Fitz Gore & The Talismen

When it comes to the -rarest of the rare- german Jazz albums, Fitz Gore & The Talismen is in the TOP 5 for sure. Gore, born and raised in Jamaica, came to Europe in the early 1950s. He was completely self-taught on the tenor saxophone and his admiration for the music of John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins is more than obvious. In the 1960s he travelled to various cities in Europe with the aim to play with fellow Jazz musicians. Those years surely helped him to shape his unique spiritual ideas in music. Back in Germany in 1975, he formed his own group named "The Talismen" and recorded his first album ("Soundnitia") from which "Song for my Father" and "Mariella' Amor" are taken. The following year he released "Soundmagnificat" and in 1980 his final album, "Soundmusication". Two years before, in 1978, he spent time in Tenerife where he recorded his arguably finest composition, simply titled "Gisela (Lion Rock)". It came out on 45 rpm single housed in an extremely cool picture sleeve and today it is without question one of the rarest and most sought after german Jazz 45s. All three albums as well as the 45 were released on his own, private label ("GorBra Records") which he ran together with his wife Gisela.