Namaz -

Namaz was a German jazz-rock/funk band behind the 1979 Software Records release 300 M.P.H., followed by the 1984 Scratch title Come Inside.

Members: Alfred Henning (bass), Anibal Carvalho (percussion), Joachim Essig (keyboards), Johannes Fries (drums, percussion), Pat Manusco (trumpet), Phillip Earl Edwards (vocals), Rachel Gould (vocals), Ralf Moufang (percussion), Udo Sailer (keyboards), Werner Goos (guitar), Ralph D. Dietze (drums), Tom Krüger (bass)

Background

Namaz formed in Heidelberg in 1979 as a four-piece led by guitarist Werner Goos and keyboardist Joachim Essig. Bassist Alfred Henning and drummer Ralph D. Dietze completed the quartet. Goos studied at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern.

Henning played at Mannheim’s Genesis Musikclub by November 1971 with Seldon Bleed. He returned the following year with Nice One Cyril and Cader Music, then played a March 1973 date with Edo Zanki.

Essig and Dietze recorded together in Chameleon, a Mannheim-area jazz-rock quartet whose self-titled Blubber Lips album appeared in 1979 with saxophonist–flutist Knut Rössler and bassist Roland Herbe. Henning and Dietze also joined Hans Reffert’s Zauberfinger June 1980 sessions at IRA Tonstudio in Brackenheim, where Knut Rössler produced Schizzo-Rock for Software Music.

Guest singer Rachel Gould studied cello and classical singing at Boston University. In 1975, she moved to Germany from the United States. She recorded All Blues in September 1979 with Chet Baker at John Melner Studio in London. Namaz recorded its first album at Tonstudio Eichhorn in Freiburg in October 1980 with Gould and percussionist Ralf Moufang; Dietze and Rainer Eichhorn mixed the sessions for Software Music.

Discography:

300 M.P.H. (1981)
Come Inside (1984)

Sources

Namaz / Mad About Records, 300 M.P.H. reissue documentation. Identifies the Heidelberg four-piece, Goos and Essig as its central musicians, the Henning–Dietze rhythm section, Gould and Moufang as guests, Tonstudio Eichhorn in Freiburg, the October 1980 session, mix credits, and Software Music address in Heidelberg. (Namaz)
Galapagos Records, original 300 M.P.H. listing. Identifies Software Music Sowa 103 and dates formation of the four-piece to 1979. This remains secondary reissue/dealer evidence rather than a contemporary formation account. (Galapagos Records)
Genesis Musikclub chronology, Mannheim. Places Alfred Henning with Seldon Bleed in November 1971, Nice One Cyril in March 1972, Cader Music in May 1972, and the Edo Zanki-associated Don Anderson billing in March 1973. The archive also names Henning among musicians involved in club jam sessions. (Alles Monnem)
The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Chameleon entry. Identifies the Mannheim-region lineup of Knut Rössler, Joachim Essig, Roland Herbe, Ralph Dietze, and Walter Helbig, and dates the Blubber Lips LP to 1979. (Ultima Thule Records)
Zauberfinger, Schizzo-Rock release data. Credits Alfred Henning on bass, Ralph D. Dietze on percussion, Hans Reffert on guitar, and Knut Rössler as producer. The notes place production at IRA Tonstudio, Brackenheim, in June 1980 and identify Software Music as the label. (Interrecords)
Jazzclub Heidelberg archive, Werner Goos biography. States that Goos studied at the Swiss Jazz School. More detailed online claims concerning Mannheim Conservatory studies remain unverified and are not used. (Jazzclub Heidelberg)
Rachel Gould official biography. Gives Gould’s Boston University cello and classical-vocal studies, early United States activity, European touring, and move to Germany in 1975. (Rachel Gould)
Chet Baker Catalog. Places Gould and Baker at John Melner Studio in London on September 5, 1979, for the session released as All Blues. (Jazz Disco)