Al DiMeola live at 40th International Jazzweek Burghausen 2009

1. Misterio
2. Siberiana
3. Umbras
4. Gumbiero
5. Michelangelo´s Seventh Child
6. Turquoise - Pt.I
7. Turquoise - Pt.II
8. Café 1930- Pt.I
9. Café 1930- Pt.II
10. Infinite Desire
11. Double Concerto
12. Mediterranean Sundance

Al DiMeola (g), Peo Alfonsi (g),
Eszter Horgas (fl), Fausto Beccalossi (acc),
Victor Miranda (b), Gumbi Ortiz (perc),
Peter Kaszas (dr)

recorded live at Wackerhalle Burghausen, March 19, 2009

Coming off of 2008's triumphant 25-year reunion tour by Return To Forever, Di Meola began rehearsing new music with his New World Sinfonia band in preparation for a coast-to-coast tour of the States in the early part of 2009, followed by whirlwind tours of Europe and the Middle East. Di Meola calls his bandmates in the New World Sinfonia "the best group of musicians so far in my career. I'm just totally involved with the new group,” he says. “Everybody's happy and totally into the music. The RTF reunion tour was fun and it was great for the fans, but it was more of a nostalgic thing. I'm more interested now in moving forward with the New World Sinfonia, which has really developed into something beautiful. For me, it's the most rewarding thing I've done in a long, long time, all the way around. You don't have the overbearing volume with this band. Instead you have a rich harmonic kind of music with lots of improvisation, you have a music that is emotional, which really reaches far beyond the almost head-banging male crowd that electric fusion attracts.”"

Volker Kriegel Band live at Jazzfest Berlin 1981

Photo © 2009 Michael Scheiner

Volker Kriegel, guitar
Wolfgang Schlüter, vibraphone
Thomas Bettermann, keyboards
Eberhard Weber, bass
Ralf Hübner, drums

recorded live at Metropol, Berlin, November 5, 1981

1. Calcador/ Schwebebahn/ Chateu Sentimental/ Eberhard´s Solo
2. Naura

A self-taught guitarist, Volker Kriegel (24 December 1943–14 June 2003) began playing when he was fifteen and formed a trio three years later that won an award at a 1963 amateur jazz festival. In 1973 he founded Spectrum, a quartet that included Eberhard Weber, among others. In 1975 Kriegel spent a month teaching for the Goethe Institute, an organization he had worked for at various points throughout his career. In 1976 Spectrum broke up, and Kriegel started another band called the Mild Maniac Orchestra which stayed together in to the 1980s.
Kriegel was widely considered the father of European jazz-rock thanks to his influential stint with the Dave Pike Set as well as a subsequent series of pioneering solo LPs for the MPS label.
In 1977 Kriegel became the partial owner of a label called Mood Records. He has also done sideman work for various musicians, including Klaus Doldinger. In addition to music, Kriegel was also a cartoonist who appeared in several German newspapers, a radio broadcaster, and a director of films and author of books related to music.
In 1981 he released his album "Journal" on Mood records.

Eberhard Weber live at Jazzfest Berlin 1974/ 1977

1.Medley: More Colours/ Change of Place/ Moana/ Patience/ Yellow Fields/ The Colours of Cloe

Eberhard Weber, bass
Rainer Brüninghaus, piano, keyboards
Brian Miller, keyboards
Ralf Hübner, drums
12 Cellists of Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin

recorded live at Philharmonie Berlin, November 2, 1974

2. Seriously Deep

Eberhard Weber, bass
Charlie Mariano, soprano saxophone
Brass Ensemble of Deutsche Oper Berlin
Dieter Glawischnig, conductor

recorded live November 4, 1977

Eberhard Weber, well known from Gary Burton´s band, had his breakthrough as a leader in Berlin 1974. In 1973 he made his first record as a leader, The Colours of Chloë, for ECM Records. Since then he has released 10 more records under his own name, all on ECM. As of June 2007, reports have surfaced that Weber has suffered a stroke and is currently unable to perform.

Kenny Barron "Canta Brasil" live at Jazzfestival Bern 2003

Kenny Barron (Piano)

Anne Drummond (Flute)
Romero Lubambo (Giutar)
Nilson Matta (Bass)
Duduka Da Fonseca (Drums)
recorded live at Marians Jazzroom during Jazzfestival Bern 2003, April 11, 2003

1. Belem (Barron)
2. Nature´s Beauty (Lubambo)
3. Sonja Braga (Barron)
4. Doña María (Da Fonseca)
5. Manha da Carnival (Luis Bonfa)
6. Zingaro (Jobim)
7. Bachiao (Lubambo)

Kenny Barron´s recording "Canta Brasil" with Trio da Paz was released on Sunny Side in 2002. This release combines the elegant swing of nine-time Grammy-winner Kenny Barron with the first-call Brazilian rhythm section of Trio da Paz, an inspired cross fertilization that enhances both jazz and tropical elements.

Elvin Jones' "New Jazz Machine" live in Kaiserslautern 1981

Andy McCloud, b
Marvin Horne, gt
Fumio Karashima, p
Dwayne Armstrong, sax
Raymond Carles, sax
Elvin Jones, drums

recorded live at Fruchthalle Kaiserslautern, October 6, 1981

1. E.J.´s Blues
2. Doll of the Bridge
3. George and Me

Elvin Jones' sense of timing, polyrhythms, dynamics, timbre, and legato phrasing brought the drumset to the foreground. Jones was touted by Life Magazine as "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer", and his free-flowing style was a major influence on many leading rock drummers. Jones performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, whose line up changed through the years.

Mike Mainieri & Marnix Busstra Trio live at Hamburger Jazztage 2009

Mike Mainieri - Vibraphone
Marnix Busstra - Guitars
Eric van der Westen - Bass
Pieter Best - Drums

recorded live at Fabrik, Hamburg, October 1, 2009

1. Don’t Break Step (Marnix Busstra)
2. 3 Years, 3 Months, 3 Days (Marnix Busstra)
3. Kannada (Trad.)
4. It´s Done (Marnix Busstra)
5. All In A Row (Mike Mainieri)
6. Young And Fine (Joe Zawninul)

A few years ago the cooperation between renowned vibeplayer Mike Mainieri (a.o. Steps Ahead) and guitarist Marnix Busstra started when Mainieri made a guest appearence on the CD “It’s all in the mind” from Busstra’s electric band Second Vision. Several tours followed, Mike first joined Second Vision and subsequently played along with the accoustic Marnix Busstra trio. The temporary collaborations let to a solid new band in 2009: the Mike Mainieri/Marnix Busstra quartet. The first studio-CD of the Mike Mainieri/Marnix Busstra quartet Twelve Pieces was released in the Summer of 2009. The CD received worldwide praise. A new project is planned for the Spring of 2010, this time a live registration of the band.

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra & Hank Jones live at JazzBaltica 2009

Nick Marchione, Frank Greene, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt: trumpets
John Mosca, Luis Bonilla, Jason Jackson, Douglas Purviance: trombones
Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph LaLama, Gary Smulyan: reeds
Michael Weiss, piano; Martin Wind, bass; John Riley, drums
Special guest Hank Jones, piano (tracks 6-9)

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune Salzau, July 5, 2009

1. Mean What You Say (Thad Jones)
2. St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy)
3. The Waltz You "Swang" for Me (Thad Jones)
4. Suite for 3: Scott (Bob Brookmeyer)
5. Las Cucarachas Entran (Jim McNeely)
6. Little Rascal On A Rock (Thad Jones)
7. Monk´s Mood (Thelonious Monk)
8. Lonely Woman (Hank Jones)
9. A-That´s Freedom (Thad Jones)
10. Cherry Juice (Thad Jones)

The 16-piece modern big band established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis that continues its Monday night tradition at the world famous Village Vanguard night club. Their last new recording 'Monday Night at The Village Vanguard' receives a Grammy Nomination for the Best Instrumental Arrangement. (Bob Brookmeyer-St. Louis Blues) and a Grammy Award for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble.
At the JazzBaltica Festivel they met their old fellow from the early days of the band´s history, Thad´s brother, pianist Hank Jones, who played a couple of tunes with the band.

Lionel Loueke Trio live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009

Lionel Loueke · voice & guitar
Massimo Biolcati · bass
Ferenc Nemeth · drums

recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Main Stage, November 4, 2009

1. Karibu
2. Novigon
3. Seven Teens
4. Vera
5. Akwe

Loueke’s story begins in Benin, a small country in West Africa, where he spent a lot of time listening to his older brother playing the guitar. Eventually when Loueke was 17 years old, his brother let him borrow this guitar, and he quickly realized that he had a great facility for the instrument.

Before even graduating from the Monk Institute, Loueke began touring in Terence Blanchard’s sextet, a highly-creative band that recorded two albums for Blue Note (Bounce and Flow) and allowed Loueke to begin expressing his own voice as a soloist and composer. Since leaving Blanchard’s band he has been hired by Hancock and become a prominent member of the pianist’s current quartet, touring extensively and recording on Hancock’s Grammy-nominated album, River: The Joni Letters as well as recording and performing in his own right.

Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 UPDATE

Paolo Fresu · trumpet, flugelhorn

Bebo Ferra · guitar
Luca Bulgarelli · bass
Stefano Bagnoli · drums

recorded live at Jazzclub Quasimodo, Berlin, November 8, 2009

1. Mimi (Paolino Dalla Porta)
2. Another road to Timbuctu (Paolo Fresu)
3. Game # 7 (Paolino Dalla Porta)/ Elogio del discount (Paolo Fresu)
4. Giovedi (Bebo Ferra)
5. Monte perpetuo (Paolo Fresu)
6. Ninna nanna per Andrea (Paolino Dalla Porta)
7. Inno alla vita (Bebo Ferra)
8. My man's gone now (George Gershwin)
9. Quaiche anno dopo (Stefano Bagnoli)
10. Fellini (Paolo Fresu)
11. Turnaround (Ornette Coleman)

Yet another Blue Note band is closing this year’s festival edition; Italy’s “best in jazz since 1939” goes by the name of Paolo Fresu. The multi-talented trumpeter from Sardinia mixes mainstream jazz, folk and avant-garde. He has played an important role in the European jazz scene since the eighties.
His all-Italian Devil Quartet might sound more 'acoustic' than other experiences of Paolo but filtered through are the electronics ways of Paolo and Bebo, who often use the acoustic guitar as well. The 'live-program' is an authentic modern encyclopaedia of modern sounds, with several original compositions and revisited standards. It is mainly ‘jazz’, but is also a true ‘melange’ with deep and modernized philosophies.
Their latest album "Stanley Music!" was released 2007 on Blue Note.

Joachim Kühn & Michael Wollny live at JazzBaltica 2009

Photo © by: Eva Baales / ACT

Joachim Kühn, piano
Michael Wollny, piano

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune, Salzau, JazzBaltica July 4, 2009

1. Secret Service (Joachim Kühn) 9:43
2. More Tuna (Joachim Kühn) 18:18
3. Hexentanz (Michael Wollny) 19:14
4. Source Bleu De Meski (Joachim Kühn) 4:29

A meeting of generations on two grand pianos: Joachim Kühn and Michael Wollny live at JazzBaltica. Duo magic from two musicians who have no need for ostentation
Critics, music colleagues and the public raved about Joachim Kühn and Michael Wollny’s joint appearance at the “Jazz and Friendship” festival at Schloss Elmau on September 2008. This wonderful musical encounter had a particularly special depth to it and was released on CD on ACT. It was a concert that rocked with unbridled intensity, and showed the profound respect these two outstanding German jazz pianists, each with their own individual style, have for each other. In this case it’s no exaggeration to say that it was simply a moment of musical glory.

Michael Brecker/ Pat Metheny Quartet live in Paris 2000

Michael Brecker, tenor saxophone
Pat Metheny, guitars
Larry Goldings, hammond B3
Bill Stewart, drums

recorded live at La Villette, Paris, July 2, 2000

1. Half Past Late
2. Into The Dream
3. Extradition
4. What Do You Want?
5. Song For Bilbao
6. Interview

Time Is of the Essence extends Brecker's broad command of the styles pioneered during the mid-1960s. He's playing with a veritable supergroup, Pat Metheny adding efficient strums and riffs on guitar and Larry Goldings pillowing the atmosphere on a Hammond B3 organ. Three drummers alternate on the session, with the great Elvin Jones making the most turbulent storm and Bill Stewart providing the most detailed textures. Jeff "Tain" Watts mixes Jones's romping power with a sense of the delicate, loaning Brecker's melodies an added dimension. For his part, Brecker plays hard and fast with absolute proficiency. The tunes are gutsy and sharp, with lots of creative soloing and up-tempo energy. R.I.P. Michael.

Trio Friedrich/Hebert/Moreno live in Munich 2009

Photo © by Konstantin Kern

Jürgen Friedrich - Piano
John Hebert - Bass
Tony Moreno - Drums

recorded live at Jazzclub "Unterfahrt" Munich, Germany, November 10, 2009

1. Streams (Hebert)
2. Monsieur Bleu (Friedrich)
3. Over (Friedrich)
4. Vem (Hebert)
5. Billy No Mates (Hebert)
6. Chacaglia (Friedrich)
7. Like Surman (Hebert)
8. Nr. 2 (Moreno)
9. Strong Enough (Sheryl Crow)
10. Nardis (Bill Evans)

Jürgen Friedrich, John Hébert, and Tony Moreno are exponents of the highest art of the piano trio. They are a masterful trio who play music swirling with intensely vivid, luminous colours. Refinement and immediacy: seldom does one find this combination in such consummate harmony and at the same time with such a subtle complexity.
In 2009 they released their highly acclaimed homage to American painter Pollock on Pirouet.

Miguel Zenón Quartet live at Bremen Broadcast 2009

Miguel Zenón (as)
Luis Perdomo (p)
Hans Glawischnig (b)
Henry Cole (dr)

recorded live at Sendesaal, Radio Bremen, November 2, 2009

1. Esta plena
2. Pandero y Pagode
3. Villa Palmeras
4. Oyelo
5. Que sera de Puerto Rico?
6. Progreso
7. Temes

Miguel Zenón´s great "Esta Plena" album was introduced here earlier on this blog, so I´d like to recommend his earlier album "Awakening" from 2008 with his great quartet you can hear also in this concert, also released on Marsalis Music.

Mathias Eick Quartet live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 - UPDATE

Mathias Eick · trumpet

Andreas Ulvo · piano
Audun Erlien · bass
Torstein Lofthus · drums

recorded live at Jazzclub Quasimodo, Berlin, November 7, 2009

1. December
2. Williamsburgh
3. Cologne Blues
4. Fly
5. Hytta
6. Edinburgh
7. Biermann
8. Stavanger
9. October
10. The door
11. Porvoo

"The Door", released on ECM, is the first leader date for prizewinning Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick who has already contributed significantly to ECM discs by Manu Katché, Jacob Young and Iro Haarla, and co-directed the popular jazz-ambient-rock group Jaga Jazzist. Here his melodically intense trumpet sings over fractured rhythms and grooves.

Sheila Jordan – Steve Kuhn Duet live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009

Photo © Christina Bleier

Sheila Jordan · vocals
Steve Kuhn · piano

recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Main Stage, November 8, 2009

1. Hum Drum Blues (Oscar Brown Jr.)
2. It´s You Or No One (Jule Styne / Sammy Cahn)
3. Bird Alone (Abbey Lincoln)
4. Dat Dere (Bobby Timmons/ Oscar Brown Jr.)
5. Autumn In New York (Vernon Duke /Yip Harburg)
6. Emily (Johnny Mandel)
7. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (Jerome Brainin/ Buddy Bernier)
8. Lonely Town/ Oceans in the Sky (Leonard Bernstein/ Steve Kuhn)
9. The Zoo (Steve Kuhn)
10. Farewell Blues (Sheila Jordan/ Steve Kuhn)

A vocalist beloved by jazz musicians and audiences alike, Sheila Jordan sings with spontaneous, exploratory depth while paying keen attention to the emotions that lyrics convey. Turned on to a career in music after discovering Charlie Parker, Jordan is the rare singer who does not quite sound like anybody else. She is tasteful but fearless and has performed with such imposing accompanists as Carla Bley, Roswell Rudd and pianist Steve Kuhn, who will once again share the stage with his old friend. Kuhn is finally receiving the long overdue attention he deserves, through recent recordings on the ECM and Blue Note labels. Mostly Coltrane, a superlative 2009 tribute to one of Kuhn’s early mentors, has received worldwide critical acclaim.
Together they released several recordings, a.o. "Jazz Child" 1999 on High Note.

Terence Blanchard Quintet + Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg ‘A Tale of God’s Will’ (A Requiem for Katrina) - live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 - Update

Photo © by JennyBagert

Terence Blanchard · trumpet
Brice Winston · tenor sax
Fabian Almazan · piano
Michael Olatuja · bass
Kendrick Scott · drums
and
Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg
Scott Lawton · conductor

recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, November 4, 2009

1. Levees (Terence Blanchard)
2. Ashé (Aaron Parks)
3. In time of need (Brice Winston)
4. Mantra (Kendrick Scott)
5. Dear Mom (Terence Blanchard)
6. Wading Through (Terence Blanchard)

The crucible of catastrophe impels creative expression. Since the turn of the century, this has taken shape in manifold ways, from artistic responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the war in Iraq to the pummeling of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is this latter calamity that informs Crescent City native son Terence Blanchard’s impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina). An important jumpstart for this recording was director Spike Lee’s (Mo’ Better Blues, German premiere at JazzFest Berlin ’09) decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film, in what turned out to be the four-hour HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke.
Blanchard’s Quintet and Potsdam’s own Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg make a rare and perfect match – bringing the opus to life as an audible piece of cinemascope.

S.M.V. - Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten live in Leipzig 2008

Stanley Clarke - electric bass
Marcus Miller - electric bass
Victor Wooten - electric bass, acoustic bass
Federico Gonzales Peña - keyboards
Derico Watson - drums

recorded live at Leipziger Jazztage, October 4, 2008

1. Maestros De Las Frequencias Bajas/ Thunder
2. Classic Thumps (Victor Wooten´s Solo)
3. Moongoose Walk
4. Tutu
5. Schooldays
6. Grits

This is a repost of this concert, since I got the chance to record a few more tracks of this concert from broadcast. Of course these three giants of low frequencies released the studio album "Thunder" on HeadsUp.

Joakim Milder & the Jazzbaltica-Ensemble 2009: Tribute to Esbjörn Svensson

Photo © by: Jörg Grosse-Geldermann / ACT

Joakim Milder, Johannes Enders, Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard - Saxophones
Axel Schlosser - Trumpet, Flügelhorn; Karin Hammar - Trombone
Michael Wollny - Piano; Christopher Dell - Vibraphone
Martin Wind - Bass; Andy Haberl - Drums
Special Guest: Nils Landgren - Trombone

Recorded live at Große Konzertscheune, Salzau during Jazzbaltica, July 3, 2009

1. Face Value (Milder)
2. Take Away (Milder)
3. Mysterious Ways (Milder/Svensson)
4. Spine (Milder)
5. Unmutual (Milder)

Swedish saxophonist Joakim Milder and Esbjörn Svensson planned to record a duo album together. They did some rehearsals of the material, Milder had written especially for this duo collaboration, but they didn´t get a chance to record it because of Esbjörn´s all to soon passing in June 2008. Joakim Milder arranged these tunes for the JazzBaltica Ensemble 2009 and they played this program as a tribute to Esbjörn Svensson.

WDR Big Band & Mel Lewis: A Tribute To Thad Jones - Live in Leipzig November 1989

WDR Big Band
Jerry van Rooyen - cond
Dennis Mackrel - drums
Mel Lewis - drums (tracks 8 - 10)

recorded live at "Haus der leichten Muse", Leipzig, November 22, 1989

1. Don't Get Sassy
2. Introduction by Jerry van Rooyen
3. Little Pumpkin
4. To You
5. Three In One
6. A Child Is Born
7. Don´t Get Around Much Anymore (Ellington)
8. Introduction by Mel Lewis
9. Little Pixie

In the 1980´s the WDR Big Band Cologne played regularly with drummer legend Mel Lewis, who called this orchestra "my second band" or "my German band". Two weeks after the iron curtain had fallen, Mel Lewis - who was yet quite ill at that time and died just two months later in NYC - and the WDR Big Band did their last concert together in Leipzig (at this time still GDR).

Till Brönner & NDR Bigband live in Lübeck 2009

Foto © Dieter & Robert Eikelpoth

Till Brönner, trumpet, vocals, keyboards
Jasper Soffers, piano
Dieter Ilg, bass
Wolfgang Haffner, drums
NDR Bigband
Jörg Achim Keller, conductor, arranger

Recorded live at Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Musik- und Kongresshalle Lübeck, August 28, 2009

1. 42nd & 6th (Till Brönner)
2. Café Com Pao
3. The Moment
4. A Distant Episode
5. No Breakfast
6. Your Way To Say Goodbye

My personal favorite Till Brönner album is "Blue Eyed Soul", released 2001 on Verve. A collaboration with Japanese DJ Samon Kawamura and soul vocalist Mark Murphy that embraced electronica idioms to update the trumpeter's sound into the postmodern era.

Ketil Bjørnstad live in Hamm 2009

Ketil Bjørnstad – piano

recorded live at Kurhaus Bad Hamm, Hamm/ Germany, November 19, 2009

1. Nightsong/Rememberances
2. Epigraph/Upland
3. The River/The Sea No. 9
4. By The Fjord/The Sorrow In Her Eyes

Norwegian pianist and author Ketil Bjørnstad was born 1952 in Oslo. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered jazz at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz". In 2008 Bjørnstad released two CD´s on ECM called " Life in Lepizig" and "The Light - Songs of Love and Fear".

Craig Taborn Trio live in Koeln 2009

Craig Taborn - piano

Thomas Morgan - bass
Gerald Cleaver – drums

recorded live Kleiner Sendesaal, WDR Funkhaus Köln/ Germany, December 9, 2009

1. Ancient
2. Nine Blind Men
3. New Glory

Keyboarder Craig Taborn has worked with jazz musicians Chris Potter, Nate Smith, Wayne Krantz, Adam Rogers, Tim Berne, members of The Bad Plus and also was in the Susie Ibarra Trio. Besides that he leads his own Craig Taborn trio as well, his latest release is the 2004 album "Junk Magic" on Thirsty Ear Recordings.

Wolfgang Haffner Trio live in Altdorf 2009

Photo © by: Steven Haberland / ACT

Hubert Nuss, Piano
Robert Landfermann, Bass
Wolfgang Haffner, Drums

recorded live at Stadthalle Altdorf, Franconia /Germany, November 25, 2009

1. Tubes
2. Faithless
3. Shapes
4. Wordless
5. Ride
6. Star
7. Nightsong

Another concert with Wolfgang Haffner with some new material from his latest CD "Round Silence", released on ACT Music. Note Rising Star/ "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" Robert Landfermann on bass…