Prosper -

Prosper was a German symphonic/jazz-rock band that self-released the 1975 album Broken Door. Three decades later, they unearthed a further disc of ’70s-era tracks on Second Running – The Basement Tapes.

Members: Jürgen Pluta (keyboards, bass), Wolfgang Teske (drums), Uli Ingebold (saxophone, flute), Evert Brettschneider (guitar), Matthias Geisen (bass), Friedhelm Misiejuk (drums), Fritz A. Fey (guitar, vocals), Ernst Müller (keyboards, Mellotron)

Inception

Prosper formed in 1973 in the northwestern Ruhrgebiet region of Germany. They underwent multiple personnel shifts before settling into a functioning lineup. Their early bassist, Jürgen Pluta, departed pre-record for Wallenstein. By the time of their album, Prosper solidified into a five-piece with roots in symphonic and jazz-rock traditions.

Broken Door

Prosper released their singular album, Broken Door, in 1975 on their self-run P label.

Guitarist Evert Brettschneider and keyboardist Ernst Müller share the instrumental spotlight across long-form passages shaped by Rhodes textures, Mellotron swells, and layered electric and acoustic guitars. Fritz A. Fey alternates between fluid leads and backing voicings while contributing additional guitar coloration.

Broken Door opens with “Beginning,” a seven-minute sequence that threads Mellotron haze and ambient texture into a mounting structure of phased guitar and suspended Fender Rhodes phrases. Dynamics rise in waves—cresting with sharp, distorted riffing, then dropping to expose piano and percussion. “Dance of an Angle” follows a similar arc, shifting between fractured jazz-rock interplay and darker, angular stretches where electric piano, busy bass, and guitar lines converge and scatter through abrupt tempo shifts. “Broken Door” moves through a murky electric haze, with overdriven leads cutting across low-end pressure until Mellotron and voice briefly stabilize the descent.

“Where the Sun Touches the Water” begins with wind and Rhodes, adds guitar and drums in slow accumulation, then breaks apart in a final blast of feedback. “Birds of Passage” hovers in a static acoustic shimmer—flute-like tones, cymbal brush, and suspended chords slow the motion. “Burning in the Sun” and “Your Country” offer shorter vocal-led detours, the first anchored by acoustic strumming, the second circling a twang-edged cadence with dual guitar lines. “Master’s Inspiration,” a compact drum feature, splits the two sides. Shifting forms, tonal dissonance, and constant friction between keys and guitar push the album forward.

A1. “Beginning” (7:10) – Brettschneider
A2. “Burning in the Sun” (2:10) – Brettschneider, Fey
A3. “Broken Door” (3:20) – Müller
A4. “Dance of an Angle” (6:45) – Brettschneider

B1. “Your Country” (5:30) – Brettschneider, Fey
B2. “Birds of Passage” (5:10) – Fey
B3. “Master’s Inspiration” (1:30) – Misiejuk
B4. “Where the Sun Touches the Water” (7:30) – Müller

Prosper tracked the album at Blackfield Tonstudio with engineer Bernd Steinwedel. Müller handled mixing and panorama arrangements, with additional remixing by Fey. Pallas GmbH pressed the LP, issued in a gatefold cover painted and designed by Müller, with layout by bassist Matthias Geisen and photos by H. Schröder.

Postlude

After Broken Door, guitarist Evert Brettschneider immersed himself in the German jazz scene, co-founding Contact Trio, whose albums Double Face (1975), New Marks (1978), and Musik (1981) appeared on Japo Records. He later worked with experimental composer Gerhard Stäbler and appeared on multiple avant-garde recordings through the 1980s.

Fritz A. Fey shifted focus to studio work and audio engineering after Prosper, performing on albums by Trinitatis (Standfest) and ex-bandmate Jürgen Pluta (Blanche). He engineered sessions for Third Eye, Dutch Treat, and Theo Jörgensmann, among others, while also establishing himself as a professional audio journalist and magazine publisher.

Drummer Friedhelm Misiejuk joined Krefeld hard-rockers Straight Shooter, appearing on their albums My Time – Your Time (1980) and Flyin’ Straight (1981) for Sky Records alongside ex-Streetmark vocalist Georg Buschmann.

Second Running

In 1979, Prosper regrouped with an altered lineup featuring guitarist Rheinhold “RIHD” Marx, keyboardist Peter Marzinkowski, and saxophonists Martin Langer and Michael Henke. This lineup recorded a second set of material, archived for decades before emerging in 2006 as the LP Second Running – The Basement Tapes, self-released in a numbered vinyl edition.

Second Running shifts from symphonic textures into extended instrumental interplay dominated by electric piano, winds, and percussive layering. “Fortsetzung” sets the tone with mid-tempo pacing and alternating sections that feature flute, synth lines, and atmospheric guitar passages. “Let Us Fill Our Empty Day” balances horn-like keyboard timbres and brass voicings against irregular, tightly wound percussion that pushes the phrasing into sharp peaks. “Turbulence” builds on irregular meter and saxophone-led lines, spiked with xylophone and sudden ensemble ruptures. “Melt Down” leans toward freeform looseness, where solo fragments drift across a loose framework anchored by brief regroupings. “Out and Dry” highlights a nimble bassline beneath clipped guitar phrases and a spiraling, high-intensity keyboard solo. “African Sunset” closes the album in a slower arc, layering percussion with filtered flute figures in a drawn-out fade.

A1. “Fortsetzung” (6:40)
A2. “Let Us Fill Our Empty Day” (7:40)
A3. “Turbulence” (8:54)

B1. “Melt Down” (8:11)
B2. “Out and Dry” (5:38)
B3. “African Sunset” (8:47)

Second Running was recorded in 1979 and mastered from surviving tapes by Burkhard Rassmann. Matthias Geisen oversaw the layout and design elements, with final distribution handled by Werner Timmer.

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