Barbara Dennerlein – Straight Ahead!

September 4, 2014
Welcome to my blog of jazz unknowns haha..  So who the heck is Barbara Dennerlein?  I asked myself that as well when a friend posted on Facebook this video.


As soon as I saw and heard this energy, I knew I had to find out more about her.  What I found out was that she is a German jazz post-bop, hard-bop jazz organist (on Hammond B3) born in 1964 in Münich, Germany.  A quick search for her discography I found out that there was sadly only LP for sale on eBay.

Well, I bought it and was not disappointed.   On this album she is featured with a good supporting cast with Ray Anderson on trombone, Mitch Watkins electric guitar and Ronnie Burrage on drums.  Please note that there is no bass player because she is very skilled with the bass pedals on the Hammond B3 organ.  Her first recording was in 1983 and her most recent was in 2012.

Judging by her discography it seems that she issues an album once every two years, so I guess we should be expecting another album sometime this year.  On this album 4 compositions are her own, and the other two are by Ray Anderson and Ronnie Barrage.

Her music can best be described as an energy full Tasmanian devil dancing after consuming copious amounts of coffee.  Seriously folks, this stuff is not for casual listening. It explodes with fast rhythms, with rock lines, jazz phrasings and some blues for good measure also.  Although she restrains herself enough on this label to allow others to shine, the real gem on this album is the trombonist Ray Anderson.  I did not think that a trombone can make sounds like that.
read more: http://www.polyorb.com/wordpress/?p=463