Manfred Schoof -

Manfred Schoof (born April 6, 1936) is a German trumpeter and bandleader with over 200 album credits since the late 1950s. In 1969, he soared to international prominence with the FMP free-jazz release European Echoes.

Background

Manfred Schoof was born April 6, 1936, in Magdeburg, Germany. His parents recognized and encouraged his musical ability, although postwar conditions limited regular instruction. His father died while Schoof was young, leaving his mother to support the family.

Schoof got early jazz exposure from the American Forces Network and used Chet Baker as an early model. He found further inspiration in the 1944 MGM musical Bathing Beauty, where American big-band trumpeter Harry James leads a rendition of “Trumpet Blues.” In 1955, Schoof entered the Musikakademie Kassel, where he studied trumpet, piano, and harmony. He befriended fellow pupil Jaki Liebezeit; the two played together in a student band.

In 1958, Schoof moved to Cologne and continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. Kurt Edelhagen led the school jazz seminar and connected Schoof with the professional circle around the WDR big band. Bernd Alois Zimmermann taught composition and introduced Schoof to contemporary methods that placed written structures beside controlled improvisation.

Schoof also studied jazz composition with Heinz Gietz and Rob Pronk. He wrote big-band arrangements as a student and maintained close contact with Edelhagen’s orchestra. In 1960, Harald Banter brought Schoof into his WDR experimental ensemble, which gave the young trumpeter regular experience with broadcast music, arranged forms, and improvised passages.

Early Career

In 1961, Schoof joined the quintet of saxophonist Fritz Münzer, which appeared on German television. Schoof also played with a younger circle centered on pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and contrabassist Buschi Niebergall, both rising figures on the Cologne free-jazz scene. The three musicians joined the Gunter Hampel Quintet, which cut the 1965 SABA album Heartplants with the Schoof piece “Our Chant.”

Meanwhile, Schoof also retained his connection with Zimmermann and participated in the jazz passages for the 1965 premiere production of Die Soldaten.

Late in 1965, Schoof formed his first quintet with Schlippenbach, Niebergall, Liebezeit, and tenor saxophonist Gerd Dudek, a colleague from earlier Cologne groups. The quintet rehearsed in Marburg and entered the local concert network promoted by Gigi Campi, who booked Schoof in frequent programs as the group established a repertory of originals and free-form jams. They appeared at the spring 1966 German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt. In May, Schoof led the group into Studio Walldorf, Frankfurt, for his first bandleader album.

Discography:

Voices (1966 • Manfred Schoof Quintett)
Jazz Meets India (1967 • Dewan Motihar Trio / Irène Schweizer Trio / Manfred Schoof / Barney Wilen)
Manfred Schoof Sextett (1967 • Manfred Schoof Sextett)
European Echoes (1969)
The Numbered Improvisations; Tratto cornet (1969 • Bernd Alois Zimmermann • Manfred Schoof Quintet)
Distant Thunder (1975 • Manfred Schoof / Akira Sakata / Yosuke Yamashita / Takeo Moriyama)
Scales (1976 • Manfred Schoof Quintet)
Light Lines (1978 • Manfred Schoof Quintet)
The Early Quintet (1978, recorded 1966 • Manfred Schoof Quintett)
Mal Waldron – Manfred Schoof (1980 • Mal Waldron & Manfred Schoof)
Horizons (1980 • Manfred Schoof Quintet)
Reflections (1984)
Power Station (1986)
Meditation (1987)
Shadows & Smiles (1988 • Manfred Schoof & Rainer Brüninghaus)
Timebreaker (1990)
Crossroad (1992)

Sources

Mallorca Magazin / Deutschlandfunk Kultur — Schoof describes the Czerny and Bach piano studies, AFN broadcasts, and Harry James in Bathing Beauty as an early stimulus toward becoming a musician. (Mallorca Magazin)
Jazzzeitung / Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger — Establish the Kassel and Cologne studies, trumpet/piano/theory curriculum, Edelhagen jazz seminar, Zimmermann composition studies, and arranging instruction with Heinz Gietz and Rob Pronk. (Jazzzeitung)
Ullrich Riedler, Als der Jazz nach Kassel kam / HNA — Documents Schoof at Hotel Hessenland around 1956 and his appearances with Die 8 Töne while a Kassel student. (B&S SIEBENHAAR VERLAG)
Point of Departure / GEMA birthday issue — Supports the Jazz Cookers activity with Schlippenbach, Niebergall, and Liebezeit; Schlippenbach also recalls the Kintopp Saloon sessions, Girl Crazy, and the two-month Hampel engagement at the Paris Blue Note. (Point of Departure)
Jazzzeitung / Harald Banter recollection — Places Schoof in Banter’s WDR experimental ensemble at the start of the decade and identifies his function as a “Chorus-Trompeter.” (Jazzzeitung)
Jazzpages / Swiss Jazz Discography / Bernd Hoffmann’s HR research — Establish the 1961 Münzer quintet lineup, the early-1962 Frankfurt session, and the March 20, 1963 Jazz für junge Leute broadcast. (Jazz in Deutschland / Germany)
Schoof interview, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger / JazzStadt Köln — Schoof describes his student big-band arranging, contact with Edelhagen players, Jimmy Deuchar as a teacher, and “Moods in Three Colors.” (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger)
Zimmermann research / Schoof interview — Documents the Schoof group connection to Die Soldaten in 1965 and Schoof’s account of Zimmermann allowing improvisation within composed material. (Uplopen)
Hessischer Rundfunk research / Jazzpages / Jazz Codex — Confirms the 1964 Hampel lineup, the October television appearance, Heartplants, and Schoof’s technical description of “Our Chant.” (Jazzfreunde)
Jazzinstitut Darmstadt / Bear Family / session documentation — Dudek gives the clearest account of Schoof calling him back from Berlin and rehearsing the new quintet in Marburg; the festival documentation lists the three Schoof titles, and the sessionography dates Voices to Studio Walldorf on May 2. (Jazz Institut)