Rolf Kuhn - Yellow + Blue

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:58
Size: 142,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:30)  1. Both Sides Now
(6:59)  2. Angel Eyes
(6:02)  3. Yellow And Blue
(5:14)  4. Impulse
(4:34)  5. The Second Time
(3:45)  6. Train To Norway
(6:51)  7. I'm Through With Love
(5:31)  8. Conversation III
(6:28)  9. Mela's Interplay
(4:03) 10. Body And Soul
(7:57) 11. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life

Rolf Kuhn's style has evolved through the years. The clarinetist started out playing in German dance bands in the late '40s. He worked with radio orchestras starting in 1952 and moved to the U.S. in 1956. Kuhn subbed for Benny Goodman on a few occasions during 1957-1958, played in the Tommy Dorsey ghost band (1958), and worked in a big band led by Urbie Green (1958-1960). In 1962, Kuhn returned to Germany, where he has explored more adventurous styles of jazz (including dates with his younger brother, keyboardist Joachim Kuhn) but still occasionally shows off his ties to swing. Kuhn recorded with an all-star group called Winner's Circle (1957), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1958), and as a leader starting in 1953, including a 1956 New York quartet date for Vanguard. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/yellow-blue/1381385232

Personnel:  Clarinet – Rolf Kühn;  Bass – Lisa Wulff;  Drums, Percussion, Percussion [Body Percussion] – Tupac Mantilla;    Piano – Frank Chastenier

Yellow + Blue

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Rolf Kühn - Spotlights

Styles: Clarinet, Piano Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:05
Size: 131,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:00)  1. Conversation One
(3:19)  2. Pinocchio's Dream
(3:18)  3. Pinocchio's Dance
(6:22)  4. Don't Forget
(4:05)  5. Choro Do Portina
(4:02)  6. Broken City
(5:00)  7. Laura
(8:01)  8. Fingerprints
(3:36)  9. A Strange Sunrise
(3:40) 10. X-Ray
(2:01) 11. Flip-Flop
(3:26) 12. Autumn Leaves
(3:11) 13. Dexter's Tune (Bonus track)

Spotlights features nine of Rolf Kühn's own compositions, plus two jazz standards from the 1940s, and "Dexter's Tune" by Randy Newman and "Choro do Portina" by Hamilton de Holanda. The theme running through and joining up the album is of course the unmistakable sound of Rolf Kühn's clarinet. Hamilton de Halonda, the distinguished Brazilian expert on the bandolim, a kind of mandolin, immerses Kühn's clarinet in Latinsounding melancholy. Albrecht Mayer, international classical star and solo oboist with the Berlin Philharmonic, provides a fascinating angle with his highly sensitive playing and the rich facets of his art. Asja Valcic, the outstanding Croatian cellist, contributes her impressive, classical virtuosity and daring improvisation, as she races frantically through the notes with Kühn. Christian Lillinger, the exceptional percussionist with the Rolf Kühn Unit, adds his wild groove to the mix and like Berlin bassist Oliver Potratz  accentuates the tense dynamic mood. 

Ed Motta, heavyweight Brazilian singer and megastar in his homeland, brings out his baritone to sound like a synthesizer suffering voltage fluctuations, breathing and scatting his resounding word scraps into Kühn's compositions. And as if that were not enough, Rolf's famous younger brother, pianist Joachim Kuhn, weighs in with his inimitable style of playing, his rhythmic soul. The special attraction of these 13 Spotlights emanates from the extraordinary combination of instruments and styles, and above all from the fact that a group of virtuoso artists from very different musical backgrounds have come together to participate in a project very close to their hearts. "I have known my little big brother Joachim for over 70 years, have been friends with Albrecht for so long; I only got to know Asja, Ed and Hamilton personally last year and despite the fact that we are all so different, I believe there is nothing more wonderful than making music with old and new soul mates," enthuses the jazz clarinettist.https://www.hbdirect.com/album/3224071-rolf-kuhn-spotlights-digipak.html

Personnel: Rolf Kühn (clarinet, piano);  Hamilton de Holanda (bandolim);  Christian Lillinger (drums);  Asja Valcic (cello);  Albrecht Mayer (oboe);  Ed Motta, Joachim Kühn (piano);  Volker Greve (percussion).

Spotlights

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Rolf Kuhn - Solarius

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1964
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:10
Size: 92,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:55)  1. Minor Impressions
(6:16)  2. Solarius
(6:24)  3. Sie gleicht wohl einem Rosenstock
(6:33)  4. Mountain Jump
(6:21)  5. Lady Orsina
(6:39)  6. Soldat Tadeusz

Rolf Kuhn's style has evolved through the years. The clarinetist started out playing in German dance bands in the late '40s. He worked with radio orchestras starting in 1952 and moved to the U.S. in 1956. Kuhn subbed for Benny Goodman on a few occasions during 1957-1958, played in the Tommy Dorsey ghost band (1958), and worked in a big band led by Urbie Green (1958-1960). 

In 1962, Kuhn returned to Germany, where he has explored more adventurous styles of jazz (including dates with his younger brother, keyboardist Joachim Kuhn) but still occasionally shows off his ties to swing. Kuhn recorded with an all-star group called Winner's Circle (1957), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1958), and as a leader starting in 1953, including a 1956 New York quartet date for Vanguard. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rolf-k%C3%BChn-mn0000312444/biography               

Personnel:  Rolf Kühn - clarinet;  Michael Urbaniak - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone;  Joachim Kühn - piano;   Klaus Koch - bass;  Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums

Solarius

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Rolf Kuhn - And His Sound Of Jazz

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:33
Size: 96,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:15)  1. Istambul
(3:58)  2. Waltzing Matilda
(3:44)  3. Lady Of Spain
(5:18)  4. Canadian Sunset
(4:10)  5. South Of The Border
(5:01)  6. Atlanta, GA
(3:08)  7. A Touch Of Berlin
(4:39)  8. Manhattan
(3:21)  9. Chicago
(3:56) 10. Caravan

Rolf Kuhn's style has evolved through the years. The clarinetist started out playing in German dance bands in the late '40s. He worked with radio orchestras starting in 1952 and moved to the U.S. in 1956. Kuhn subbed for Benny Goodman on a few occasions during 1957-1958, played in the Tommy Dorsey ghost band (1958), and worked in a big band led by Urbie Green (1958-1960). In 1962, Kuhn returned to Germany, where he has explored more adventurous styles of jazz (including dates with his younger brother, keyboardist Joachim Kuhn) but still occasionally shows off his ties to swing. Kuhn recorded with an all-star group called Winner's Circle (1957), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1958), and as a leader starting in 1953, including a 1956 New York quartet date for Vanguard. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rolf-kuhn-and-his-sound-of-jazz/462175205

Personnel: Rolf Kuhn (clarinet); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); John Bunch (piano); Jim Hall, Chuck Wayne (guitar); George Duvivier, Henry Grimes (bass); Don Lamond, Ray Mosca (drums).

And His Sound Of Jazz

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Rolf Kuhn - Big Band Connection

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:14
Size: 127,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:16)  1. Sweet Georgia Brown
(4:40)  2. On Green Dolphin Street
(4:03)  3. Autumn Leaves
(3:40)  4. Get Me To The Church On Time
(4:00)  5. As The Lonely Years Went By
(4:38)  6. Satin Doll
(6:45)  7. Sister Sadie
(4:42)  8. Cabaret
(4:46)  9. Don't Be That Way
(7:44) 10. Stella By Starlight
(3:56) 11. Yesterdays

As noted in the brief liner notes, clarinetist Rolf Kuhn utilizes the same instrumentation on this CD as the 1938 Benny Goodman big band (except for the lack of a rhythm guitar), but the orchestra (arranged by Rob Pronk and Barry Ross) actually sounds much closer to Count Basie's in the 1960s than to Goodman's. Kuhn draws his players from The NDR Big Band. Unfortunately, except for short spots (most notably on "Sister Sadie"), little is heard from his sidemen except in anonymous ensembles; altoist Herb Geller pops up just twice while pianist Fritz Pauer and trombonist Joe Gallardo make stronger impressions. 

Rolf Kuhn is a talented bop-oriented soloist and has several fine solos, but overall these swinging renditions of tunes such as "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Autumn Leaves" and "Satin Doll" are very safe, middle-of-the-road and without any real surprises. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-band-connection-mw0000173586

Personnel: Rolf Kuhn (clarinet); Herb Geller (saxophone); Joe Gallardo (trombone); Fritz Pauer (piano); Ronnie Stephenson, Lennart Axelsson, Johannes Faber, NDR Big Band.

Big Band Connection

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Rolf Kuhn & Friends - Affairs

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:49
Size: 131,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Into The Pocket
(6:11)  2. Easy Living
(6:30)  3. Just Friends
(7:07)  4. Fractions
(5:26)  5. Off A Bird
(5:26)  6. Polkadots & Moonbeams - Like Someone in Love
(5:21)  7. There Is A Mingus Amonk Us
(4:50)  8. Three Bopeteers
(7:08)  9. Lover Man
(4:17) 10. The Vertical Circle

Rolf Kuhn's style has evolved through the years. The clarinetist started out playing in German dance bands in the late '40s. He worked with radio orchestras starting in 1952 and moved to the U.S. in 1956. Kuhn subbed for Benny Goodman on a few occasions during 1957-1958, played in the Tommy Dorsey ghost band (1958), and worked in a big band led by Urbie Green (1958-1960). In 1962, Kuhn returned to Germany, where he has explored more adventurous styles of jazz (including dates with his younger brother, keyboardist Joachim Kuhn) but still occasionally shows off his ties to swing. Kuhn recorded with an all-star group called Winner's Circle (1957), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1958), and as a leader starting in 1953, including a 1956 New York quartet date for Vanguard. ~ Bio   https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/rolf-kuhn/id129557301#fullText

Affairs

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