Ulrich Gumpert & Gunter Baby Sommer - Das Donnernde Leben - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Ulrich Gumpert - Quartette [COMPACT DISCS] date 04/05/2011

Ulrich Gumpert is known for his interesting a fun jazz compositions. Gumpert, a German jazz musician, shows his strength on the piano along with the other fabulous musicians in his quartet Jurg Wickihalder on saxophone, Jan Roder on bass, and Michael Griener on drums. On this new album, the Ulrich Gumpert Quartet plays many of Gumpert's compositions as well as works by Wickihalder, Griener, and Roder. Berg Noglik says of the quartet, They make progress in bringing the swing back to free jazz.

Ulrich Gumpert and Gunter 'Baby' Sommer's second duo- on Intakt Records spans a wide arch of blues, boogie-woogie, hard bop, arrangements of German folk songs and free jazz. Sommer's drum fills clearly show why he got his nickname from Louis Armstrong's drummer Baby Dodd's; while a piece like 'Preubbische Elegie' demonstrates what a great composer Gumpert is. Oscar Peterson, Red Garland, Hampton Hawes and Roland Hanna are all on the recording.