Mr. Softee

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  Seven Songs for the Week #145 - 14th Jan 26

  Jason Carty

  This week I read about the legend of Hermann Szobel, so now I will share it with you....

  In 1975, a 17 year old Austrian walks into a Roberta Flack recording session in NYC and proclaims himself the greatest keyboard player in the world. When asked to prove it, he wanders over to a piano and proves it. The following year he records his debut, and to date only, album. A remarkably accomplished jazz fusion record that is hard to believe was written and performed by a teenager. The album does not sell, and Szobel disappears.

  According to Wikipedia he then goes missing, until a filmmaker finds him living on the streets of Jerusalem a decade or so ago, but leaves him alone. One account says that a YouTube video made about him in 2024 has made him return to the US for what must truly be the pinnacle of "the difficult second album". We'll see.

  This is the opening track of the album. A dense, tight performance, with occasional Zappa-esque flourishes, albeit without any random misanthropy.