Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra - Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (ECM, 1990)

This post is by Dan

Alexander von Schlippenbach (cond); Benny Bailey (tr); Thomas Heberer (tr); Henry Lowther (tr); Kenny Wheeler (tr, flhn); Paul van Kemenade (as); Felix Wahnschaffe (as); Gerd Dudek (ts, ss, cl, fl); Walter Gauchel (ts); Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky (bs); Willem Breuker (bs, bcl); Henning Berg (tb); Hermann Breuer (tb); Hubert Katzenbeier (tb); Utz Zimmermann (btb); Aki Takase (p); Günter Lenz (b); Ed Thigpen (d); Misha Mengelberg (p)

Recorded May, 1989

The Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (BCJO), conducted by Alexander von Schlippenbach, is an enormous ensemble consisting of 19 members, including guest Misha Mengelberg on piano. Their eponymous album contains only three tracks: Kenny Wheeler's "Ana" and Mengelberg's "Salz" and "Reef und Kneebus." 

Although generally associated with "free music," the BCJO is more disciplined than one might expect. It's not as adventurous as Schippenbach's other unit, the Globe Unity Orchestra. Of course, chaos is a valid mode of expression in jazz and is usually planned at least to some degree rather than totally spontaneous. BCJO members take expressive liberties within long-form structures, resulting in grand performances, some of which are profoundly unique.

"Ana" also appears on Wheeler's quintet recording The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990), cut nine months after the BCJO session. The BCJO version is twice as long (22:29) and includes almost four times as many players. It's literally a magnum opus! On both recordings this mournfully deliberate tune delivers an emotional impact like few others. 

Mengelberg's two pieces are quite different from each other. "Salz" is a simple vehicle for a series of solos, most notably Willem Breuker's bass clarinet solo that leads off the sequence. It's relatively brief compared to the 19:28 minutes of "Reef und Kneebus," which is a continuum of ebbs and flows, in and out of tempo. The soloists each break from the tempo but the orchestra remains present in delightful dialogues with each soloist. To me, this is one of Mengelberg's most engaging compositions and performances. 

The digital recording was made in Berlin and engineered by Sören Pehrs. It meets ECM's high standard for sound quality. 

BCJO apparently made only two other albums: Live in Japan (DIW, 1996) and The Morlocks and Other Pieces (FMP, 1994). I have the Japanese concert, which also includes "The Morlocks," but have not heard the FMP record.