Till Brönner - The Christmas Album

Till Brönner is a master of his craft. Whatever subject he gets into always results in the highest quality and very often a small masterpiece for eternity. So it was only a matter of time before he devoted himself to one of the oldest and most popular musical themes - Christmas.

This eleventh long-player of the 36 year old multi-talent combines in an impressive and touching way the intimate with the universally applicable, the noble gesture with a love of detail. "It was important to me to celebrate my own vision of Christmas with 'The Christmas Album'," admits the trumpeter, singer and producer, who has won the German Echo award, the German Record Critics' Prize as well as numerous other awards.

Just how versatile Till Brönner is with his own Christmas music can be experienced in the different aspects of the thirteen tracks on this album, which range from majestic symphonic arrangements such as "Silent Night" or "Joy To The World" through the infectious big-band swing of a "Winter Wonderland" to the melancholy pre-Christmas ballad "Christmas Is Never" written specially for this production to the relaxed and what must be the coolest, version of the Wham! classic "Last Christmas".

Till Brönner won't be celebrating this musical Christmas feast alone, of course. His hand-picked guests are some of the best there are - the vocalists Curtis Stigers, Kim Sanders, Stevie Woods, Yvonne Catterfeld, Frank McComb and the legendary New York Voices, not forgetting instrumentalists like Sting guitarist Dominic Miller, the American trumpeter Chris Botti, the pianists Don Grusin, Frank Chastenier and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin all ensure an enormous musical spread. And yet "The Christmas Album" comes across as though it were a magnificent whole. This may be because Brönner himself describes himself as a fan of Christmas records and has filled a considerable part of his CD rack with CD's about this annually recurring subject.

Till Brönner knows that Christmas only comes once a year and for most musicians, a Christmas album comes only once in a lifetime. With "The Christmas Album", he adds a very personal, passionate version to the canon of Christmas songs, which has what it takes to become an all-time classic.

Till Brönner - The Christmas Album

01. We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Joy To The World (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)
02. White Christmas (vocal: Till Brönner)
03. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (vocals: New York Voices)
04. Last Christmas
05. Silent Night (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)
06. What Are You Doing New Years Eve (vocal: Frank McComb)
07. Better Than Christmas (vocal: Yvonne Catterfeld)
08. Notes On Snow (trumpets: Till Brönner & Chris Botti / guitar: Dominic Miller)
09. Winter Wonderland (vocal: Stevie Woods)
10. Moon River
11. Nature Boy (vocal: Kim Sanders / piano: Don Grusin)
12. Christmas Is Never (vocal: Curtis Stigers)
13. Auld Lang Syne (feat. Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin)

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Reunion

Jim Beard (piano and keyboards). Till Bronner (trumpet and vocals). Dennis Chambers (drums). Tim Lefebvre (bass). Chuck Loeb (guitar). Eric Marienthal (saxophone).

Over the years, touring musicians cross paths, share experiences (both on stage and off), and form deep bonds, both musical and personal. Often these relationships are enduring, and the friendships that develop last a lifetime. The members of REUNION have a collective relationship built on many such experiences.

As members of world famous bands, Jim Beard, Till Bronner, Dennis Chambers, Tim Lefebvre, Chuck Loeb, and Eric Marienthal, have worked together on timeless recordings and in performances on all the major stages across the international world of Jazz.
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Mark Wyand - Eye to Eye

Born in Bishop Auckland in England, tenor saxophonist Mark Wyand is a permanent fixture in Germany’s jazz scene.

Wyand’s jazz talent, you see, spans all keys. With stylistic confidence, he is able to transcend from bebop to cool acid jazz. Or he devotes himself and his impressive playing to the many facets of the elegiacal jazz ballad.

Just he does now on "Eye To Eye", the 33-year old’s debut album with SonyBMG produced by trumpeter Till Brönner. Wyand has recorded 12 of his own compositions and a cover version of Elvis Presley´s "Love Me Tender" in a classic quartet arrangement.

He his accompanied by Frank Woeste (piano), Pepe Berns (bass) and Sebastian Merk (drums). Till Brönner is also on the trumpet in the eloquent and elegant "Cape Town", a homage to South Africa’s cape town where Wyand has often frequented to give concerts with local celebrities such as Winston Mankuku and Basil Moses, as well as 3 other tracks.
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For further information go to:
www.markwyand.com
www.myspace.com/markwyand

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Thomas Quasthoff "Watch what happens" - The Jazz Album

It is not often in the world of art that something completely new comes along, something that has never previously existed in this form. In music, especially, all limits seem to have been exhausted long ago. More than other genres, this particular art form has shown an increasing tendency to degenerate to the level of an accessory. From classical music to techno, rapid consumability, collectibility and exchangeability have now become indications of quality. Records function like shares, rising and falling in the charts. Not many musicians have the stature to break out of this vicious circle and, by presenting new artistic ideas and forms, to create a counterpoint of lasting value.

A CD like Thomas Quasthoff’s jazz album does not come about overnight. Nor is it the result of a month’s or even six months’ work. Rather, it represents the culmination of a process that stretches back over a period of several years and starts with the artist defining his or her own personal position. Quasthoff has always felt a close affinity with jazz, and yet he first had to answer his own question as to what he could express through jazz that had not previously been conveyed in this form. Why else would he want to record a jazz album?
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For further information go to:
www.thomas-quasthoff.com

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Mark Murphy - Love Is What Stays

The passage of time is on Mark Murphy's mind a lot these days, as this album suggests. "At my age," he says, "you become boggled by how time affects your future, your past, and the present. It's tickin' away, and you can't do nothin' about it."

But time has been good to his voice: a rich, virile, attractively craggy bass-baritone, etched with the wisdom of a fifty-year journey. It's a sound that could have crept from the shadows of some smoky dive in a Robert Mitchum film noir. “Just listen to Mark Murphy, and the odds are in favor of your being provoked to extremes," declared the liner notes of his first LP, made for Decca in 1956. Murphy, the writer added, "is one of the great singers of our times."
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Biography (35 KB, PDF)
Discography (96 KB, PDF)
Press-text (38 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.markmurphy.com

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Till Brönner - OCEANA

„One of the internationally most successful German pop stars is a jazz musician.“ (Musikexpress, 12/05)

"Keeping it simple" is easier said than done. Simplicity goes a long way. It is reached by focusing on the essentials and therefore a goal most desired. Till Brönner has reached an impressive degree of maturity that now allows him for that much-coveted clarity of his new album OCEANA.
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Biography (99 KB, PDF)
Discography (97 KB, PDF)
Press-text (157 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.tillbroenner.com

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Till Brönner - A Night in Berlin

The music press has been praising his musical proficiency, his fans love his melodious, harmonic and romantic style: Till Brönner is Germany’s new hot jazz star. Despite his 34 years, the trumpeter has already played with stars such as Hildegard Knef, Pat Metheny, Bootsy Collins, Mousse T., Ray Brown, the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Hoffmann, Natalie Cole or No Angels, releasing 10 albums since 1994. His current recording, That Summer, came out in June last year, entering the top 15 of the German charts immediately. Brönner was also nominated in the category “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album” at this year’s Grammy Awards (for his collaboration on the album „Get Well Soon“ by Bob Brookmeyers New Art Orchestra). His first DVD, A Night in Berlin, is scheduled for release on September 30, 2005, recorded with other musician friends at the Berlin Teldex Studios over five days in April, with Grimme Award winner Volker Weicker in the director’s chair. The DVD will be released in a high-end format, in high definition quality and Dolby digital sound.
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Biography (99 KB, PDF)
Discography (97 KB, PDF)
Press-text (157 KB, PDF)

For further information go to:
www.tillbroenner.com