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The Banff Sessions - A Tribute to Kenny Wheeler

Accidental Tourists (Kenny Wheeler, Markus Burger, Jan von Klewitz)

The Banff Sessions - A Tribute to Kenny Wheeler

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917340327
Catnr: CR 73403
Release date: 27 November 2015
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917340327
Catalogue number
CR 73403
Release date
27 November 2015

"''A beautiful suite in seven parts (unfortunately only 45 minutes) and an example for impressionistic jazz that will still be current tomorow.''"

Piano wereld, 01-7-2016
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Artist(s)
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About the album

Pianist / bandleader Markus Burger: "We are delighted that Challenge Records’ upcoming release, inspired by the work and talent of one of our most treasured musical idols. I had the great pleasure of meeting Kenny Wheeler in 1993, during my artistic residence at the Banff Center for the Arts, in Alberta, Canada. My quartet, Septer Bourbon, had just finished recording our first CD in 1992, "Fishing for Compliments", and submitted it as part of our application to attend the Jazz Clinic at the Banff Center. We were ecstatic not only to learn that we had been accepted, but also that we would have the privilege to study with one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, Kenny Wheeler. The experience was deeply inspirational, and very prolific for us, as we got to work on writing new material from day one. Kenny was kind enough to let us research his musical scores, and even took the time to show us some of his “Wheelerisms,” a term we began using to describe his melodic and harmonic signatures. But what is most memorable about studying with Kenny was his encouraging feedback whenever we shared our early musical sketches, written by me and my collaborator Jan von Klewitz, during the second week of the Jazz workshop. Kenny gave us so much confidence in the material we composed at the workshop, that we decided to add lyrics to a couple of the songs and ask the legendary Norma Winstone to perform them. In May, 1993, we premiered the entire suite of compositions in the Blue Room at the Banff Center for the Arts. I did get a chance to see Kenny again on a few occasions since our first meeting in 1993, and each time, I was truly humbled at his kind words about our work at the Banff Center."

The Accidental Tourist series is a concept based on an idea by Cibelle Burger who co-produced the album with Markus Burger.

Markus Burger’s Accidental Tourists:
Markus Burger, piano
Jan von Klewitz, alto sax
featuring:
Kenny Wheeler, fluegelhorn
Norma Winstone, soprano
Martin Gjakonovski, bass
Felix Astor, drums
Stefan Lottermann, trombone

Music:
Movement 1 - Lake Louise
(Solos by Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Martin Gjakonovski)
Movement 2 - La Palette Café
(Solo by Stefan Lotterman)
Movement 3 - Sulphur Mountain
Movement 4 – Muirhead (Solos; Felix Astor, Markus Burger, Kenny Wheeler)
Movement 5 - Sure I remember
(Markus Burger, Norma Winstone)
Coda The Trout in the Bath Tub & The mighty Bow
(Solos by Jan von Klewitz, Markus Burger)

Composers: Jan von Klewitz Movement 1-4, Markus Burger Movement 5 and Coda 1,2 3
Mastering: James Linahon
1993 war Markus Burger zusammen mit seinem Quartett Septer Bourbon zu Gast am Banff Center for the Arts in Alberta, Kanada, wo er die Möglichkeit bekam bei einem der größten Jazzmusiker unserer Zeit zu studieren: Kenny Wheeler.

“Diese Erfahrung war für uns nachhaltig inspirierend und äußerst produktiv, da wir von Anfang an damit begannen neues Material zu komponieren. Kenny erlaubte uns sogar seine Partituren genauestens zu studieren und zeigte uns einige seiner 'Wheelerisms', einen Begriff, den wir schnell für seine melodiöse und harmonische Handschrift verwendeten. Das Beeindruckendste war jedoch Kennys ermutigendes Feedback, wenn Jan von Klewitz und ich ihm unsere ersten Entwürfe zeigten.” erinnert sich Markus Burger.

Mit dem Rückenwind entwickelten sie das Material weiter und fügten einigen der Kompositionen Texte hinzu, die die legendäre Norma Winstone performte. Die damit entstandene Suite ist auf “The Banff Sessions – A Tribute To Kenny Wheeler” zu hören. Aufgeführt wurde sie im Mai 1993 im Blue Room des Centers.

Die The Accidential Tourist Serie ist ein Konzept basierend auf der Idee von Cibelle Burger, die das Album gemeinsam mit Markus Burger produziert hat.

Artist(s)

Markus Burger (piano)

Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film. His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor,...
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Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film.
His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and Kenny Werner.
He has released eight albums, featuring his own compositions and arrangements, among them, his two most recent releases, Genesis and Tertia. His CD Genesis, an avant-garde jazz collaboration with renowned drummer Matt Marucci, has received raving reviews from jazz critics in the United States while his latest Spiritual Standards project Tertia, with Berlin-based saxophonist Jan Von Klewitz, made its debut during a nationally televised performance in Germany on New Year's Day, 2005. His second album, The Smile of the Honeycake Horse, with his quartet Septer Bourbon, received wide acclaim from the European press and Down Beat Magazine in the United States and achieved something of a “cult following” in Germany. His Spiritual Standards project, a collection of contemporary jazz improvisations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s greatest chorals and masterpieces, was performed at sold out venues in Germany, Poland, Italy and the United States, later moving to the top 20 in the German Jazz charts in 1999.
In developing his signature sound over the years, Burger drew his influences from a wide range of musical styles including J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Sting.

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Norma Winstone (vocals)

Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scott’s club with Roland Kirk. Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the avant garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation. She joined groups led by Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sang with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs and John Taylor, and worked extensively with many of the major European names and visiting Americans. In 1971 she was voted top singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll and subsequently recorded her own album ‘Edge of Time‘ for Decca, which although long deleted has...
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Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scott’s club with Roland Kirk.
Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the avant garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation.
She joined groups led by Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sang with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs and John Taylor, and worked extensively with many of the major European names and visiting Americans.
In 1971 she was voted top singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll and subsequently recorded her own album ‘Edge of Time‘ for Decca, which although long deleted has now been re-released as a CD on the Disconforme label.
In the late seventies she joined pianist John Taylor and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler to form the group Azimuth, which was described by Richard Williams of The Times as “one of the most imaginatively conceived and delicately balanced of all contemporary chamber jazz groups“.
In this setting she combines the instrumental use of the voice with words, most of which she writes herself. Azimuth has recorded several albums on the ECM label (the first three of which have been re-issued as a CD boxed set).
Their CD ‘How It Was Then… Never Again‘ was released in May 1995, and received four stars in Down Beat magazine.
Her own legendary album ‘Somewhere Called Home‘ on the ECM label is widely considered to be a classic.
In recent years she has become known as a very fine lyricist, writing words to compositions by Ralph Towner, and Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins (who has recorded her English lyrics to his song ‘Vieste‘). She has a special affinity with the music of Steve Swallow, and has written lyrics to many of his compositions, most notably ‘Ladies in Mercedes‘, which has become a standard.
Her voice has become an important part of the sound of Kenny Wheeler’s big band, and can be heard in this context on the ECM double CD ‘Music for Large and Small Ensembles‘ which also features John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine and John Taylor.
Her CD ‘Well Kept Secret‘, recorded with the legendary American pianist Jimmy Rowles, featuring George Mraz on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums, was given a four star rating in Down Beat magazine. Here Norma sings a selection of rare jazz standards, including Jimmy’s famous tune ‘The Peacocks’ for which she wrote lyrics and re-titled ‘A Timeless Place‘. This piece has since been recorded by other artists including jazz singer Mark Murphy, and The Swingle Singers.
Her CD ‘Manhattan In The Rain‘, with pianist Steve Gray, bassist Chris Laurence and special guest saxophonist Tony Coe consists of unusual and classic standards, described by Dave Gelly in The Observer as “A delectable set of songs… masterly and enthralling“.
A CD of duo performances with pianist John Taylor entitled ‘Like Song, Like Weather‘ on the Enodoc label was described by Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times as “…a superb example of state-of-the-art, imaginative, virtually beyond-definition singing“.
In July 2001, she won the title of Best Vocalist in the BBC Jazz Awards hosted by Humphrey Lyttleton at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
With American pianist Fred Hersch, she recorded a CD of Fred’s compositions with her lyrics: called ‘Songs and Lullabies‘, available in the US on Sunnyside, and in England on the Enodoc label. Vibraphonist Gary Burton makes a guest appearance on three tracks.
A recording ‘It’s Later than You Think‘, with the marvellous North German Radio big band directed by British writer Colin Towns, was released in Autumn 2006 to coincide with a British tour.
She was one of the stars of the acclaimed Gilles Peterson ‘Jazz Britannia‘ programme shown on BBC 2, from The Barbican which featured influential music of British jazz musicians from the sixties and seventies, along with contemporary jazz artists A double CD ‘Amoroso…only more so‘, with The Stan Tracey trio and saxophonist Bobby Wellins was released on the Trio label to some five star reviews…….
“This is standards-reinvention as it should be done” John Fordham, The Guardian.
“Winstone’s voice and Wellins’ highly vocalised tenor seem made for each other…. Sheer class” Ray Comiskey, The Irish Times.
She continues in the forefront of British jazz and was nominated again in the 2007 and 2008 BBC Jazz Awards for best vocalist.
She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2007.
In 2009 she was awarded the Skoda Jazz Ahead Award in Bremen for her contribution to European Jazz.
Her current group is a trio featuring Italian pianist Glauco Venier and German saxophonist/ bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing.
The trio was formed around twelve years ago when Glauco and Klaus, who were playing as a duo at the time, asked Norma to guest with them at a concert near Udine, in Northern Italy, Glauco’s home town. A rapport between the three was immediately apparent. She realised that this was a group that had a very original sound which she wanted to develop. They made their first recording ‘Chamber Music‘, released by Universal, Austria, at the Artesuono Recording Studios in Udine in 2002. This is where they subsequently recorded their ECM album ‘Distances‘, which was given a four and a half star review in Downbeat Magazine, had wonderful reviews in the German and English press.
The CD received an award as top Jazz Vocal CD from Academie Du Jazz in France and its crowning achievement was a Grammy nomination in the Jazz Vocal CD category of 2008.
There have been two further ECM releases: “Stories Yet To Tell” in 2010 and “Dance Without Answer” in 2013 – both to much critical acclaim.
Norma also works with the Nikki Iles’ group “The Printmakers” comprising some of the UK’s finest musicians. They released a long-awaited album “Westerly” this year and perform mainly in the UK.
Awards and Fellowships 2010 Lifetime Achievement Jazz Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Honorary Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire – incidentally the first Jazz Fellow.
2013 Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music 2015 Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Vocalist Gold Badge of Merit from British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
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Kenny Wheeler (trumpet)

Jazz trumpeter and flügelhornist Kenny Wheeler was one of the most advanced voices on his instrument. Blessed with a full, lovely tone and an astounding range, Wheeler sounded equally at home in fiery free jazz explorations or softer, more lyrical post-bop meditations. Wheeler was born in 1930 in Toronto, Ontario, and began playing trumpet at age 12. After studying at Toronto's Royal Conservatory, he moved to London in 1952, where he gigged with swing and dance bands. He appeared with John Dankworth's orchestra at the 1959 Newport Festival and remained with that group until 1965. In 1966,Wheeler discovered free jazz, and, fascinated, joined John Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemblefor the next four years. In addition, he played jazz-rock fusion with the Mike Gibbs Orchestra from 1969-1975, and joined Tony Oxley's sextet (along with free...
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Jazz trumpeter and flügelhornist Kenny Wheeler was one of the most advanced voices on his instrument. Blessed with a full, lovely tone and an astounding range, Wheeler sounded equally at home in fiery free jazz explorations or softer, more lyrical post-bop meditations. Wheeler was born in 1930 in Toronto, Ontario, and began playing trumpet at age 12. After studying at Toronto's Royal Conservatory, he moved to London in 1952, where he gigged with swing and dance bands. He appeared with John Dankworth's orchestra at the 1959 Newport Festival and remained with that group until 1965. In 1966,Wheeler discovered free jazz, and, fascinated, joined John Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemblefor the next four years. In addition, he played jazz-rock fusion with the Mike Gibbs Orchestra from 1969-1975, and joined Tony Oxley's sextet (along with free jazz giants like Derek Bailey and Evan Parker) from 1969-1972. Through the latter, Wheeler was invited to join German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's groundbreaking free jazz big band the Globe Unity Orchestra in 1970, an association Wheeler maintained for years to come.
During the first half of the '70s, Wheeler played with Anthony Braxton, which became his primary focus. In 1975, he signed with the ECM label and recorded the well-received Gnu High, which established him as a solo artist of note; the following year, he left Braxton and joined the trio Azimuth. Wheelerturned out a series of excellent ECM albums, including 1977'sDeer Wan and 1983's Double, Double You (that year,Wheeler also began a four-year run with the Dave Holland Quintet). Several more generally fine outings followed in the '90s, including the ECM dates Music for Large and Small Ensembles and The Widow in the Window (both recorded in 1990), plus other recordings for Justin Time and Soul Note later in the decade. During the 2000s and 2010s, he recorded several dates for CAM Jazz, including 2008's Other People with the Hugo Wolf String Quartet and 2011's One of Many with Steve Swallow. Wheeler died on September 18, 2014 after a brief illness. His final studio session, the Manfred Eicher-produced Songs for Quintet, was released in 2015 on what would have been Wheeler's 85th birthday.

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Martin Gjakonovski (bass)

Martin Gjakonovski ( * 1970 in Skopje , Macedonia ) is a living in Germany jazz bassist Macedonian origin . He is considered one of the most prominent jazz players in Europe.Gjakonovski comes from a musical family; his mother was a jazz singer and his father founded and directed the Radio Jazz Big Band Macedonia. Martin Gjakonovski learned from the age of six violin and moved with 14 years to double bass. He soon formed his own band, the trio Spato. Since 1991 he studied at the Cologne University of Music.  He worked in groups of Paul Kuhn, Lynne Arriale, Olivia Trummer, Paul Shigihara, Nicolas Simion, Bojan Z, Anders Berg Krantz, Omer Klein and the Frankfurt Jazz Big Band. With...
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Martin Gjakonovski ( * 1970 in Skopje , Macedonia ) is a living in Germany jazz bassist Macedonian origin . He is considered one of the most prominent jazz players in Europe.Gjakonovski comes from a musical family; his mother was a jazz singer and his father founded and directed the Radio Jazz Big Band Macedonia. Martin Gjakonovski learned from the age of six violin and moved with 14 years to double bass. He soon formed his own band, the trio Spato. Since 1991 he studied at the Cologne University of Music. He worked in groups of Paul Kuhn, Lynne Arriale, Olivia Trummer, Paul Shigihara, Nicolas Simion, Bojan Z, Anders Berg Krantz, Omer Klein and the Frankfurt Jazz Big Band. With musicians such as Roman Schwaller, Andy Middleton, Tony Lakatos and Charlie Mariano, he was on the major European festivals, such as in Zagreb, Brussels, Bilbao, Krakow and Leverkusen. He produced an album with Hugo Read and Thomas Cremer in Frankfurt Jazz Trio and belonged to Markus Burgers Septer Bourbon. Previously, he played more than eighty jazz and world music CDs a, inter alia, with Dusko Goykovich, Paul Kuhn, Nicolas Simion, Antonio Faraò / Bob Berg, Michael Sagmeister, Anke Helfrich, Torsten Goods, Ferenc Snétberger, Dejan Terzic European Assembly, Claudius Valk Trio, Ratko Zjaca / Simone Zanchini / Adam Nussbaum.

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Stefan Lottermann (trombone)

Stefan Lottermann ( * 1965 in Heidelberg ) is a German trombonist of modern jazz . Lotter man who lived in Offenbach long received from 1973 trombone lessons at the Conservatory Mainz . He continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Jiggs Whigham . From 1990 to 1995 he played in the German-French Jazz Ensemble under Albert Mangelsdorff ( whose stylistics coined ) and Jean - Rémy Guédon . In 1991 he won the competition Jugend jazzt ; In 1992 he received the scholarship city of Frankfurt am Main . This year he became a member of the Quartet of Heinz Sauer ( Album Lost ends , 1993) . Then he played in projects of Gabriele Hasler...
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Stefan Lottermann ( * 1965 in Heidelberg ) is a German trombonist of modern jazz . Lotter man who lived in Offenbach long received from 1973 trombone lessons at the Conservatory Mainz . He continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Jiggs Whigham . From 1990 to 1995 he played in the German-French Jazz Ensemble under Albert Mangelsdorff ( whose stylistics coined ) and Jean - Rémy Guédon . In 1991 he won the competition Jugend jazzt ; In 1992 he received the scholarship city of Frankfurt am Main . This year he became a member of the Quartet of Heinz Sauer ( Album Lost ends , 1993) . Then he played in projects of Gabriele Hasler , Wollie Emperor ( 1995) , Jan von Klewitz ( 1995) , Ed Schuller , Ekkehard Jost and the Frankfurt Jazz Big Band . He is the NDR Bigband since 1998. Member . Since 2006, he also belongs permanently to the Frankfurt Radio Jazz Ensemble , where he occasionally starred since the early 1990s . Bruno Lottermann - Paulot is his father .

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Felix Astor (drums)

Felix Astor was born in Heidelberg and lived in Berlin since of 2003. At the age of eight he started with the drums play. As a teenager, he plays classical orchestral music and starts playing jazz in bands. He receives numerous off drawings at 'Jugend musiziert' and 'Jugend jazzt'. Since the 90s, he worked with many leading musicians of the German and international scene again and again in their own projects. Since 1998 he is a member of Christopher Dell 'DRA', one of the most innovative bands of the present. At the invitation of the drummer Sergio Gomes he undertakes in 1996 a first study trip to Brazil. This is the trigger for an intensive examination of Brazilian music and...
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Felix Astor was born in Heidelberg and lived in Berlin since of 2003. At the age of eight he started with the drums play. As a teenager, he plays classical orchestral music and starts playing jazz in bands. He receives numerous off drawings at "Jugend musiziert" and "Jugend jazzt". Since the 90s, he worked with many leading musicians of the German and international scene again and again in their own projects. Since 1998 he is a member of Christopher Dell "DRA", one of the most innovative bands of the present. At the invitation of the drummer Sergio Gomes he undertakes in 1996 a first study trip to Brazil. This is the trigger for an intensive examination of Brazilian music and culture. It is followed by a six-month stay in São Paulo in 1999 with copious drum and percussion studies. Since then, the Brazilian influence has become an essential in his work as a drummer and composer. He now plays Brazilian music as a singer and guitarist.

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Composer(s)

Markus Burger (piano)

Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film. His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor,...
more
Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film.
His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and Kenny Werner.
He has released eight albums, featuring his own compositions and arrangements, among them, his two most recent releases, Genesis and Tertia. His CD Genesis, an avant-garde jazz collaboration with renowned drummer Matt Marucci, has received raving reviews from jazz critics in the United States while his latest Spiritual Standards project Tertia, with Berlin-based saxophonist Jan Von Klewitz, made its debut during a nationally televised performance in Germany on New Year's Day, 2005. His second album, The Smile of the Honeycake Horse, with his quartet Septer Bourbon, received wide acclaim from the European press and Down Beat Magazine in the United States and achieved something of a “cult following” in Germany. His Spiritual Standards project, a collection of contemporary jazz improvisations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s greatest chorals and masterpieces, was performed at sold out venues in Germany, Poland, Italy and the United States, later moving to the top 20 in the German Jazz charts in 1999.
In developing his signature sound over the years, Burger drew his influences from a wide range of musical styles including J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Sting.

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Jan von Klewitz

Jan von Klewitz ( born March 7, 1964 in Zagreb ) is a German jazz saxophonist. From Klewitz spent part of his childhood in Copenhagen, where he received his first piano lessons. From 1972, he lived with his family in Berlin, where he only got clarinet and later saxophone lessons from 1976th After high school studied at the Cologne University of Music and was a member of Youth Jazz Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz, with whom he went on several tours abroad (USA, Malta). During his studies he worked with Gene Mighty Flea Connors, Ulla Oster Beyond Janis, the band Heinz, Georg Ruby, Dieter Manderscheid and Reinhard Kobialka. He was also involved in several albums of productions JazzHausMusik. In 1991 he moved back to...
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Jan von Klewitz ( born March 7, 1964 in Zagreb ) is a German jazz saxophonist.
From Klewitz spent part of his childhood in Copenhagen, where he received his first piano lessons. From 1972, he lived with his family in Berlin, where he only got clarinet and later saxophone lessons from 1976th After high school studied at the Cologne University of Music and was a member of Youth Jazz Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz, with whom he went on several tours abroad (USA, Malta). During his studies he worked with Gene Mighty Flea Connors, Ulla Oster Beyond Janis, the band Heinz, Georg Ruby, Dieter Manderscheid and Reinhard Kobialka. He was also involved in several albums of productions JazzHausMusik. In 1991 he moved back to Berlin, where he founded his own quartet with Wolfgang Köhler, Henning Sieverts and Bill Elgart. He became a member of the German-French Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Albert Mangelsdorff and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker, Aki Takase and Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky. He also played in a double quartet Double Dose with Conny and Matthias Bauer and the quartet Gossip and Heinz Sauer. At this time played Klewitz addition to numerous film music productions with Wolfgang Dauner, Stefan Lotter man, John Schroeder, Steve Argüelles, Rudi Neuwirth, Michel Godard, Bob Degen and Christopher Dell. He went on numerous national and international festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Jazz Baltica or the International Burghausen Jazz Week and was for the Goethe-Institut with the band Yakou Tribe on Africa tour. In 2007 he played with Christian von Kaphengsts Quartet Cafe Du Sport in India and Pakistan. For the existing since 1999 Quartet Yakou Tribe [1] (with Kai Brückner (g), Johannes Gunkel (b), and Rainer Winch (d)), he also composes his own pieces. Together with pianist Markus Burger he has presented a series of now four CDs with spiritual standards, which make use of both and European hymns. He also plays in the Wülker Group in Jazz Indeed with Michael Schiefel as a singer and with Thärichens Tentett headed by Nicolai Thärichen. Jan von Klewitz is the brother of Anti von Klewitz.

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Press

''A beautiful suite in seven parts (unfortunately only 45 minutes) and an example for impressionistic jazz that will still be current tomorow.''
Piano wereld, 01-7-2016

"intelligent, vivid, transparent, contemplative, inspired an inspiring music"
JazzPodium, 01-3-2016

"What a delight to experience Kenny Wheeler on the peak of being creatively motivated."
Jazzthing, 01-2-2016

''It's great that this one off concert is released, because 23 years later it still sounds amazing! A dignified homage to the great Kenny Wheeler.''
Rootstime, 26-1-2016

[...] The cd is subtitled: A Tribute To Kenny Wheeler. Wheeler, a very prominent Canadian trumpeter / flugelhoornist died in September 2014 at the age of 84. That must have made Burger remember they ever  gave a special concert together which was never released. They wrote an eight-piece suite, which they perform with among others Kenny Wheeler and singer Norma Winstone. Her contributions are sometimes grotesque but especially the interplay between the blower and Burger on piano is often exhilarating. [...]
de Volkskrant, 06-1-2016

"It's beautiful music performed by outstanding musicians, that in ensemble and in their solo's bring up all kinds of moods (from wild and raw to sentimental and romantic)."
Piano wereld, 01-1-2016

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