Engelbert Wrobel/Frank Roberscheuten/Chris Hopkins: At the IAJRC Convention, Hamburg 1999

Sabine and Hans Nagel Heyer hosted the 1999 convention of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors. IAJRC is an organization of like-minded individuals from several countries who not only collect jazz albums, but who are interested in jazz discography, labels and other recorded jazz matters. Live performances are a traditional part of each year's get together. Here the music is provided by excellent jazz men playing as group for time and without benefit of rehearsal, but one hardly notices The musical agenda is made up mainly of tunes favored by those who have at least one or two legs in the traditional/swing jazz arenas. Reedman Engelbert Wrobel is well known in Germany as a top notch swing player. He shares sax/clarinet front line duties with another big band swing veteran, Frank Roberscheuten. The rhythm section which adapts beautifully to every direction the two main protagonists take as if they had working together for years.

There's nothing earth shattering or ground breaking on this session. Just straight ahead pleasant to listen to jazz. The two reed players are handled nicely with alternating solos, each separated so you hear one from the right speaker and the other from the left. One of the highlight tracks is pianist Chris Hopkins' homage to Bix Beiderbecke's undervalued compositions skills with a lovely rendition of "Candlelights" as the other players rest. Like the audience, those favoring straight ahead conventional jazz will want this album for their collection. To learn more about the IAJRC, go to their web page at www.geocities.com/iajrc/ index.htm.