Frederic Rabold Crew -

Frederic Rabold Crew was a German jazz-rock band that released six albums between 1972 and 1980, mostly on Calig.

Members: Alexander Bühl, Andreas Rapp, Barbara Bürkle, Christian Brinkschmidt, Frederic Rabold, Fritz Heieck, Helmut Wilberg, Holger Mayer, Joachim Lambrecht, Jochen Nitsche, Lauren Newton, Manfred Kniel, Martin Bues, Paul Schwarz, Regina Büchner, Thomas Horstmann, Uli Bühl, Uli Schwarz, Walter Hüber

Background

Frédéric Rabold Crew formed in 1968 in Stuttgart when trumpeter and composer Frédéric Rabold assembled a modern-jazz nonet. The group combined arranged ensemble passages and free improvisation with rock rhythms, electric piano, and electric guitar.

Rabold was born November 23, 1944, in Paris, France. His family moved to Karlsruhe in 1956, where his jazz-musician father led a big band for dances at spa resorts. Rabold first learned violin but chose trumpet, and at 16 he played with his father at U.S. Army clubs around Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. He studied classical trumpet through 1964 at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. Rabold moved to Stuttgart in 1965, where drummer Axel Lauser recruited him for a trio that developed into the Axel Lauser Quartet. He also served two years with the Bundeswehr music corps in Bad Cannstatt.

The Crew first appeared in 1968 at the Zürich Jazz Festival. A friend taped a rehearsal that year, including “Noon in Tunisia,” which later appeared on the 1980 LP Berlin. At the March 22, 1970 matinee of the 12th German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, Rabold led saxophonists Uli Schwarz, Helmut Wilberg, and Walter Hüber. Drummer Martin Bues joined bassist Holger Mayer and electric bassist Jochen Nitsche. The festival set yielded Rabold’s “Tangente” for the three-LP Scout compilation Born Free, the first issued Crew recording. Rabold also played at the festival in the Festival Big Band led by Emil Mangelsdorff and the European Free Jazz Orchestra led by Lester Bowie.

The Crew expanded again in January 1972 for the first album sessions. Rabold retained saxophonists Helmut Wilberg and Walter Hüber, with saxophonist Eberhard Stockmann and trombonist Wolfgang Czelusta in the enlarged front line. The Crew also included keyboardist Paul Schwarz, guitarist Gerhard Bader, bassists Billy Buchwald and Jan Jankeje, drummer Martin Bues, and percussionist Frank Köllges. The January 6–7 sessions produced Flair for Munich label Calig.

Discography:

Flair (1972 • Frédéric Rabold Crew)
Open House (1974)
Package of Voices (1976)
Balance (1977)
Funky Tango (1979)
Berlin (1980)

Sources

Tramp Records, Time Machine liner material. The strongest compact biographical source: Paris birth, musical father, violin-to-trumpet change, U.S. Army-club appearances, Karlsruhe study, Stuttgart move, Axel Lauser, Crew formation, the 1968 rehearsal tape, Zürich, and Frankfurt. (Tramp Records)
Christoph Wagner, “Die Frédéric Rabold Crew wird fünfzig,” originally published in Schwarzwälder Bote. Adds the Heidelberg/Karlsruhe Army-club geography, classical trumpet study, two years in the Bundeswehr music corps at Bad Cannstatt, the eight-to-ten-piece scale of the original Crew, and Rabold’s description of the group formula: arranged material, free improvisation, rock rhythms, E-piano, and electric guitar. (Christoph Wagner Music)
Stuttgart jazz archive / Frédéric Rabold entry. Gives the family move to Karlsruhe in 1956 and identifies the Zürich Jazz Festival as the first Crew appearance. The page’s claim that Rabold was already in the “Galaxie Dream Band” when he formed the Crew was not used because available Hampel chronology makes that wording uncertain. (Ernährungsdenkwerkstatt)
Born Free: The 12th German Jazz Festival session information. Establishes the March 22, 1970 Frankfurt performance of “Tangente” and the exact Crew lineup: Rabold, Uli Schwarz, Helmut Wilberg, Walter Hüber, Jochen Nitsche, Holger Mayer, and Martin Bues. The same release places Rabold in the Festival Big Band and Lester Bowie-led European Free Jazz Orchestra. (Backbeat Tromsø)
Frédéric Rabold official discography. Confirms the Flair personnel and Calig catalog number, including Stockmann, Czelusta, Schwarz, Bader, Buchwald, Jankeje, Bues, and Köllges. (Frédéric Rabold)
Musik-Sammler, Flair. Supplies the January 6–7, 1972 recording dates and corroborates the core album personnel. (Musik Sammler)