Bud Shank & Bob Cooper - European Tour '57 (2006)

The March 25, 1957, Baden-Baden concert was important for several reasons. To begin with, this performance marks the only existing recorded collaboration between Shank, Cooper and the legendary Austrian pianist Joe Zawinul, as well as the reed duo's very first recording with German trombone giant Albert Mangelsdorff. In addition, this historic concert was a type of farewell party in honor of the Edelhagen Orchestra, which switched over to the WDR in Köln shortly after. The second part of this release consists of a NWDR broadcast from Düsseldorf's Café Krüger in May 1957. The broadcast features Bud Shank as the special guest of tenor saxophonist Hans Koller's Combo, that also featured Albert Mangelsdorff, Atilla Zoller, Dr. Roland Kovac, Gary Peacock and Karl Sanner. It is important to note that while the Baden-Baden broadcast was released years ago on an obscure record label, it has been out of distribution for many years, and is extremely difficult to find. The NWDR broadcast from Düsseldorf's Café Krüger, however, has never been previously issued on any format. Both performances are featured here in their entirety.