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But Beautiful

Charlotte Illinger

But Beautiful

Price: € 14.95
Format: CD
Label: Double Moon Records
UPC: 0608917119527
Catnr: DMCHR 71195
Release date: 09 February 2018
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Label
Double Moon Records
UPC
0608917119527
Catalogue number
DMCHR 71195
Release date
09 February 2018
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

Every start is a gamble. Charlotte Illinger is young and loves a large repertoire. She gained some experience on stage as a member of the NRW State Youth Jazz Orchestra, the Federal Youth Jazz Orchestra and then during the four years when she studied at the Prins Claus Conservatory in the Dutch city of Groningen. She has also won a few prizes at "Jugend jazzt", the Haestens and the Sparda Jazz Award, and now she is in the finals of the Master's degree program as a Jazz Improvising Artist at Folkwang University in Essen, in other words, shortly before finally taking the scepter in her hand as an independent artist. Consequently, an album, which you present under your own name to the jazz world, has special significance. It is a calling card, maybe even a door opener for the coming years, in any case a self-confident statement, with which a new voice of the German jazz world is making her mark.

The direction is clear: Charlotte Illinger loves tradition. Her world is the music of the divas and original personalities, who created the cornerstones of modern swing-bop jazz singing in the 1950s and 1960s. Pieces such as "But Beautiful," for example, a charming song switching between major and minor cadences that Jimmy Van Heusen originally composed for the Hollywood film "Road to Rio" in 1947, and—among other things—was immortalized by Billie Holiday a decade later. Or "Old Devil Moon" by Burton Lane, composed for the Broadway show "Finian's Rainbow" in 1946 and which was discovered for jazz by the cool Miles Davis of the 50s. Others in turn come from a French composition such as Charles Trenet’s "I Wish I Love", has roots in the adult pop of a Burt Bacharach such as "A House Is Not A Home" or is a product of her own song workshop („The Way Of Time“, „At Night“ and „Furniture“) . All these songs reject the superficial, a rapid effect, and focus on the opportunities to develop independent moods and colors. In doing this, Charlotte Illinger does not leave the borders of the harmonious and closed, but instead cultivates the dimensions of her pieces from the point of view of a swinging, bopping, ballad-like and pondering world of sound.

She already found like-minded partners at the beginning of her studies in order for this to work. Jerry Lu plays piano in the quartet existing since 2012, a multiple prize winner of competitions such as "Jugend jazzt" and "Jugend musiziert”, who was awarded his Bachelor's degree at Cologne Music College last summer and has earned a reputation as an ascending big name on his instrument thanks to playing in numerous other bands and festival appearances in Europe. Caris Hermes plays bass, a pupil of Robert Landfermann, and on the road nationally and internationally at festivals and on concert tours in addition to her studies at Folkwang University in Essen. Niklas Walte is on the drums, who also landed at the university in Essen, came via Dortmund and Cologne and became known through his playing in the Soul Food Organ Quartet, among other bands. The saxophonist Paul Heller is also part of the team as a guest soloist and sound magician, who is an established name in the Cologne scene of the local jazz world. As a result, the album "But Beautiful" combines a mixture of sexy juvenile vocals, a pleasantly challenging repertoire and an elegant shaping band to create a debut, with which Charlotte Illinger takes the leap into the shark pool of competition.

Jeder Start ist ein Wagnis. Charlotte Illinger ist jung und liebt das große Repertoire. Sie hat einige Erfahrungen auf der Bühne gesammelt, als Mitglied des Landes Jugend Jazzorchesters NRW, des Bundesjugendjazzorchesters und anschließend während der vier Jahre, die sie am Prins Claus Conservatory im Niederländischen Groningen gelernt hat. Ein paar Preise bei „Jugend jazzt“, dem Haestens und dem Sparda Jazz Award hat sie auch gesammelt und inzwischen ist sie im Finale des Masterstudiengangs als Jazz Improvising Artist an der Folkwang Universität in Essen, also kurz davor, endgültig das Zepter als selbständige Künstlerin in die Hand zu nehmen. Und da hat ein Album, mit dem man sich unter eigenem Namen der Jazzwelt präsentiert, eine besondere Bedeutung. Es ist eine Visitenkarte, vielleicht auch ein Türöffner für die kommenden Jahre, in jedem Fall ein selbstbewusstes Statement, mit dem eine neue Stimme der deutschen Jazzwelt sich profiliert.
Die Richtung ist klar. Charlotte Illinger liebt die Tradition. Ihre Welt ist die Musik der Diven und Originale, die in den Fünfzigern und Sechzigern die Eckpfeiler des modern swingboppenden Jazzgesangs eingeschlagen haben. Stücke wie „But Beautiful“ zum Beispiel, ein reizvoll zwischen Dur- und Mollkadenzen changierender Song, den Jimmy van Heusen 1947 ursprünglich für den Hollywood-Film „Road To Rio“ geschrieben hatte und der unter anderem ein gutes Jahrzehnt später von Billie Holiday unsterblich gemacht wurde. Oder „Old Devil Moon“ von Burton Lane, entstanden 1946 für die Broadway-Show „Finian’s Rainbow“ und für den Jazz durch den coolen Miles Davis der Fünfziger entdeckt. Anderes wiederum stammt aus französischer Feder wie Charles Trenets „I Wish I Love“, hat Wurzeln im erwachsenen Pop eines Burt Bacharach wie „A House Is Not A Home“ oder ist wie „The Way Of Time“, „At Night“ und „Furniture“ Produkt der eigenen Songwerkstatt. Alle diese Lieder verweigern sich dem Vordergründigen, dem schnellen Effekt, und zielen auf die Möglichkeiten, eigenständige Stimmungen und Farben zu entwickeln. Dabei verlässt Charlotte Illinger nicht die Grenze des Harmonischen und Geschlossenen, sondern erschließt sich vielmehr die Dimensionen ihrer Stücke aus der Innensicht einer swingenden, boppenden, balladenhaft sinnierenden Klangwelt.
Damit das funktioniert, hat sie sich bereits zu Beginn ihres Studiums mit gleichgesinnten Partnern zusammengefunden. Am Klavier des seit 2012 bestehenden Quartetts sitzt Jerry Lu, mehrfacher Preisträger von Wettbewerben wie „Jugend jazzt“ und „Jugend musiziert“, der im vergangenen Sommer seinen Bachelor an der Kölner Musikhochschule abschloss und sich durch zahlreiche Kooperationen und Festivalauftritte in Europa einen Ruf als aufsteigende Kraft seines Instruments erspielt. Den Bass spielt Caris Hermes, Schülerin von Robert Landfermann und neben ihrem Studium an der Folkwang Universität in Essen national und international auf Festivals und mit Konzertreisen unterwegs. Am Schlagzeug wiederum trommelt Niklas Walter, der über Dortmund und Köln ebenfalls an der Hochschule in Essen landete und unter anderem durch das Soulfood Organ Quartet bekannt wurde. Als Gastsolist und Tonmagier gehört schließlich der Saxofonist Paul Heller zum Team, der als feste Größe der Kölner Szene der heimischen Jazzwelt ein Begriff ist. So setzt sich das Album „But Beautiful“ als Mischung von reizvoll juvenilem Gesang, angenehm anspruchsvollem Repertoire und elegant gestaltender Band zu einem Debüt zusammen, mit dem Charlotte Illinger den Sprung ins Haifischbecken der Konkurrenz wagen kann.

Artist(s)

Charlotte Illinger (vocals)

Charlotte Illinger is a German jazz singer. She started playing classical piano, saxophone and singing at age 15. After finishing school she started studying jazz vocals in Enschede (Netherlands). After one year she transferred to Groningen (Netherlands) where she graduated February 2016. There she had the chance to get lessons from and work with great American musicians such as JD Walter, Matt Wilson, Deborah Brown, Lewis Nash and Michael Mossman.  Since 2013 Charlotte sings in the “Jugend Jazzorchester Nordrhein-Westfalen”. With them she has toured Ireland and Iceland and played several concerts throughout Germany. February 2015 they released a CD called “Triangle”. Furthermore she has her own Quartet, the “Charlotte Illinger Quartett” with whom she plays original compositions and arrangements of jazz...
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Charlotte Illinger is a German jazz singer. She started playing classical piano, saxophone and singing at age 15. After finishing school she started studying jazz vocals in Enschede (Netherlands). After one year she transferred to Groningen (Netherlands) where she graduated February 2016. There she had the chance to get lessons from and work with great American musicians such as JD Walter, Matt Wilson, Deborah Brown, Lewis Nash and Michael Mossman. Since 2013 Charlotte sings in the “Jugend Jazzorchester Nordrhein-Westfalen”. With them she has toured Ireland and Iceland and played several concerts throughout Germany. February 2015 they released a CD called “Triangle”. Furthermore she has her own Quartet, the “Charlotte Illinger Quartett” with whom she plays original compositions and arrangements of jazz standards. Her interest is not only bound to jazz music. Charlotte also has a project with pop musicians called “Lazou” (http://www.lazou.de), who play at local festivals and other occasions.

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Paul Heller (saxophone)

Paul Heller is a WDR Big Band saxophonist and the artistic director of his own concert series 'Next Level Jazz' in Cologne.
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Paul Heller is a WDR Big Band saxophonist and the artistic director of his own concert series "Next Level Jazz" in Cologne.

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Jerry Lu (piano)

Composer(s)

Charles Trenet

Louis Charles Auguste Claude (Charles) Trenet (Narbonne, 18 May 1913 - Créteil, 19 February 2001) was a French singer, composer and actor, active from the nineties until the nineties of the 20th century. Trenet, who got his comic expression and his felt hat the nickname 'Le Fou Chantant' (the singing fool), is best known for his world hit Douce France and La mer. In France, Trenet is just as famous as Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour.  
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Louis Charles Auguste Claude (Charles) Trenet (Narbonne, 18 May 1913 - Créteil, 19 February 2001) was a French singer, composer and actor, active from the nineties until the nineties of the 20th century. Trenet, who got his comic expression and his felt hat the nickname "Le Fou Chantant" (the singing fool), is best known for his world hit Douce France and La mer. In France, Trenet is just as famous as Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour.


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Horace Silver

Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.  After playing tenor saxophone and piano at school in Connecticut, Silver got his break on piano when his trio was recruited by Stan Getz in 1950. Silver soon moved to New York City, where he developed a reputation as a composer and for his bluesy playing. Frequent sideman recordings in the mid-1950s helped further, but it was his work with the Jazz Messengers, co-led by Art Blakey, that brought both his writing and playing most attention. Their Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers album contained Silver's first...
more
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at school in Connecticut, Silver got his break on piano when his trio was recruited by Stan Getz in 1950. Silver soon moved to New York City, where he developed a reputation as a composer and for his bluesy playing. Frequent sideman recordings in the mid-1950s helped further, but it was his work with the Jazz Messengers, co-led by Art Blakey, that brought both his writing and playing most attention. Their Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers album contained Silver's first hit, "The Preacher". After leaving Blakey in 1956, Silver formed his own quintet, with what became the standard small group line-up of tenor saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums. Their public performances and frequent recordings for Blue Note Records increased Silver's popularity, even through changes of personnel. His most successful album was Song for My Father, made with two iterations of the quintet in 1963 and 1964. Several changes occurred in the early 1970s: Silver disbanded his group to spend more time with his wife and to concentrate on composing; he included lyrics in his recordings; and his interest in spiritualism developed. The last two of these were often combined, resulting in commercially unsuccessful releases such as The United States of Mind series. Silver left Blue Note after 28 years, founded his own record label, and scaled back his touring in the 1980s, relying in part on royalties from his compositions for income. In 1993, he returned to major record labels, releasing five albums before gradually withdrawing from public view because of health problems. As a player, Silver transitioned from bebop to hard bop by stressing melody rather than complex harmony, and combined clean and often humorous right-hand lines with darker notes and chords in a near-perpetual left-hand rumble. His compositions similarly emphasized catchy melodies, but often also contained dissonant harmonies. Many of his varied repertoire of songs became jazz standards that are still widely played. His considerable legacy encompasses his influence on other pianists and composers, and the development of young jazz talents who appeared in his bands over the course of four decades.

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Charlotte Illinger (vocals)

Charlotte Illinger is a German jazz singer. She started playing classical piano, saxophone and singing at age 15. After finishing school she started studying jazz vocals in Enschede (Netherlands). After one year she transferred to Groningen (Netherlands) where she graduated February 2016. There she had the chance to get lessons from and work with great American musicians such as JD Walter, Matt Wilson, Deborah Brown, Lewis Nash and Michael Mossman.  Since 2013 Charlotte sings in the “Jugend Jazzorchester Nordrhein-Westfalen”. With them she has toured Ireland and Iceland and played several concerts throughout Germany. February 2015 they released a CD called “Triangle”. Furthermore she has her own Quartet, the “Charlotte Illinger Quartett” with whom she plays original compositions and arrangements of jazz...
more
Charlotte Illinger is a German jazz singer. She started playing classical piano, saxophone and singing at age 15. After finishing school she started studying jazz vocals in Enschede (Netherlands). After one year she transferred to Groningen (Netherlands) where she graduated February 2016. There she had the chance to get lessons from and work with great American musicians such as JD Walter, Matt Wilson, Deborah Brown, Lewis Nash and Michael Mossman. Since 2013 Charlotte sings in the “Jugend Jazzorchester Nordrhein-Westfalen”. With them she has toured Ireland and Iceland and played several concerts throughout Germany. February 2015 they released a CD called “Triangle”. Furthermore she has her own Quartet, the “Charlotte Illinger Quartett” with whom she plays original compositions and arrangements of jazz standards. Her interest is not only bound to jazz music. Charlotte also has a project with pop musicians called “Lazou” (http://www.lazou.de), who play at local festivals and other occasions.

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