MPS Music

19/12/2024

Treat yourself - or your loved ones - with our limited vinyls, as colourful as the ornaments on your Christmas tree. Three jazz icons and their legendary albums from the MPS treasure trove.

Oscar Peterson - Walking The Line (Coke Bottle Green transparent)
Joe Pass - Intercontinetal (Curacao transparent)
Baden Powell - Tristeza On Guitar (Red transparent)

They are AAA and come with aditional liner notes and a scan of the original master tape. Better be quick to get your copy now, so that it arrives in time for the holiday season.

Find the vinyls here: https://mps.lnk.to/ChristmasVinylFA

18/12/2024

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of French pianist Martial Solal. He has been a major musical voice since the 1950s, with his perfect technique, ingenuity and spontaneity. And our histories were intertwined, Solal's playing can be heard on many MPS records, solo albums like "Nothing but Piano" or "The Solosolal" as well as a handful of collaboration albums like the famous "Zoller Koller Solal" or his live album with Lee Konitz, "Live at the Berlin Jazz Days 1980". He will always be remembered as a formative force in the jazz world.

13/12/2024

A last treat from Malia before Christmas, enjoy her interpretation of the Whitney Houston classic "I Have Nothing". Her upcoming album "One Grass Skirt To London" will be out on January 10th.
Listen or pre-order: https://MPS.lnk.to/OneGrassSkirtToLondonFA

“I wouldn’t have dared to cover Whitney Houston a decade ago, but I’ve grown into it. Her unparalleled voice and ability to convey emotion inspired me from the moment I bought her album in London", says Malia.

04/12/2024

This month we feature one of the great jazz singers on MPS: Mark Murphy. His 1967 recording "Midnight Mood" lands in the middle of his “European decade”, and it is one of the most beautiful, striking documents of his vocal skills. No wonder we picked this recording for December's album of the month.

Check out the album here: https://VA.lnk.to/AlbumOfTheMonthFA

03/12/2024

"This album has been a long time coming", says Malia about her upcoming release "One Grass Skirt To London". To find out more about the album, process and the personal stories behind the music, watch the full length interview which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OutYdAkV83s

22/11/2024

On his new album, Rolf Kühn presents a touching version of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven", which is out today. His final recording FEARLESS, will be out on December 6th.
Listen here: https://MPS.lnk.to/TearsInHeavenFA

08/11/2024

Embark on a sonic journey like no other. INFRA-RED by THE DAVE PIKE is finally reissued and out now on AAA vinyl and CD. This iconic album once again captivates with its groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and soul. A testament to the innovative spirit of vibraphonist Dave Pike and guitarist Volker Kriegel.

Listen or buy: https://MPS.lnk.to/Infra-RedFA

04/11/2024

If you think about Bossa Nova you have to think about Baden Powell too. This month we want to shine a light on the 1975 release "Apaixonado" that was recorded in Rio de Janeiro in '73. The second to last album on MPS once more shows why the guitarist is regarded as one of the greatest in the world of Brazilian music. When Powell was once asked about what he was doing when not being on tour he simply answered "mostly I'm in love then", which makes total sense since "Apaixonado" translates to "in love".
Maybe you also fall in love with Powell's music on November's album of the month.

Find the album here: https://VA.lnk.to/AlbumOfTheMonthFA

29/10/2024

There was definitely quite some excitement in the studio. Listen to Rolf Kühn talk about the writing and recording process of "Fearless", his last recording, and find out what Frank Chastenier (piano), Jörg Achim Keller (arranger), Nanni Johannsson (sound engineer) and Rodrigo Bauzá (leader Cureim Quartet) tell about their experience. SUBTITLES AVAILABLE.

The final studio album by jazz legend Rolf Kühn is set to be released on December 6, 2024, by MPS. The clarinetist, who sadly passed away on August 18, 2022,...

23/10/2024

Dave Pike Set - Infra-Red / Out November 8th on CD and LP (AAA)

The infamous Dave Pike Set's "Infra-Red" is being re-released by MPS!
Infra-Red (1970) stands as a testament to the innovative spirit of its creators. Led by vibraphonist Dave Pike, along with guitarist Volker Kriegel, J. A. Rettenbacher on bass and Peter Baumeister on drums, the band works together weaving intricate melodies and captivating rhythms throughout each composition. Jazz-Rock and Fusion meet psychodelic sounds on this recording.

You can pre-order your copy (LP, CD or digital) now: https://MPS.lnk.to/Infra-RedFA

18/10/2024

"Symphonic Swampfire" by Rolf Kühn is our album of the month October. Inspired by the captivating and breathtaking landscape of Ibiza, which Rolf Kühn discovered for the first time in 1970, this recording was created in 1978.
Being interested in symphonic music, Kühn said about the album: "I tried to develop constantly by always taking lessons, from, among others, classical conductor Charles Mackerras. After composing a lot for film, TV and advertising, parallel to my work in jazz, "Symphonic Swampfire“ was the first album that brought it all together."

Take a listen here: https://VA.lnk.to/AlbumOfTheMonthFA

10/10/2024

At you get 30% off on the entire MPS catalogue until Sunday. Take that chance to buy your favourite albums in CD or High-Res Quality! Also check out the exclusive compilation "Reunion In The Black Forest".
Discover it with the LINK IN BIO

10/10/2024

At Qobuz you get 30% off on the entire MPS catalogue until Sunday. Take that chance to buy your favourite albums in CD or High-Res Quality! Also check out the exclusive compilation "Reunion In The Black Forest".
Discover it here: https://www.qobuz.com/store-router/search?q=mps-records-on-sale-2024

29/09/2024

NEW ROLF KÜHN ALBUM "FEARLESS" OUT ON DECEMBER 6TH

Today would have been Rolf Kühn's 95th birthday and we want to use this occasion to reveal the gift that Rolf has left for all his fan. The clarinetist, who passed away on August 18, 2022, had completed recording his final work just weeks before in the legendary Hansa Studios.

Watch the music video: https://youtu.be/SmYU85DMIqk
Listen to the first single "Somewhere": https://MPS.lnk.to/SomewhereFA
Pre-order the album: https://MPS.lnk.to/FearlessFA

Rolf Kühn was an exceptional artist, a German jazz musician of the highest rank, and one of the few truly world-class talents, according to critic Bert Noglik. Kühn had no idea it would be his last recording when he met with his quartet at Berlin’s Hansa Studio in late June 2022. And so, "Fearless" will come as a surprise to the jazz world, released as the final musical testament of the "Gentleman of Jazz" (as the FAZ described him). The album was carefully completed and curated with great love and respect for Kühn’s vision by his closest circle – his brother Joachim, his wife Melanie, his band, and arranger Jörg Achim Keller.

Kühn's compositions, whether balladic or fast-paced and driving, always left room for what jazz meant to him: creating music together, letting it take flight through improvisation that developed from listening and feeling. This time, he said, he had written the material as a personal experiment, composing not at the piano but directly notating the music. "The piano was always my instrument of control. Now, I feel like I don’t need it anymore." The main themes of his compositions were fully written out, but everything in between was open and arose from the moment. Even who took the first solo wasn’t predetermined; such spontaneity had always been essential to him.
"Fearless" includes seven original compositions by Kühn, as well as three cover versions. As his biographer Maxi Broecking writes in the liner notes, when listening to the album, you hear that virtuoso, sharply contoured yet warm clarinet tone, crystal clear and precise even in the softer passages. This is present in tender, dreamy ballads like "Somewhere" (L. Bernstein) and "Tears in Heaven" (E. Clapton), as well as in the spontaneously developed "Free Exit."
In 2023, Rolf Kühn posthumously received the German Jazz Award for his lifetime achievement (together with his brother Joachim). Reflecting on his brother, Joachim Kühn stated: “My brother Rolf has been for me the world’s best jazz clarinetist since the early 1960s. He’s stayed that way even now. His tone is unparalleled and immediately recognizable. Now, at 92 years old, his last album is underway. Completely new, independent compositions. You can hear so much passion and feeling unlike ever before in his new solos. A true, incredible legacy.“

Kühn's quartet was unlike any other, representing the meeting of four generations that transcended the boundaries of time and space through music: bassist Lisa Wulff, percussionist Túpac Mantilla, pianist Frank Chastenier, and Kühn himself, 92 years old, on clarinet.
At his final concert at the beginning of June 2022 in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, he played with violinist Rodrigo Bauzá for the first time. As he had wished, but was no longer able to hear himself, certain recordings were later complemented by string arrangements from Jörg Achim Keller for Bauzá’s Cuareim Quartet. This collage technique was one he had already used in earlier recordings for MPS, such as on his album Symphonic Swampfire. Always testing and expanding musical boundaries, following his own sonic vision. The music he loved, to the very end. Fearless.

The first glimpse into the album comes with the single "Somewhere", released on September 27, a classic written by Leonard Bernstein in the 1950s for West Side Story—a time when Kühn was living in the United States. He had performed his own interpretation only once publicly, at the XJazz Festival on May 3, 2022, at Berlin’s Emmauskirche.

The album will be available on LP, CD, and digital formats.

The final studio album by jazz legend Rolf Kühn is set to be released on December 6, 2024, by MPS. The clarinetist, who sadly passed away on August 18, 2022,...

27/09/2024

This might come as a surpise: Here's a new single by our very dear late Rolf Kühn. Stay tuned for more news. Meanwhile enjoy "Somewhere"!

Listen to the single here: https://MPS.lnk.to/SomewhereFA

25/09/2024

MALIA - ONE GRASS SKIRT TO LONDON (Out January 10th)

“Behind each of these songs is either a memory, a personal experience or the feeling of being able to convey a part of myself. I’m aware that this album embraces different genres. But if it’s meant to convey a certain image of myself, it’s that of a music lover in the broadest sense of the word. When music touches me, moves me, it doesn’t matter to me whether it belongs to one genre or another.”

Listen now to the first single Everybody’s Talkin’: https://MPS.lnk.to/EverybodysTalkinPR
Or watch the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnn99hCTYs

One Grass Skirt To London is an 8,200-kilometer journey from Malawi to London, where the singer emigrated to as a teenager. Not only was it a geographical and temporal journey but also a musical one. Though most of all, it was a sentimental one, since the 14 songs carefully chosen for this album are so precious to her because of the memories they contain. Almost all are taken from film soundtracks, from “Everybody’s Talkin’” from Midnight Cowboy to “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun, you find “Pure Imagination” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as “Here On My Own” from Fame. All of them possess an unique power to evoke an emotion through their music that has shaped her identity, helped overcome trials, and bloom as an artist. Thus, it’s no surprise to hear, in the voice of Malia, sometimes even within the same song, the little girl, the teenager, the woman, and also, as if through a fascinating act of vocal transmigration, the soul of those who are no longer with us.

In these 14 tracks, she recounts crucial moments in her life, intense emotions, intimate revelations gleaned in the semi-darkness of cinemas in Blantyre (Malawi), Putney in South London, or in front of the family TV. It is also through film music that she pays a touching tribute to her father in “When I’m Cleaning Windows”, created by George Formby for the 1936 film Keep Your Seat Please.
Featuring Alexandre Saada, bassist Jean-Daniel Botta and drummer Laurent Sériès, with whom Malia has collaborated since Black Orchid.

20/09/2024

Our wonderful Malia will release her new album "One Grass Skirt To London" in January. Today we treat you with the first single of the album "Everybody's Talkin'", Watch the music video and listen to the new single: https://MPS.lnk.to/EverybodysTalkinFA

With her new studio album "One Grass Skirt To London" Malia presents a life’s story filled with tracks from her youth and important moments throughout her life. Her new record is an 8,200-kilometer journey from Malawi to London, where the singer emigrated to as a teenager. Not only was it a geographical and temporal journey but also a musical one. Though most of all, it was a sentimental one, since the 14 songs carefully chosen for this album are so precious to her because of the memories they contain.