Emil Mangelsdorff Quartett

Few musicians’ lives embody the continuity of German jazz as emphatically as that of Emil Mangelsdorff. The Frankfurt-born musician is an authority in many respects. Originally trained as an accordion player, he studied clarinet in the early 40s and clandestinely performed with the Frankfurt-based Hotclub Combo. His dedication for the music he loved was enough for two, though – he also introduced his younger brother Albert to jazz.

After the war, Mangelsdorff rapidly advanced to become the driving force of Frankfurt’s jazz scene. Originating from swing, and never being among the iconoclasts of German jazz he yet always had an open ear for innovations such as free jazz and jazz-rock.

Constantly refining his tremendously light, relaxed tone has always been of the greatest importance to him. For Emil Mangelsdorff, jazz was and still remains to be an expression of joviality and vitality from the perspective of an artist who has seen life in all of its shades.

Earlier this night – in a soiree at the Savoy hotel – publicist Siegfried Schmidt-Joos, and Emil Mangelsdorff will set the mood for the cinematic portrait of Jon Hendricks (Blues March – Soldier Jon Hendricks) for which the alto-saxophonist and his pianist Thilo Wagner have created the original film-score.