper labeled Rolf Kühn "Germany's coolest jazz musician". In the 1950's, Kühn got a taste of the Swing Era when he played in the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Since then, Kühn has been involved in every movement in modern jazz; today he plays with more freedom and daring than ever before. His new album "Yellow + Blue" bears witness to a more than 70-year affair – an insatiable, thrilling love for his life-long friend, net.

Rolf Kühn, clarinet
Frank Chastenier, piano
Lisa Wulff, double bass
Tupac Mantilla, percussion


Rolf Kühn
In nur drei Tagen nahmen Rolf Kühn und seine jungen Band-Kollegen neun Titel auf, die wegweisend für den heutigen Jazz sind. Ein weiterer Solotitel wurde kurz nach den Bandaufnahmen eingespielt. Kompositionen, die bei aller Komplexität klar und verständlich sind. Gespielt von einer Band, die jeden Titel mit höchster Energie und Spannung aufladen. Eingebettet in eine transparente und moderne Soundästhetik.

Rolf Kühn stellt höchste Ansprüche an sich und seine Musiker. Täglich übt er mehrere Stunden Klarinette, um noch besser zu spielen. Immer wieder probiert er neue Instrumente und Mundstücke, um vielleicht noch besser zu klingen. Im Zusammenspiel mit seinen Musikern experimentiert er mit neuen Sounds, Rhythmen und Harmonien. Seit acht Jahren spielt seine Rolf Kühn Unit zusammen. Ein Zusammentreffen von unterschiedlichen Generationen: Kühn wuchs in der Swing-Ära auf, spielte Free Jazz und arrangierte und komponierte für Spiel- und Fernsehfilme. Seine Musiker wurden mit Rock, Pop und elektronischer Musik sozialisiert.

Sechs der zehn Titel schrieb Kühn selbst. Erstmalig spielte er auch eine Solonummer ein: "Goodbye", eine musikalische Verbeugung an seinen Freund und Mentor, dem Klarinettisten Buddy DeFranco. Er verstarb in der Zeit als das Album entstand. Buddy DeFranco ist nur einer von vielen Namen, mit denen Rolf Kühn in den letzten 70 Jahren spielte. Weitere waren Friedrich Gulda, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Chick Corea, Albert Mangelsdorff und natürlich sein Bruder Joachim Kühn.

Sein erstes Instrument war übrigens ein Akkordeon, das er 1936 bekam. Erst 1941 begann er mit Klarinettenunterricht. Das dritte Reich überlebte er mit viel Glück. Seine Mutter kam aus einer jüdischen Familie. Gleich nach dem Krieg begann er in Leipziger Jazzclubs zu spielen. Danach waren seine Stationen Berlin, New York, das Newport Jazz Festival, Hamburg und wieder Berlin. Und natürlich Villingen-Schwenningen. Für das dort ansässige Jazzlabel MPS (Musikproduktion Schwarzwald) nahm er sechs Alben auf. "Stereo" erscheint nun auf dem wiederbelebten MPS-Label. Und es steht für einen Neuanfang. Konsequent entwickelt Rolf Kühn sich weiter. Manchmal braucht man für die Erneuerung des Jazz einen Mann, der gerade 85 Jahre alt geworden ist.

This album contains no booklet.

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