More Nipples

Dateline: Germany, 1969. The legendary lineup. Over the course of two long studio sessions, Peter Brötzmann assembled one of the masterpieces of free jazz from Europe, NIPPLES, which was reissued by the Unheard Music Series in 2000. Brötzmann has always mentioned more material, but thought it had been discarded long ago. But in 2002, FMP founder Jost Gebers discovered a reel of material, recorded by both the quartet (without Bailey and Parker) and sextet incarnations, in the FMP archive. Here, then, for the first time, is an entire record's worth of alternate pieces, including a sextet blowout featuring Parker on soprano saxophone and Bailey's guitar much more up-front than on the original LP, and two fantastic quartet pieces. The second of these, "Fat Man Walks," starts with an anthemic, chordal riff, building to a climax that is comparable in weight and fire to Pharoah Sanders' classic solo with the Jazz Composers Orchestra - an urgent, white-hot tenor sound unlike any other Brötzmann release. Han Bennink fans are warned: this is an enormous metallic sound, even for the master of trash-can percussion.

For a cover image, Brötzmann created a design using a beautiful early lithograph from 1962, one of the FLYSWATTER images soon to be part of an extensive catalogue issued by UMS. The package also includes newly discovered photos from the original sessions, including a striking portrait of Bailey and Brötzmann.

One of our proudest moments in the UMS FMP Archive Edition: Don't miss MORE NIPPLES.