Not many jazz musicians learned their craft in Germany during the Second World War. In addition, female jazz musicians were a distinct minority during the 1940s and 1950s. But so it was on both accounts for jazz pianist Jutta Hipp.
Hipp’s greatest claim to fame came during the mid-1950s. She had immigrated to the United States and signed with the famous Blue Note label. She quickly released three albums for the label and followed those with a brilliant duet release with Zoo Sims. Then in 1958, she walked away from the music scene never to return. She worked as a part time painter and full time seamstress for the rest of her life.
While her work for Blue Note was appreciated and remains highly collectable today, her German recordings have received little notice. Those recordings have now been resurrected and released under the title, The German Recordings 1952-1955.
Her pre-USA releases have more of a sparse nature to them than her Blue Note material and it finds an artist developing her style and technique.
The release combines live and studio recordings from the period when she was fronting her own quintet. There is no original material; rather, she interprets jazz standards of the day. She seems more at home with the songs from the Great American Songbook. Tunes such as “Gone With The Wind,” “What Is This Thing Called Love,” “These Foolish Things,” “Moonlight In Vermont,” and “Lonesome Road” all serve as vehicles for her precise piano runs and improvisation. Hipp has a very light touch and her interpretations put her on the cusp of the bebop and cool jazz movements.
The German Recordings 1952-1955 is a worthwhile trip back in time, offering a fine picture of an artist whose work has virtually disappeared. Cole Porter may have summed up Hipp’s career best when he stated that, “Jutta Hipp had an answer. But she never told anyone.”
