Jonny Teupen was one of the few who could make the harp swing. The late German musician, a classically trained harpist and composer who could play in an orchestra as well as any jazz band, enlisted top musicians from both jazz and rock to back him on this 1969 recording. The Günter Kallmann Choir, at the time internationally renowned, takes care of the nostalgic mood on Teupen’s relaxing “easy listening” compositions. What’s more, the nine-piece vocal group could come up with a swinging scat chorus. Teupen’s love for modern jazz is shown on the piece Harp Revolution; every member improvises over the theme and even dares venture into the realm of free jazz.

"Four Reasons" is the american vibraphonist Dave Pike's second LP for the legendary MPS label after moving to Germany. Dave Pike Set includes the wonder boy Volker Kriegel on electric guitar and sitar, and together with Pike he made one of the absolute grooviest and best psychedelic soul-jazz records of all time. This is groovy!

Volker Kriegel was a German jazz guitarist and composer born in Darmstadt, Germany, perhaps most noteworthy for his contributions to the European jazz rock genre…

American vibraphonist Dave Pike gained fame from his work throughout the 60’s with popular jazz flutist Herbie Mann, recording 11 albums with Mann’s groups, also recorded with legendary pianists Bill Evans and Paul Bley. On moving to Europe, the Dave Pike Set became an instant success through the combination of Pike’s vibes play and German Volker Kriegel’s electric, acoustic, guitar and sitar play. Kriegel’s compositions helped create the quartet’s unique sound, encompassing jazz, funk, psychedelia, avant-garde, and ethno.

This first album of Volker Kriegel’s Mild Maniac Orchestra, one of Europe’s most influential and successful fusion groups. Keyboardist Thomas Bettermann would go on to record 8 albums with Kiegel, and bassist Hans Peter Ströer and Dutch drummer Evert Fraterman would continue to work with Kriegel for close to a decade.

What a group Volker Kriegel assembled for this album! Polish Violinist Zbignew Seiferts was a player who worked with the jazz world’s elite and is still talked about with a sense of awe. Saxophonist Stan Sulzman has worked with musicians ranging from Paul McCartney to Gil Evans.

When the Darmstadt teenager Volker Kriegel (1943-2003) officially debuted his first chords in the late 1950s, the guitar was still an outsider instrument in jazz. It could boast a few luminaries, but actually everything was still open when, in 1963 and 1964, the autodidact from Hessen won first prizes as guitarist and soloist at the amateur jazz festival in Düsseldorf.