German Recordings 1952-1955 - Lost Tapes

If you are an aficionado of piano jazz of the Brubeck era, the release of the Julia Hipp album "German Recordings 1952-1955 - Lost Tapes" by Jazzhaus will come as a complete surprise, and make you wonder why the name of this artist is unfamiliar. The fact that the album was recorded in Germany might be a clue, but the years of the original recordings listed, and the name "Lost Tapes" (as these pieces are seeing a first release some 61 years later) is a better reason and adds to the mystery. Julia Hipp's story is at once interesting and eccentric: she held a degree in art, was clearly an extraordinary pianist, but lacked self-confidence as a jazz pianist, and left her piano and talent behind in the late 1950s to become a dress-maker. She died in obscurity, in New York City, in 2003 (without a piano in her apartment), in such obscurity that Blue Note, the label which released some of her original albums, found her shortly before her death enabling the label to pay her a significant sum of money it had been holding from record sales since the 1950s. You will hear, right from the first cut recorded live in a German club, "Blues After Hours," a style evocative of and clearly influenced by Brubeck. The album continues with more live piano-bass-drum trio cuts in a myriad of styles, ending with German session cuts of both quartet and quintet ensembles, featuring German reed players who, at least to this reviewer, are equally obscure. I have listened to the album twice, once to prepare this review, and once for pure pleasure, which the CD gives in spades. None of the cuts are lacking in interest. Be prepared to be transported back to an era when jazz was going through a change which has informed the genre ever since. And a final nod to the engineering and sound of these recordings, made on early tape machines, in mono, with no tricks or manipulation: music at its best, recorded with a transparency and balance which makes one forget that it is in mono, not stereo. I did, and I'll be purchasing more of Julia Hipp's recordings this week.

Very nice LP, And the free download of the same recording was a nice surprise, and a great bonus! Much of it was inspired by the Lennie Tristano recordings. It was also very interesting to listen to the early playing of Attila Zoller and Albert Mangelsdorff in comparison to the innovators they later became.

What a tremendous discovery -- rare recordings of pianist Jutta Hipp in her native Germany, made before she went to New York and cut a handful of influential albums for Blue Note Records in the mid-1950s. Culled from sessions in Koblenz, Baden-Baden and Stuttgart, this vinyl release finds Hipp in the company of stellar German musicians Albert Mangelsdorff (trombone), Hans Koller and Joki Freund (both on tenor sax), as well as Hungarian guitarist Attila Zoller. Most of the tunes are familiar standards given fresh life through Hipp's distinctive touch and the forward-looking approach of her musical playmates. Even at this early stage of her career Hipp displays formidable technical proficiency, a fluid sense of swing and an unerring knack for revealing the emotional heart of each tune. No wonder she was a sensation when she arrived in New York in 1955. Her star burned brightly but unfortunately all too briefly. She withdrew from the music scene in the late '50s, lending even more historical as well as musical value to these sublime performances.

Jutta was an extremely talented jazz pianist and these recordings prove it. There is a power behind her playing, but also a definite fragility. After hearing this album I looked up some of her other recordings and I feel that these sum up her career perfectly.

Amazon has all the sound samples mixed up -- they don't match the song titles. This mistake not withstanding , this is great music from a pianist who should not have been relegated to obscurity. A talented artist who hopefully will get more recognition with the release of these tracks.

私は彼女のアルバムで一番好きだし、音質も良い。

Originaire de Berlin où elle a débuté, Jutta Hipp s'installe à New-York en 1955. Remarquée par Léonard Feather elle signe un contrat pour trois albums avec Blue Note, dont l'un aux côtés du saxophoniste Zoot Sims. Ce CD la présente à l'aube de sa carrière, en compagnie de quelques uns des meilleurs musiciens allemands de l'époque. Une aubaine pour mieux apprécier son parcours car ces enregistrements étaient inédits.

Wer die Entwicklung des modernen Jazz in seinen Anfängen hörend verstehen will, der hat hier was ganz Tolles. Die Tempiwechsel, Verzögerungen, klanglichen Erweiterungen (ich schreibe als Laie) die hier eine noch deutlich hörbare Tradition bereichern, sind ganz sichtbar - transparent würde man wohl sagen können - das macht das Hören dieser frühen Aufnahmen für mich zu einem besonderen Erlebnis, denn die Musikerin und die Musiker erforschen Grenzland - spannend... Und wir Nachgeborenen können nur bedauern, das Jutta Hipp sich aus dem männlich dominierten Hahnenzirkus der Jazzwelt so früh hat herausziehen müssen...

トリオしか聴いたことがなく、バックに回ってもヤハリ存在感はありますね。しっかり自己主張も出来ているので、聞き応えはありました。

Interesting set of early recordings. Sound quality is adequate but the dynamics are quite flat so it needs concentration to hear what's going on. It's a well put together document and given how little Hipp music is out there it's a must if you want to hear her. Casual listeners might find it a little boring though.