Jutta Hipp - Hipp Is Cool: The Life And Art Of Jutta Hipp [6CD+DVD] (2015)

An incredible tribute to German pianist Jutta Hipp – one of the few female players in the postwar European jazz scene, and one of the few who managed to make a splash on this side of the Atlantic too! Jutta's best known to American audiences for a handful of records she cut for Blue Note – and this set takes those records, and moves way way past them – to including a huge range of material that really opens up our understanding of Hipp's music in her all-too-short career! The CDs feature early German recordings – in a number of sessions with small groups that include a quintet with Emil Mangelsdorff on alto and Joki Freeund on tenor, a number of performances in the New Jazz Stars group of tenorist Hans Koller, work in a quintet with Attila Zoller on guitar, another sextet with Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, and a group co-led with baritone saxoponist Lars Gullin.

The set then moves onto American trio recordings from 1956 – including a few tracks from the Newport Jazz Festival – plus a key session with tenorist Zoot Sims – and the package is concluded by very early recordings, some with Hans Koller, and some from the mid 40s with the Lime City Swing Club! The set also features performances on DVD with Hans Koller – and the whole thing comes with a massive 208 page coffee table book – filled not only with German and English notes and biography, plus a recording index, hundreds of photos, record sleeves, labels, and even some of Jutta's own artwork too! A huge amount of music – and a very beautiful package too!