“Loop Your Idols”: De-Phazz remixes jazz gems from the legendary MPS archive on their new album belooped.

Villingen meets Heidelberg, analogue meets digital: with “belooped”, De-Phazz and Germany’s oldest jazz label, MPS, bring together what belongs together. For this extraordinary project, De-Phazz founder Pit Baumgartner has been granted access to the archives of MPS. With a keen sense for grooves and melodies, the sound architect has carefully restored the work of global stars such as Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and George Duke, bringing it into the contemporary sound. The result is a musical collage that combines the “Most Perfect Sound” of the 60s to the 80s with the electro-organic vibes of the lounge pioneers, proving that timeless jazz and modern dance floors are no contradiction.

Listen or pre-order: https://mps.lnk.to/beloopedPR

MPS and De-Phazz. Two musical institutions. Based in southern Germany, at home all over the world. belooped finally brings together what has attracted many hipsters to e dance floors of Hamburg, Honolulu, Munich and Miami over the past decades. On the one hand, there is the tongue-in-cheek playfulness of the lounge export hit De-Phazz, launched in Heidelberg in 1997 by Pit Baumgartner, with its millions of streams on Spotify & Co. On the other hand, there is the archive of the record company MPS, which is cultically revered by DJs and rare groove hunters. Old meets new, digital meets analogue. What remains is the unique atmosphere. As well as the unmistakable sense of grooves and wonderful melodies that connect Brunner-Schwer’s productions recorded between the 1960s and 1980s with the electro-organic vibes of De-Phazz.

For music collage artist Baumgartner, it was, in his own words, a ‘ticket to paradise’ when he was granted access to over 500 recordings from Germany’s first jazz label – records featuring world stars such as Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, George Duke and Sun Ra. Recorded with the best equipment available at the time.

Since we’re among friends here: Of course, Baumgartner had used MPS sound snippets for his clever sample montages before, perhaps not entirely legally, but in any case, the statute of limitations had expired. ‘I didn’t know what was happening to me, suddenly stepping out of the shadows of criminality and being allowed to officially get my hands on the MPS gems,’ jokes the De-Phazz founder. He immediately follows this up with an unusually serious remark, saying that he definitely felt the pressure of responsibility given the label’s magnificent history.

That’s why the Heidelberg native doesn’t refer to his careful reworkings of MPS gems such as Oscar Peterson’s “Wave”, Ella Fitzgerald’s “This Girl’s In Love With You”, Monty Alexander’s “Love and Happiness” and the choral poems of Singers Unlimited as remixes or reworks. Rather, they are restorations, according to Baumgartner. Like a sleek vintage car that still runs great but could use a little polish and a little more pressure on the tyres. So that driving it is really fun again. And also gets people on board who don’t usually have much to do with jazz. In practice, this means that Baumgartner, a savvy retro-romantic who has already had the opportunity to thoroughly overhaul Bert Kampfert’s oeuvre with the family’s blessing, provides colour intensification in the bass, fresh filters and some modern bridging. He also doesn’t shy away from adding new components here and there.

Is something like this even allowed by the ‘jazz police’? Baumgartner has found a good phrase to defend himself: “Loop your idols” instead of “Kill your idols”! This means that you show your heroes and heroines the greatest admiration by using contemporary production methods to open up a future for them beyond the usual jazz crowd.

The album will be released on LP, CD and digitally on July 24th.

The first two singles, a remix of George Shearing’s “The Continental” feat. Malia and Ella Fitzgerald’s “This Girl’s in Love with You” are already out.

Listen to the singles or pre-order: https://mps.lnk.to/beloopedPR

Tracklisting:

De-Phazz & Oscar Peterson – Wave

De-Phazz & The Singers Unlimited – Both Sides Now

De-Phazz & Ella Fitzgerald – This Girl’s in Love With You

De-Phazz & Smoke – Shelda

De-Phazz & Monty Alexander – Love & Happiness

De-Phazz & The Singers Unlimited – Bass-Ically Speaking

De-Phazz & Ernest Ranglin – Feel Like Making Love

De-Phazz & Alphonse Mouzon (feat. Sandie Wollasch) – Do I Have To?

De-Phazz & George Duke (feat. Joo Kraus) – Capricorn

De-Phazz & George Shearing (feat. Malia) – The Continental