The Night I Saw Passport

One of my favorite rock/jazz-ish bands from the '70s was Passport from Germany, led by Saxist/keyboardist/composer Klaus Doldinger. I became interested in Passport because of the unique cover art on their second album. When I turned over to the back side saw that John Mealing, a founding member of the great band IF, was the keyboardist. Intrigued I picked the album up and was pleasantly surprised. The compositions were melodic, evolved well and the band actually rocked. I automatically picked up their next album, "Looking Through". The rhythm section had changed to include drummer Curt Cress, bassist Wofgang Schmid remained and Mealing was replaced by Kristian Shultze. From the opener, "Eternal Spiral" it is obvious this band has something to say. The compositions are even more spectral, Schultze's multi-keyboard/synthesizer shadings and Fender Rhodes abilities add a perfect balance to Doldinger's sax and keyboard textures, and drummer Curt Cress brings an updated "Cobham-esque" attack that bassist Schmid locks into with hard bite and precision. This lineup would record several of my desert island records including, "Cross-Collateral" and "Infinity Machine". With each new effort the rhythm section of Cress/Schmid becomes more muscular, flexible and telepathically insane. The first section of the 13 minute title track, "Cross-Collateral" is a fine example. I played this to a sax player friend who quipped, "The sax player's just playing pentatonic bullshit, but the rhythm section is incredible". I informed Peter the "bullshit artist" wrote, arranged, produced all the music plus played synthesizer/string machine and clavinet. "Uh, okay he's really good!" I was working at the New England Music City store in Kenmore Square (on the corner where there is a convenience store now, for those who would remember), and the Atlantic sales rep came in to say Passport were conducting a 10 city US tour and The Jazz Workshop Boston was on, and did anyone want comp tickets. YES!!! It was a beautiful summer's evening on the appointed show date, the band had been to Fenway Park, and keyboardist Kristian Schultze was wearing a Red Sox jersey and cap. The rest of the band assumed the stage quietly, tuned up, then were introduced by Klaus Doldinger's German label head. I make no apologies for what I'm about to say. Passport were simply jaw-dropping. They played 2 sets and the albums "Looking Through", Cross-Collateral" and "Infinity Machine". They began by equaling the studio sonics then surpassing that by gradually increasing the house volume until the band became presented a through the biggest, cleanest stereo I'd ever heard. At the intermission I got to chat with bassist Schmid who asked, "Can you hear Curt?" to which I replied, "Yes, very clearly." to which he replied, "That's good because the drum microphones haven't arrived yet so now you know how good he REALLY is!" I sought out Kristian Schultze and found him at the bar, introduced myself, said how much I enjoyed his contributions to the Passport palette, and I played keyboards in a local group, "The Molls". He said, "Thanks Jon! It's great to meet another keyboard player, would you like to see my setup?" (OH YEAH!!). He took me to his stage area and walked me through his arsenal. When we came to his synthesizer I asked him what brand. "It's a Ah Kah Ess (AKS) what do you think?" "The pin-grid interface reminds me of a Putney VCS I played a few years ago." "Ja Jon! It is based on that. Do you like this way of programming?" "It's more intuitive than the ARP 2600 we use in The Molls, but that's an unfair comparisson don't you think?" (Much laughter). The second set had the drum mics in place and The Jazz Workshop rocked! This band, 4 hugely talented musicians, working through excellent compositions and sounding more like 6 people, presented themselves in a league of their own. For me, the music of Passport remains viable, intense and persistent. If you are a fan of jazz rock with the emphasis more on the progressive rock side, I can't recommend Passport enough. Thanks Guys!