Jerzy Milian

When in 1970 Jerzy Milian was developing his regular cooperation with the Berlin radio, which was launched a few months earlier by recording music for the television ballet “Rivalen”, he was at the peak of his creative possibilities. He could boast of three years of success with his own trio, along with cooperation with Gustav Brom and an ongoing adventure with the Belgian big band BRT. He also had an abundance of ideas and energy that could be devoted not to one, but two projects. In July 1970, Jerzy Milian met in East Berlin with the Günter Gollasch orchestra and Ensemble Studio 4 composed of its musicians. He prepared several original compositions for both projects – from short impressions of an illustrative nature to complex, multi-threaded forms at the verge of jazz and avant-garde.

The whole was shimmered with a plethora of colors and attracted attention due to unusual arrangement ideas. Milian also took part in the recordings as a vibraphone player, completing most of the songs with excellent solo parts. These summertime recordings from 1970 turned out to be only a prelude to a very extensive, cooperation that lasted fourteen years – hence, one of the turning points in Jerzy Milian’s career. “Stigma” constitutes the 8th part of the “Jerzy Milian Tapes” series. All songs were recorded in East Berlin in 1970 and are now released for the very first time. The edition is supplemented by a booklet with unpublished photos and a liner notes about recordings.