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Dave Pike, Jazz For The Jet Set, 1966.

Photo de Hugh Bell

#Dave Pike #Jazz For The Jet Set #1966 #Hugh Bell

The Dave Pike Set, Live at the Philharmonie

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6076lt

Liner Notes by Heinz Werner Wunderlich; translated by Sylvia Wunderlich

This is the third record of the Dave Pike Set that has been made within a year, not counting the contribution to the live-recording “MPS-Jazz-Concert ‘69”. I would have to think hard to find a European group with similar success. But why waste time pondering — let us join these four in enjoying their triumph and listen to what they present here in this their third record of swinging surprises.

When you listen to “Live at the Philharmonie”, the discussion about the Berlin Jazz Days '69 has probably not yet ended. It was — and still is — a tough one, and we don’t want to get into it. There is only one thing that I would like to point out, because it may be of some importance, in that this is a live recording from that festival: actually the discussion seems to be about the audience. Can an admirer of free jazz or a fan of progressive pop be expected to listen to at least half of a concert of straight jazz? Or can one — take the reverse — expect that the ardent listener of traditional jazz or swing be all ears to rock 'n’ roll? Can one try to introduce those in either bag to music, that they regard as jazz of their grandfathers (or their sons)? And can one hope, that they tolerate this supposedly uninteresting something for at least an hour, and not spoil with booing the joy of listening for those for whom it is not at all uninteresting? For what else sparked the discussion if not the “boos”?

Stop! — we didn’t want to get involved in this because, if there was a group at the Berlin Jazz Days '89 that was omitted from this battle of the spoken and written words, it was the Dave Pike Set.

“Well, they play music for every taste” is what you hear and one is horrified at the insult contained in this “compliment.” Actually it is just an unfortunate formulation. If one says: "The music of this quartet can be enjoyed by everyone because it swings, because it is progressive, but still based on tradition,” then this sounds not much more elegant, but it is to the point. Instead of the familiar statement, “an excellent mixture of jazz and pop”, the words that John O'Brien-Docker used when he introduced the Set in Berlin hit home: “an interesting combination of experience and discovery”. This is exactly what it is, and those who have ears to hear, let them put this record on and absorb the musical trip into the past and the future, let alone the present. A group with the quality, substance and concrete concepts of the Set can allow itself to integrate in good conscience into its music any and all elements that it and — as its success shows — it’s audience think fit together: free and “normal” jazz, progressive rock, oriental sounds and a lot more. So, the Dave Pike Set is a group that the conservative as well as the progressive fans can really appreciate. Isn’t that something?

One expects to find general information about the musicians on a record cover. But I want to pass over this chapter. Those who own the two previous records are well enough informed, and those who begin their Pike collection with this album will, without a doubt, try to get the first two as soon as possible (Noisy Silence — Gentle Noise, MPS 15215 and Four Reasons, MPS 15253).

There was lots to do this past year of 1969. The MPS tour, the festivals in Alba Regia, Hungary; Ljubljana, Yugoslavia; Montreux, Switzerland; Prague, Czechoslovakia and Berlin. Polish fans waited in vain though, as the plane could not land in Warsaw due to fog. Then there was the Holy Hill Jazz Meeting in Heidelberg; the radio exhibition in Stuttgart and a tremen-dous number of concerts and club performan-ces from Aarau to Villingen. The four could be seen on TV too, for instance in the Jazz-workshop of the North German Radio Network and in the Dusty Springfield Show. No wonder, that with this success, the fame of the Set even spread to the United States. In Down Beat’s 17th International Jazz Critics Poll one can find the Dave Pike Set in fourth place among the combos, which according to the tough judges deserve a wider recognition. This actually was real fast, because the group was founded just short of a year before the results of this poll were published.

On this record you can hear what actually happened on stage of the Berlin Philharmonic, the evening of November 7th, 1989. And you hear it clearly and obviously, that a detailed comment on each number is superfluous.

Nevertheless, a few remarks:

Hey Duke presents the Set’s contribution to the Ellington-Homage which was the overall theme of this festival. It is a combination of three single compositions, one by Dave and two by Volker. Choruses by Dave and Hans frame fascinating, free collective improvisations.

Mambo Jack The Scoffer features Volker on the unamplified guitar. An extremely cheerful and catchy, novelly constructed tune with a country & western touch, that could easily become a hit. Solos by Volker and Dave, who was inspired to compose this number by thinking of Mambo Jack, a funny dance teacher near New York.

Riff For Rent is a typical, swinging Kriegel composition, a blues in eighths. Volker and Dave solo against the background that has become a trade mark of Hans and Peter, one of the best European rhythm groups.

Nobody’s Afraid Of Howard Monster is a real vexatious thing. That’s why the four simply called it “Monster”, before it got it’s final and defiant title. A short introduction by Hans and Peter, then the theme, in which the rhythm changes from bar to bar, beginning with 4/4, moving to 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 6/4, 5/4 and to 2/4. Dave’s chorus is in 4/4, Volker’s in 7/4. After Peter’s solo Hans shows his talent on the cello with a blues that changes from an eleven to a twelve bar structure. Another drum solo (Hans makes a fast switch back to the bass-guitar), and then the theme again as in the beginning.

In The Secret Mystery Of Hensh Volker tries to create a strange but peaceful atmosphere through a “touch of India”. The theme here is modal, that means based on one tone, and consists of only two motifs. Choruses by Dave and Volker, then a sudden accelerando changes the ballad-like beauty into a free, collective chaos, in which Hans presents brillant flageolett passages. The inspiration for this piece was Dave’s weird, but apparently good natured dog, Hensh.

These are just a few of the things you’ll hear. There are many more, and I bet you’ll dig “Live at the Philharmonie” as I do.

Dave Pike, Vibraphone

Volker Kriegel, Guitar

J. A. Rettenbacher, Bass, Cello, E-Bass

Peter Baumeister, Drums

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