MPS – Jazzin’ the Black Forest

The record label MPS (Musikproduktion Schwarzwald) used to be West Germany’s jazz representative in the 60s and 70s. Founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer German musicians like Wolfgang Dauner, Albert Mangelsdorff, Eberhard Weber, the Kühn brothers and Volker Kriegel had their records produced by the label. International artists like Oscar Peterson, George Duke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lee Konitz, Charly Mariano, Alphonse Mouzon, Kenny Clark, Francis Boland, Monty Alexander and Dave Pike also used to be regulars at MPS.

Since the 90s a young set of DJs has been heralding a revival of the MPS-artists. Elke Baur’s documentary Jazzin’ The Black Forest pays tribute to the label and his founder ‘HGBS’ who died last year in a tragic car accident. Interviews and rarely shown live footage bring back the era of the ‘Most Perfect Sound’.