Niagara -

Niagara was a German ethno-jazz/percussive jam band led by veteran drummer Klaus Weiss. They released the 1971/72 United Artists albums Niagara and S.U.B., followed by the 1973 Finger/Polydor title Afire.

Members: Cotch Blackmon [Cotch Black] (percussion), Keith Forsey (drums, percussion), Juan Romero (bells, maracas), Udo Lindenberg (drums, percussion), George Green (drums), Klaus Weiss (drums, timpani, bells), Daniel “Danny” Fichelscher (percussion), Joe Harris (percussion), Ferdinand Povel (saxophone), Ack van Rooyen (flugelhorn, trumpet), Kristian Schultze (electric piano), Gary Unwin (bass), Paul Vincent, George Brown (drums, percussion), Charles Campbell (congas, timpani), Dave King (bass), Sabu Rex (bongos), Norbert Tolbert (congas)

Background

Klaus Weiss formed Niagara in 1971 in Munich as a percussion-centered studio ensemble built around his concept of rhythm as the primary compositional driver.

By that point, Weiss had established himself as one of West Germany’s leading jazz drummers, performing since the early 1960s with Klaus Doldinger and later with international players like Bud Powell, Don Byas, Leo Wright, Booker Ervin, and Dusko Goykovic. After relocating to Munich in the late 1960s, Weiss became active in studio and broadcast sessions, appearing regularly at the Domicile club and working with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Jazz Ensemble under Joe Haider.

His rising profile as a bandleader culminated in the 1971 I Just Want to Celebrate sessions for MPS, where he led an orchestra of transatlantic soloists including Slide Hampton, Herb Geller, and Chuck Findley. That same year, Weiss assembled Niagara with seven percussionists—including future solo star Udo Lindenberg—to realize a large-scale rhythmic concept that culminated in their self-titled debut on United Artists.

Niagara

Niagara released their self-titled debut album in December 1970 on United Artists.

The album consists of two longform percussion showcases composed by drummer Klaus Weiss, who anchors a rotating array of Latin American and German players on layered Yoruba and batucada-influenced sequences. Timbales player Udo Lindenberg overlaps with conga players Cotch Blackmon and Danny Fichelscher while Weiss alternates between timpani, cymbals, and tuned bells; the two-part piece on side A also features interjections by guitarist George Green.

Niagara consists of two extended percussion pieces structured around evolving polyrhythms and interlocked hand-drum cadences. “Sangandongo” sustains a mid-tempo pulse across its full side-length form, with tight conga layering and circular phrasing that expands incrementally into overlapping phrases and accent-shifting variations. “Malanga” begins more sparse, then gradually intensifies through staggered syncopation and timbral contrast between skin and metal textures. Both sides maintain a consistent rhythmic base while modulating density and dynamic intensity through subtle additions, punctuated by short bursts of processed effects near the end.

A. “Sangandongo” (19:07) – Weiss
B. “Malanga” (20:42) – Weiss

Weiss recorded the album at Union Studios in Munich with producer Günter Ehrig. United Artists GmbH issued the album in a laminated cover designed and photographed by A. Leutenmaier, with additional photography credited to Michel. Pressing was handled by Sonopress and packaging by Carl v. d. Linnepe.

S.U.B.

Niagara released their second album, S.U.B., in April 1972 on United Artists.

The album expands on Klaus Weiss’s percussion-led concept with expanded instrumentation and tighter ensemble interaction. Guitarist Paul Vincent trades lines with keyboardist Christian Schulze, whose electric piano alternates melodic figures with support voicings against brass accents by flugelhorn and trumpet player Ack van Rooyen and tenor saxophonist/flutist Ferdinand Povel.

S.U.B. builds on Niagara’s rhythmic foundation with expanded instrumentation and more varied tonal color. The title track spans eleven minutes of two-drummer propulsion under short electric piano patterns and raspy guitar bursts, with flugelhorn interjections surfacing midway. “Bones” cuts faster with staccato brass and clipped wah guitar shaping its top line, while “Kikiriti” contrasts with fluttered flute phrases and a loosely phrased rhythm base that recalls Weiss’s work in Sunbirds. “Gibli” and “Niagara” revert to percussive layering with wind FX and minimal harmonic content, functioning as short ensemble études. “Terra Incognita” closes with sectional brass phrasing and a narrowed rhythmic axis.

A1. “S.U.B.” (11:56) – Weiss
A2. “Bones” (3:12) – Unwin
A3. “Niagara” (4:30) – Weiss

B1. “Kattarh” (5:53) – Weiss
B2. “Kikiriti” (4:53) – Unwin
B3. “Gibli” (5:27) – Weiss
B4. “Terra Incognita” (4:05) – Schulze

Niagara recorded S.U.B. in February 1972 at Studio 70 in Munich with engineer Peter Lüdemann, who also handled remixing, assisted by co-engineer Zvika Haen. The album was pressed by Sonopress and issued by Liberty/UA GmbH in a laminated gatefold sleeve designed by Rainer Cornelius Friz and printed by Druckhaus Maack KG.

Afire

Niagara released their third album, Afire, in 1973 on United Artists.

Klaus Weiss arranged and led the sessions with a narrowed focus on concise, percussion-driven compositions. Trumpeter and guitarist roles are absent; instead, the interplay centers on Weiss’s timpani patterns and the layering of Latin textures by conga player Norman Tolbert, bongos player Sabu Rex, and timbales player Charlie Campbell, supported by George Brown’s drum punctuations and compact phrasing from keyboardist Christian Schulze.

Afire strips the format back to compact percussion vignettes driven by dense layering and narrow-range motifs. Short tracks like “Bangu” and “Carnival” fire off tightly clustered patterns with little deviation, while longer pieces like “Terpsichore” and “Afire” build more gradually, adding tuned drums and metallic textures across fixed tempos. Variations stem less from contrast than from repetition, with Weiss using pacing and register shifts to structure movement.

A1. “What For” (2:28) – Weiss
A2. “City Walk” (4:34) – Weiss
A3. “Terpsichore” (6:14) – Weiss
A4. “Rhythm Go” (2:45) – Weiss
A5. “Carnival” (2:33) – Weiss
A6. “Malanga Two” (2:41) – Weiss

B1. “Rolling” (2:18) – Weiss
B2. “Dance In Seven” (3:44) – Weiss
B3. “Bangu” (1:41) – Weiss
B4. “The Third One” (3:22) – Weiss
B5. “Afire” (5:20) – Weiss

Weiss recorded and produced Afire at Bavaria Musikstudios for Finger Records, which also handled publishing under the Finger Music imprint. Wolfgang Löper engineered and remixed the sessions. United Artists issued the album in a sleeve designed by King Kong and manufactured through Finger’s production unit.

Discography: