The New Year started with two impressive musical events in Switzerland. The Big Band Kanti Wattwil had invited Barbara Dennerlein to play the Take Off ’13 concerts in Jona and Wattwil. The Big Band's young musicians succeeded in an ambitious mixture of Jazz, Swing and Blues together with the Hammond organist Barbara Dennerlein.
The Zürichsee-Zeitung Obersee news wrote: "Conductor Martin Winiger managed to convince the "Grande Dame" of German Jazz to work in collaboration with him. Dennerlein supported the young and enthused Jazz musicians with her wealth of experience and her professionalism during the rehearsals and the concerts.
Dennerlein selected some of her own more complicated compositions that challenged the young musicians in terms of technical and stylistic skills. However, they managed it perfectly and offered the audience a splendid concert with a mixture of Jazz, Blues, Latin, Swing and Soul.
Big Band and Hammond organ is a dynamic combination that provided a broad platform for exploring the numerous styles of Jazz. The Hammond's versatility and flexibility became obvious when Dennerlein played the demanding bass lines on the pedals while playing theme and improvisation on the keys with breathtaking ease.
The audience thanked the performers with ecstatic applause, showing overwhelming admiration and merited appreciation for the great performance."
The St. Galler Tagblatt news reported a "high level collaboration ... Two attractions lured the audience to the sold-out Thurpark on Sunday evening. They shared the stage and wowed the audience together: The Big Band Kanti Wattwil presenting the new project Take off ’13 and Barbara Dennerlein, a guest musician with an extraordinary reputation of her own. The German musician and composer enthuses jazz fans everywhere, and her name is intrinsically tied to the Hammond Organ. Many awards prove the mastery of this great musician.
The Kanti Big Band managed to be much more than just a back-up band. The young musicians showed their skills in complicated pieces such as the lively Cleo that has lots of changing meters. The musicians had only a short time to rehearse Dennerlein's ambitious compositions yet they proved that, even at young age, have gained musical maturity. ... The full Big Band sound mixed with the unmistakable Hammond in titles that certainly inspired listeners to dance, at least in their own imagination and daydreams.
Barbara Dennerlein gripped the audience, not only with her fascinating mastery of her instrument, but also as narrator of anecdotes and explanations between the pieces that made the evening even more interesting. The audience was totally enthused."
See also the concert photos on the Kanti Wattwil website.
http://www.kantiwattwil.ch/galerie/veranstaltungen/bbkw-take-off-13.html
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