Stefan Winter »The Little Trumpet«

Life is no more as it used to be on the planet Panacoustica, home of the instruments. The machines have come to take possession of the dominion. they hunt for the instruments to press them to tin cans.

Up on that planet in the city called Polyphony is where the Little Trumpet lives. For several days she has been sitting home all alone and frightened since her parents went out to visit friends and did not return home. Startled and stunned, she starts looking for them.

Out on the streets she meets the alto saxophone. Taking pity on the Little Trumpet, he lets her come with him. He lives together with a group of instruments: a tuba, a trombone, a guitar, a vibraphone, a bass and a drum.

The instruments decide to help the poor Little Trumpet. So they go out to free their friends and the planet - without force but the power of music...

 

Stefan F. Winter - founder of the label JMT who studied classical and jazz at Cologne and Bern - has written and composed this jazzy fairy tale. The Little Trumpet (JMT 919 007-2) was released for the first time on LP in 1986. Stefan Winter: "Jazz is always composed songwise. You improvise only over this one song. I did not really like that too much. What I tried is to compose a story where every musician takes part in the development of the music that stays in the scope of the story."

The band features some of the best known and most inventive of today's young musicians and shows a "Who's Who" of artists who have recorded for JMT up until today:

 

First of all, trumpeter Herb Robertson who not only plays the title-role but also is responsible for the arrangements of The Little Trumpet. Robertson started playing trumpet at the age of ten. From 1969 to 1971 he studied traditional jazz forms at the Berklee College of Music, but then changed his perspective. So in 1971 he started devoting himself to the new contemporary avantgarde. His actual breakthrough happened as he met the innovative saxophone player Tim Berne who is a leading individual on the New York avantgarde scene. These two remain friends today. Robertson released four albums under his own name on JMT.

 

After turning twenty, saxophone player Tim Berne started his intensive relationship with music. In 1974 he moved to New York, met Julius Hemphill and started a kind of an apprenticeship at this much older musician. In 1979 Berne started to release his musical ideas on his own label Empire, accompanied by musicians such as Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Herb Robertson, Joey Baron and John Zorn. In the meantime Tim Berne is one of the most recognized artists of the New York avantgarde scene. Under his own name he recorded six albums for JMT and two others with the cooperative trio Miniature.

 

"Every few years, a guitarist appears who manages to wring something new out of the most-played instrument in the world. Guitar watchers now have the chance to discover Bill Frisell", the New York Times wrote in 1985.

 

In his childhood Bill Frisell started his musical career by playing the clarinet. His interest in the guitar - an instrument he nowadays masters more innovative than anyone else - started out when he listened to pop music coming out of his parent's radio. Along with his own band Bill Frisell played with an endless list of musical personalities: John Zorn, Marc Johnson (Bass Desires), Paul Motian, Jan Garbarek, Marianne Faithful and Julius Hemphill, to name a few.

Bill Frisell is member of the Paul Motian Trio and his Broadway Band.

 

1945 born Bob Stewart has been a member of the Bill Frisell Band for a long time. The outstanding tuba player Stewart is the one who - along with Howard Johnson - redefined the meaning of tuba in jazz. Stewart managed to break offensively through the boring discussions about styles and directions in jazz. On his own albums (two on JMT) he joined together nearly every possible style of jazz creating ingenious structures.

 

At the age of nine Robin Eubanks blew a trombone for his first time. Ever since he has been fascinated by this instrument. After his musical studies he moved to the Big Apple, where he was one of the founders of the famous Brooklyn based M-Base Collective together with alto saxophone player Steve Coleman. Along with this Eubanks has played with Philly Joe Jones, Frank Foster, Slide Hampton and many more.

 

He has recorded four albums on JMT.

 

Together with one of the most booked bass players of the New York jazz scene, the well known Anhony Cox, the outstanding vibraphone and marimbaphone player Warren Smith and the new star on the jazz sky Reggie Nicholson on drums, the fairy tale The Little Trumpet became a musical experience par excellence.

 

Stefan F. Winter about the music: "The fundamental idea was to create a little cross-section through jazz. It should include blues as well as free imrovisations over some changes, so that different things fuse with one another."

 

A target he achieved:

 

"The music of The Little Trumpet offers a varied raid through different styles and sorts of playing of todays jazz, extending exact composed parts as well as free improvisation." (NRZ Kultur, Record tip)

 

"Fabulous" (Westdeutsche Allgemeine)

 

"One of the most original and lovable jazz records of the times." (Darmstädter Echo)

 

"A festival of phantasy and joy" (Die Welt)

 

"A very special joy of listening" (Elmshorner Nachrichten)

 

"A delightful record" (Buzz)

 

"...that is finally obtainable on Compact Disc. Digitally remastered and with a new booklet including the story of The Little Trumpet we present an album that was promised in 1986 to 'maybe come to take the same place in jazz music as Prokofievs Peter and the Wolf has taken in classical music'. " (Westdeutsche Allgemeine)

 

-Original Press Text written in 1986