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Dream Band Live in Concert

Wolfgang Haffner

Dream Band Live in Concert

Format: CD
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427994929
Catnr: ACT 99492
Release date: 29 April 2022
Buy at PlatoMania
2 CD
Buy at PlatoMania
 
Label
ACT music
UPC
0614427994929
Catalogue number
ACT 99492
Release date
29 April 2022

"This band is not only a dream band for Wolfgang Haffner, but also for the listener. All musicians are of an exceptionally high level and you can hear that, both in their solos and in their ensemble playing. The songs on this double live CD, recorded at three concerts in Germany, form a varied whole. Fat grooves are alternated with beautiful ballads and swinging 6/8th pieces."

jazzflits, 12-9-2022
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

One can hear it within the first few seconds: this music project has been done for the sheer love of it. Bandleader Wolfgang Haffner gets the programme under way on the drums by building intensity step by step. He plays with attitude and propulsive power, and never a trace of just showing off. This was how Haffner (b.1965) began the autumn 2021 concerts by his “Dream Band”, so it is also what we hear at the start of this double album of recordings from the tour. Known as the go-to rhythm anchor for all kinds of jazz, funk and pop units since the 1980s, he chose to indulge himself in some luxury casting, gathered together “my favourite musicians”, and did a tour with shows in thirteen German towns and cities: Ingolstadt ...Frankfurt… Berlin… Bremen...

Alongside Haffner’s trio with keyboardist Simon Oslender and bassist Thomas Stieger, a group freshly played-in from numerous summer concerts together, we find trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist Bill Evans, trombonist Nils Landgren, plus the uniquely lively mind of vibraphonist / academic polymath Christopher Dell. At the end of the concerts the audiences would give standing ovations and cheer this septet back onto the stage, see them re-emerge drenched in sweat, and then watch them take their leave, arm in arm and with beaming smiles.

Wolfgang Haffner reflects on the tour: “I could hardly believe my luck. We had so much fun, we could really feel people’s appreciation.” The band’s playing on this tour would instantly put audiences into a relaxed state of mind – and not just because they had been deprived of live performances through the previous year and a half of the Corona crisis.

Haffner and his bright red drum kit (a colour-match for Landgren’s trombone) would be situated on a slightly raised platform towards the back of the stage and from which he would control proceedings. The drummer has been well-known ever since the age of 17, so whereas his professional career is into its fourth decade, the ever-present joy he clearly has when making music is still almost like that of a child. The dramatic arc of the programme also clearly has the personal imprint of an artist with a preternatural sense for timing.

So, was it full-throttle from all seven tip-top professionals right from the get-go and straight through to the encore? Er, no. Timbres and energy levels were carefully calibrated; the sound of all seven of these miscreants having fun together would be contrasted with peaceful atolls of chamber music from small groups, while the others would sit and listen from the side of the stage.

In these recordings, the different band members each take turns to occupy centre-stage, buoyed by Haffner’s artistry at the drums. Haffner has been meeting Randy Brecker on and off since the 1980s. Here, the trumpeter, now 76, is given a particularly strong lyrical solo feature on Haffner’s composition “Q”. Saxophonist Bill Evans, he of the colourful headbands and the multifaceted shimmering and energetically effervescent sound, not only shines on saxophone in a duo ‘battle’ with Haffner on Nat Adderley’s classic “Walk Tall”, he also shows his mettle both as singer and pianist in “Bones from the Ground”. Haffner and Evans have been connecting for around 20 years through various projects, and since 2018 have co-led the band “Spykillers”.

Haffner has known trombonist Nils Landgren for an equally long time; the drummer played in the “Funk Unit” for eight years. Here, in the “Dream Band”, Landgren gets to sing a touching version of the soulful ballad “Get Here” by Brenda Russell, and plays a particularly tender trombone solo. Christopher Dell is a long-time companion and firm friend of Haffner’s. Keyboardist Simon Oslender (b.1998) was playing with Haffner at the age of 19 and is the youngest of the crew, while the highly accomplished bassist Thomas Stieger only recently teamed up with the drummer. All take their solo moments joyfully, each is a pleasure to hear. Haffner himself plays throughout with confi dence, unflappability and a predilection for playing very quietly. There is versatility to be appreciated in his compositions, which range from funky numbers and the Spanishinspired “Dando Vueltas” to the slow gem “Silent Way”. It is as if the listener is given just a fleeting visit to each of these destinations, and after a good hundred minutes it comes as a surprise that we have already reached the last piece. The recordings, made at three different locations, form a complete concert evening on this album – and the musical euphoria of the drummer and his congenial friends is contagious. Stars, drive and heart!

Artist(s)

Wolfgang Haffner (drums)

Wolfgang Haffner is a well known drummer & composer in the world of music. His illustrious career started at the age of 18 when he was discovered by legendary trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff. The list of musicians he played/recorded/toured with is nearly endless: Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, The Brecker Brothers, Ivan Lins, Jan Garbarek, Gregory Porter, Michael Franks, Roy Ayers, Bugge Wesseltoft, The Manhattan Transfer, Nils Petter Molvaer, The JB Horns, Esbjörn Svensson, Bob James, Mezzoforte, Lee Ritenour, Till Brönner, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Nils Landgren, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Hildegard Knef, Konstantin Wecker, Die Fantastischen Vier, Xavier Naidoo, NDR Big Band, WDR Big Band, just to name a few. Wolfgang also collaborates...
more

Wolfgang Haffner is a well known drummer & composer in the world of music. His illustrious career started at the age of 18 when he was discovered by legendary trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff. The list of musicians he played/recorded/toured with is nearly endless: Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, The Brecker Brothers, Ivan Lins, Jan Garbarek, Gregory Porter, Michael Franks, Roy Ayers, Bugge Wesseltoft, The Manhattan Transfer, Nils Petter Molvaer, The JB Horns, Esbjörn Svensson, Bob James, Mezzoforte, Lee Ritenour, Till Brönner, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Nils Landgren, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Hildegard Knef, Konstantin Wecker, Die Fantastischen Vier, Xavier Naidoo, NDR Big Band, WDR Big Band, just to name a few. Wolfgang also collaborates with heavy weights of the electronic music scene such as Ricardo Villalobos, Timo Maas & Nightmares on Wax.

Wolfgang Haffner can be heard on about 400 albums up to date, he played on all major Jazz Festivals around the world, toured in 100 countries, from Japan to the US, from South Africa to Brasil. He recorded 16 Solo Albums and made himself a name as a producer of Bands like Mezzoforte and german singer Max Mutzke.

In 2010 he received an ECHO award, followed by the cultural award from his hometown Nuremberg in Germany. His album “Kind of Cool“ went to #1 in the Jazz charts, and even made it into the german Pop charts for 5 weeks. His own group the Wolfgang Haffner Trio tours around the world intensively.


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Randy Brecker (trumpet)

Bill Evans (saxophone)

Bill Evans performed twenty-one times in The Netherlands during his musical career. In 1964 his manager Helen Keane organized a first European tour for the Bill Evans Trio. In 1965 came a second tour, with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. The very first time Bill played in The Netherlands was February 12th of that year: in the afternoon the trio did a studio recording, broadcast by Dutch radio, and in the evening they gave a concert at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with its neoclassical architecture and famous acoustics. Bill's last Dutch concert, with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, occurred on December 10th, 1979, less than a year before his untimely passing in...
more
Bill Evans performed twenty-one times in The Netherlands during his musical career. In 1964 his manager Helen Keane organized a first European tour for the Bill Evans Trio.
In 1965 came a second tour, with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. The very first time Bill played in The Netherlands was February 12th of that year: in the afternoon the trio did a studio recording, broadcast by Dutch radio, and in the evening they gave a concert at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with its neoclassical architecture and famous acoustics. Bill's last Dutch concert, with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, occurred on December 10th, 1979, less than a year before his untimely passing in 1980 at the age of fifty-one.

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Nils Landgren (trombone)

Tender-hearted yet tenacious, Nils Landgren is a world-class artist. His Funk Unit’s groove is irresistible, and The Man with the Red Horn himself has led the band through their highly successful run of CDs, and in rapturously received concerts everywhere from Stockholm to Beijing. 'Funk is my Religion' is the band’s eleventh album – the album title just says it all. Landgren and his Norsemen bring a passion, an intensity and a freshness to their craft which has remained undimmed since the start. For more than 25 years, jazz-funk has been the force driving Landgren. This veritable elixir of life produces the bubbling energy, groove and joy that can be heard and felt in every note of the music. The...
more
Tender-hearted yet tenacious, Nils Landgren is a world-class artist. His Funk Unit’s groove is irresistible, and The Man with the Red Horn himself has led the band through their highly successful run of CDs, and in rapturously received concerts everywhere from Stockholm to Beijing. "Funk is my Religion" is the band’s eleventh album – the album title just says it all. Landgren and his Norsemen bring a passion, an intensity and a freshness to their craft which has remained undimmed since the start. For more than 25 years, jazz-funk has been the force driving Landgren. This veritable elixir of life produces the bubbling energy, groove and joy that can be heard and felt in every note of the music. The band’s deliciously easy and laid-back vibe gets straight through to audiences. With the crispness of their funk rhythms, blazing brass, cool vocals and persuasive melodies, a new chapter for the Nils Landgren Funk Unit is only just beginning.

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Christopher Dell (vibraphone)

Simon Oslender (keyboard)

Thomas Stieger (double bass)

Composer(s)

Wolfgang Haffner (drums)

Wolfgang Haffner is a well known drummer & composer in the world of music. His illustrious career started at the age of 18 when he was discovered by legendary trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff. The list of musicians he played/recorded/toured with is nearly endless: Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, The Brecker Brothers, Ivan Lins, Jan Garbarek, Gregory Porter, Michael Franks, Roy Ayers, Bugge Wesseltoft, The Manhattan Transfer, Nils Petter Molvaer, The JB Horns, Esbjörn Svensson, Bob James, Mezzoforte, Lee Ritenour, Till Brönner, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Nils Landgren, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Hildegard Knef, Konstantin Wecker, Die Fantastischen Vier, Xavier Naidoo, NDR Big Band, WDR Big Band, just to name a few. Wolfgang also collaborates...
more

Wolfgang Haffner is a well known drummer & composer in the world of music. His illustrious career started at the age of 18 when he was discovered by legendary trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff. The list of musicians he played/recorded/toured with is nearly endless: Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, The Brecker Brothers, Ivan Lins, Jan Garbarek, Gregory Porter, Michael Franks, Roy Ayers, Bugge Wesseltoft, The Manhattan Transfer, Nils Petter Molvaer, The JB Horns, Esbjörn Svensson, Bob James, Mezzoforte, Lee Ritenour, Till Brönner, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Nils Landgren, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Hildegard Knef, Konstantin Wecker, Die Fantastischen Vier, Xavier Naidoo, NDR Big Band, WDR Big Band, just to name a few. Wolfgang also collaborates with heavy weights of the electronic music scene such as Ricardo Villalobos, Timo Maas & Nightmares on Wax.

Wolfgang Haffner can be heard on about 400 albums up to date, he played on all major Jazz Festivals around the world, toured in 100 countries, from Japan to the US, from South Africa to Brasil. He recorded 16 Solo Albums and made himself a name as a producer of Bands like Mezzoforte and german singer Max Mutzke.

In 2010 he received an ECHO award, followed by the cultural award from his hometown Nuremberg in Germany. His album “Kind of Cool“ went to #1 in the Jazz charts, and even made it into the german Pop charts for 5 weeks. His own group the Wolfgang Haffner Trio tours around the world intensively.


less

Press

This band is not only a dream band for Wolfgang Haffner, but also for the listener. All musicians are of an exceptionally high level and you can hear that, both in their solos and in their ensemble playing. The songs on this double live CD, recorded at three concerts in Germany, form a varied whole. Fat grooves are alternated with beautiful ballads and swinging 6/8th pieces.
jazzflits, 12-9-2022

Play album Play album
Disc #1
01.
Drums Ahead
01:31
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
02.
Soulbop
06:42
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
03.
New Life
07:16
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
04.
Walk Tall
05:26
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
05.
Bones from the Ground
05:26
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
06.
Dando Vueltas
08:15
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
07.
Tubes
02:40
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Simon Oslender, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger
08.
Star
07:00
(Wolfgang Haffner) Christopher Dell, Randy Brecker, Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Simon Oslender, Nils Landgren, Thomas Stieger
09.
Sweet Emma
06:06
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger
10.
The Dipshit
04:07
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
11.
You Dig
05:00
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger, Simon Oslender

Disc #2
01.
Get Here
05:35
(Wolfgang Haffner) Randy Brecker, Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger
02.
Tres Hermanos
05:52
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger
03.
Q
04:33
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger, Simon Oslender
04.
Leo
06:53
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
05.
Keep Going
04:26
(Wolfgang Haffner) Randy Brecker, Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
06.
Simple Life
04:21
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger
07.
The Real Thing
02:43
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Nils Landgren, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Thomas Stieger, Simon Oslender
08.
Jean Pierre
03:42
(Wolfgang Haffner) Wolfgang Haffner, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
09.
Silent Way
04:01
(Wolfgang Haffner) Randy Brecker, Wolfgang Haffner, Bill Evans, Christopher Dell, Nils Landgren, Simon Oslender, Thomas Stieger
show all tracks

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