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German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff (1928) debuted with
The Jazz Sextett (april 1957), featuring
Gary Peacock (bass), Karl Sanner (drums), Bud Shank (flute) and Bob Cooper (oboe) and containing the
21-minute Yesterdays (with guest Tony Scott on clarinet).
A quintet with Gunther Kronberg (alto and baritone saxes), Gunter Lenz (bass), Rolf Hubner (drums), and Heinz Sauer (tenor and soprano saxes) is documented on Now Jazz Ramwong (june 1964).
Mangelsdorff
was already a veteran when he joined
Alex von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra in 1967,
displayed his allegiances on
And His Friends, a series of collaborations (recorded between 1967 and 1969) with trumpeter Don Cherry, altoist Lee Konitz, pianist Wolfgang Dauner, vibraphonist Karl Berger and drummer Elvin Jones.
He first proved his compositional and improvisational skills with the 22-minute Room 1220, off Room 1220 (august 1970), a collaboration with John Surman on baritone saxophone.
His technique of multiphonics (playing multiple notes simultaneously) was centerstage on the solo-trombone album Trombirds (december 1972).
Thanks to his "invention", Mangelsdorff was able to explore a vast territory of subtleties on Tromboneliness (march 1976) and Solo (february 1982).
His versatility allowed him to play in different configurations, from
the trio of The Wide Point (may 1975), featuring
Palle Daniellson on bass and Elvin Jones on drums,
to the trio of the live Trilogue (november 1976), with
Weather Report's bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Alphonse Mouzon;
from
the quartet of Solo Now (june 1976), with Gunter Hampel on vibraphone, Joachim Kuehn on piano and Pierre Favre on drums,
to the Mumps quartet of A Matter Of Taste (march 1977), with John Surman (saxophones, piano, synthesizer), Barre Phillips (bass), Stu Martin (percussion and synthesizer);
from the quartet of A Jazz Tune I Hope (august 1978), with pianist Wolfgang Dauner, bassist Eddie Gomez and Elvin Jones,
to the Trombone Summit (may 1980) for four trombones and rhythm section;
from the collaboration with Dauner, Two Is A Company (december 1982),
to the collaboration with altoist Lee Konitz, Art Of The Duo (june 1983);
from the quartet of Hot Hut (1985) with Dauner and Jones,
to
the percussion ensemble (plus Dauner's piano) of
Moon At Noon (april 1987).
Mangelsdorff more than simply dialogued with his partners: he could
simulate an entire band.
Similado's Capriccio A Milano, (january 1989) was Albert Mangelsdorff with an Italian group.
After the solo albums Purity (1990) and Lanaya (november 1993),
Mangelsdorff entered the digital era with
Movin' On (1990), a quartet that featured
Bruno Spoerri on saxophones and electronics, as well as
Ernst Reijseger on cello, and that also released
Shake Shuttle And Blow (january 1999).
One of his last recordings was
Music For Jazz Orchestra (september 2002).
Mangelsdorff died in 2005.
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