27/04/2026
Moochin' About NEW RELEASE..!
The Blow Is the Know
by Fred Katz
https://moochinaboutltd.bandcamp.com/album/the-blow-is-the-know
Fred Katz remains one of the most quietly radical figures in modern jazz historyâa cellist, composer, arranger and thinker whose work in the 1950s carved out an entirely new sonic space. Long before the cello became a recognised voice in jazz, Katz was pushing it to the foreground, redefining the instrument not as orchestral support but as a lead improvisational voice.
This new releaseâbringing together Soul° Cello, 4-5-6 Trio, Fred Katz and His Jammers, Zen: The Music of Fred Katz, Folk Songs for Far Out Folk, and the landmark Word Jazz collaboration with Ken Nordineâfeels less like a compilation and more like a manifesto. It captures a moment when West Coast jazz, Third Stream experimentation, beat poetry, and global folk traditions briefly intersected in a deeply original way...
At the heart of this body of work is Zen: The Music of Fred Katz (1957), a striking debut that reflects the philosophical undercurrents running through Katzâs music. Recorded with members of the Chico Hamilton Quintet, the album blends chamber jazz textures with an almost meditative restraint, hinting at Eastern philosophy and early Third Stream ideasâwhere jazz and classical forms dissolve into one another...
From there, Soul° Cello (1958) expands the palette dramatically. Subtitled Modern Jazz Arrangements for Cello and Orchestra, it places Katzâs instrument at the centre of a lush, forward-thinking ensemble. The album moves fluidly between standards, folk melodies, and original compositions, demonstrating how the cello could swing, sigh, and lead with equal authority...
The stripped-back 4-5-6 Trio offers a different perspectiveâintimate, agile, and rhythmically sharp. With just cello, guitar, and bass, Katz proves that his approach isnât reliant on orchestration; instead, it thrives in space. The interplay is conversational, almost telepathic, with standards and originals refracted through an unusual tonal lens...
That sense of experimentation deepens with Fred Katz and His Jammers, where Katz moves into a freer, ensemble-driven environment. Here, West Coast cool meets a looser, more exploratory ethosâbridging the gap between structured jazz composition and the emerging avant-garde...
Perhaps the most unexpected turn comes with Folk Songs for Far Out Folk (1959), a visionary album that reimagines traditional music from African, Hebrew and American sources through a jazz orchestral framework. The result is both earthy and sophisticatedâanticipating later âworld jazzâ movements by decades...
Running parallel to these instrumental works is Katzâs collaboration with Ken Nordine on Word Jazz (1957), one of the most distinctive recordings of the era. Blending beat poetry, surreal spoken word, and cool jazz accompaniment, the album essentially invents its own genre. Nordineâs voiceâpart late-night radio host, part abstract poetâfloats over Katzâs arrangements, creating something that feels both playful and deeply modern...
Fred Katzâs score for The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) is a hidden gem of offbeat film music, blending jazz sensibility with eerie, tongue-in-cheek atmosphere. Known for bringing the cello into modern jazz, Katz uses it here to create tension, humour, and a slightly unhinged mood that perfectly matches the filmâs dark comedy edge. Sparse, quirky arrangements and unusual textures give the soundtrack a distinctive, almost experimental feelâpart beat-era cool, part B-movie surrealism. Itâs a fascinating detour in his catalogue, showing how his forward-thinking approach could shape cinematic sound as much as jazz itself.
Taken together, these recordings reveal Katz as more than just a jazz musician. He was a conceptual artist working within soundâequally influenced by philosophy, anthropology, and literature. His work sits somewhere between the intimate and the intellectual, the structured and the spontaneous...
For a modern audienceâand particularly for collectors and listeners drawn to the outer edges of jazzâthis release is a vital document. It captures a moment when boundaries were dissolving: between instruments, genres, and even art forms themselves...
In the context of your kind of catalogue, this is gold. Itâs not just jazzâitâs mood, narrative, texture, and experimentation. A true âMoochinâ Aboutâ cornerstone: strange, stylish, and way ahead of its time.
