MANFRED MANN CHAPTER THREE
Manfred Mann Chapter Three was a British experimental jazz rock band founded by South African keyboard player Manfred Mann and long-time partner Mike Hugg. The band’s approach centred on the “time, no changes” approach of Miles Davis and John Coltrane applied to slow, funky grooves with voodoo lyrics inspired by Dr. John alternating with blaring big-band horn riffs and improvised free-jazz solos reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler. Although intelligible at a time when artists like Davis himself were crossing over into the rock/funk field, and American “jazz-rock” ensembles such as Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago, and The Mothers of Invention espoused brass sections and atonality, the formula was limited and the band expensive to maintain, so it was short-lived and disbanded after two albums. Mann went on to form Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1971. (More from Wikipedia)
When Manfred Mann left EMI Records and signed with Fontana Records in 1966, this was a new direction for the band that was described as “Chapter Two”. A more definitive chapter was announced with the formation of the jazz/rock group Manfred Mann Chapter Three, with only Mike Hugg and Manfred Mann himself remaining from the original band – described on the liner notes as “the Manfred Mann pop group”. Their two albums – Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Mann Chapter Three, Volume Two in 1969 and 1970 – both marked a progressive rock direction for the band but made little headway in the charts.
(June 2014)
