In its 14 years of operation, IN +OUT Records, the independent
jazz label based in the university city of Freiburg in south-west
Germany, has established a solid international reputation for jazz
recordings of the highest musical and technical quality.
Its founder and CEO, Frank Kleinschmidt, named the company after
a 1964 Blue Note album by Joe Henderson for which he had a great
affection. “Our aim,” says Kleinschmidt, “is to
produce innovative contemporary jazz music recorded with state-of-the
art fidelity.”
From the marvellous live concerts by Lester Bowie’s Brass
Fantasy, The Fire This Time, and the all-star saxophone repertory
band, ROOTS (with Arthur Blythe, Nathan Davis, Chico Freeman and
Sam Rivers), recorded at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival, to the unique
and powerful musical messages of James ‘Blood’ Ulmer,
the non-conformist creativity of Chico Freeman’s remarkable
Brainstorm group and the intrepid vocal improvisations of the inimitable
Urszula Dudziak, the IN +OUT catalogue offers a fascinating variety
of quality jazz productions, which have won high praise from jazz
reviewers around the world.
Recent additions to the catalogue include The Art Of Three, a trio
recording by Billy Cobham (d), Kenny Barron (p) and Ron Carter (b)
which has had rave reviews; and a newly-discovered album by Rumanian
piano virtuoso, Eugen Cicero – Swinging Piano Classics –
which features his distinctive jazz versions of pieces by Bach,
Mozart and Chopin plus well-loved standards like “Autumn Leaves”
and “Misty”.
A key element in the IN +OUT success story is that the majority
of the productions are recorded and mastered at one of Germany’s
most sophisticated, high-tech. recording studios - Klang Studio
Leyh, near Heidelberg - which is run by the brilliant sound engineer,
Winfried Leyh, a wizard in the art of digital recording technology.
IN +OUT Records has won widespread critical acclaimfor many of
its releases. They include:
The provocative The Fire This Time by Lester Bowie ’s Brass
Fantasy, commended by French critic Christian Béthune as
“un disque superb”;
Stablemates by ROOTS, described by Crescendo’s Ken Rattenbury
as “An absolute joy to listen to throughout; an essential
acquisition for the dedicated reedman
and the enlightened enthusiast.”
A landmark album by the acknowledged master of jazz harmonica,
Toots Thielemans – The Live Takes, Volume 1, a compilation
of nine outstanding tracks recorded in various locations between
March 1994 and December 1998.
And Karl Berger’s Conversations, an album of duo performances
by Berger (piano and vibraphone) with saxophonist/flautist Carlos
Ward, bassist Dave Holland, violinist Mark Feldman, trombonist Ray
Anderson, guitarist James ‘Blood’ Ulmer and singer Ingrid
Sertso, which has been hailed by British critic Mike Hennessey as
one of Berger’s finest recordings.
Other outstanding releases from IN + OUT are:
Threshold by Chico Freeman’s Brainstorm;
We Remember Cannon by the Nat Adderley Quintet, featuring alto
saxophonist Vincent Herring;
Stablemates, the first studio recording by ROOTS;
Blues Allnight by the James ‘Blood’ Ulmer Blues Experience
with Grant Calvin Weston, Ronnie Drayton and Amin Ali;
Live At The Bayerischer Hof, James ‘Blood’ Ulmer’s
first live album in ten years, recorded at the famous Bayerischer
Hof Hotel in Munich and described by Ulmer as a turning point in
his recording career;
Magic Lady, an electrifying live album by Urszula Dudziak and the
great fusion group, Walk Away;
In My Own Sweet Way by the late, great trumpet star, Woody Shaw;
And a fantastic and absolutely indispensable live recording made
at the 1989 Jazz Festival in Leverkusen, Germany, on the occasion
of Art Blakey’s 70th birthday. This album, Happy Birthday
To Bu!, is a star-studded tribute to the indefatigable Blakey, who
led the incomparable Jazz Messengers for 45 years. It features,
as well as Blakey’s regular group of the time - Bryan Lynch,
Donald Harrison, Javon Jackson, Frank Lacy, Geoff Keezer and Essiet
Okun Essiet - former Messengers Terence Blanchard, Freddie Hubbard,
Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller, Walter Davis Jr. and
Buster Williams, plus special guest stars Roy Haynes and Michele
Hendricks, who sings Mr.Blakey, a song specially composed for Art’s
birthday by the co-founder of the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver.
In addition to recording major American jazz artists, IN + OUT
Records is pledged to give recording opportunities to outstanding
European musicians and among those to be found in the catalogue
are award-winning pianist, vocalist, composer and arranger, Paul
Kuhn, Austrian tenor saxophone icon, Hans Koller, Dutch keyboard
virtuoso, Jasper van’t Hof (with Bob Malach, Michal Urbaniak,
Bo Stief and Alphonse Mouzon), rising German trombone star Lucas
Heidepriem, and, on the company ’s HOT SHOT label, the fantastic
trumpet supremo, Maynard Ferguson with his Big Bop Nouveau Band
and the multi-national Jumping Jivers, with an album saluting the
great Louis Jordan, Hey, Louis!.
These are some of the highlights from the catalogue of IN +OUT
Records – the company which brings you jazz music that’s
