Fritz Hartschuh Quartet: Autumn In Europe (1964)

A relaxed swinging rarity of German jazz.

Granted, Hartschuh isn't in the league of Bobby Hutcherson, Walt Dickerson, Gary Burton or his countryman Wolfgang Schlüter, but he's clever enough to stick with ballads and medium tempo songs most of the time, which fit his skills best.

All players here were part of the lively German jazz scene of the late 1940s to early 1960s. Thanks to the American soldiers based in Germany after the war, many jazz greats from the US visited the local jazz clubs, needing competent rthyhm sections for their gigs. Hartschuh was the "Hauspianist" of the legendary Heidelberg club "The Cave" were he backed Chet Baker, Zoot Sims, Milt Jackson and many others. Dieter von Goetze is the other player here with a noteworthy jazz career. Von Goetze worked as an audio engineer for the Hessischer Rundfunk and played with Volker Kriegel and Joki Freud, as well as Leo Wright, Dizzy Gillespie and Eric Dolphy.

This doesn't come as highly recommended as the Michael Naura Quintet posted here in September, yet it's a rare and entertaining, mellow straight ahead session that's definitely worth a spin or two.

Fritz Hartschuh Quartet: Autumn In Europe
MCE ST 37822, Germany 1964

1. Rockhouse 3:11
2. Autumn Leaves 4:15
3. We'll Be Together Again 5:27
4. High Flight 4:20
5. Loose Walk 2:46
6. Willow Weep For Me 6:24
7. Stella By Starlight 5:23
8. Alice In Wonderland 4:32
9. Body And Soul 5:28

Fritz Hartschuh (vib) Rolf Lüttgens (p) Dieter von Goetze (b) Rolf Quenzel (d)
Recorded at the Walldorf Studios, near Frankfurt, West Germany, on the 11th and 13th of May 1964; engineer: Hans Pflazgraf