Horst Jankowski And His Orchestra – Meet Mr. Black Forest

Horst Jankowski And His Orchestra – Meet Mr. Black Forest

Meet Mr. Black Forest is a beautifully arranged example of 1970s German easy listening, pairing Horst Jankowski's distinctive piano with a large studio orchestra for a programme of melodic, polished instrumental music. The album was recorded in 1978 at Trixi Tonstudios in Munich, with production by Gerhard Narholz and sound engineering by Willi Schmidt, and was issued through the German Intersound catalogue as ISST 101.

Horst Jankowski was a German pianist, composer, arranger and conductor who became internationally famous through his 1965 hit “A Walk In The Black Forest”. His music occupied the space between jazz, pop, easy listening and sophisticated orchestral entertainment, with piano always playing a central role. Meet Mr. Black Forest returns to that formula with a much larger sound: the original Intersound description notes Jankowski's piano accompanied by an orchestra of around 50 strings, woodwinds and horns, with arrangements by the renowned Dutch arranger Rob Pronk.

The album opens with the gently swinging “Rhine River Boat” before moving through the cheerful “Follow Me To Happyland,” “Come Again, Madelain” and romantic “A Chance To Love.” The title piece, “Meet Mr. Black Forest,” provides an obvious connection with Jankowski's best-known musical identity, while “The Merry Wood Choppers” adds a playful traditional flavour. The combination of piano and expansive orchestral backing gives these pieces the polished, spacious character associated with European stereo-era easy listening.

Side Two broadens the palette further, from the romantic “Planet Of Love” and “For A Lonely Girl” to the Latin-tinged “Sambaville.” “Golden Rain,” “A Bird In The Sun” and the graceful closing number “A Touch Of Sweden” continue the album's international, melodic approach. The result is music that sits comfortably between lounge, orchestral pop, jazz-influenced easy listening and vintage library music.

For collectors, Meet Mr. Black Forest is particularly appealing as part of the fascinating Intersound studio-orchestra catalogue, which brought together German and European arrangers, composers and musicians in highly polished stereo productions. It also makes an excellent choice for listeners interested in the softer side of Horst Jankowski, beyond the familiar A Walk In The Black Forest, with plenty of lush strings, piano, brass and woodwind colour throughout. Contemporary catalogue descriptions specifically promoted it as “Easy Listening”, while modern Sonoton documentation confirms the recordings' 1978 provenance.

Side A

1. Rhine River Boat – 2:40
2. Follow Me To Happyland – 2:50
3. Come Again, Madelain – 3:33
4. A Chance To Love – 2:56
5. Meet Mr. Black Forest – 3:37
6. The Merry Wood Choppers – 2:25

Side B

1. Planet Of Love – 3:09
2. For A Lonely Girl – 3:50
3. Sambaville – 2:04
4. Golden Rain – 2:48
5. A Bird In The Sun – 3:11
6. A Touch Of Sweden – 4:17