German label Tramp records founder Tobias Kirmayer follows up his Contemporary Funk release with the Contemporary Jazz compilation. Kirmayer displays his love for jazz on all levels by selecting a variety of different styles from the spiritual minded composition of “Starlings Talk” by Deep Jazz to the greasy soul flavored “Sugar’s Boogaloo” by Sugarman 3. Other highlights include “A Vision Part 1” by Das Goldene Zeltalter, an organic gem that is enhanced by the raspy vocals of Bajka. The disc wraps up with the laidback modal jazz influenced “Hier Kommit Die Laterne” by the German quintet Hipnosis. There is an added incentive to this compilation in that several songs were previously unreleased. It would have been a shame to keep these quality recordings locked up. To his credit, Tobias shines a light on the music as well as a group of musicians that may not be on your radar but once you hear them you’ll no doubt make the effort to dig a little deeper for more of their recordings.
