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CLAUS RAIBLE and the BOP-chestra trumpets: Florian Jechlinger, Steve Fishwick
"...Raible has provided his BOP-chestra -a ten piece ensemble that is built up of jazz luminaries- with downright masterly arrangements whose lush sound, although attained by only ten musicians, create the opulence of a Big Band yet without falling for any riff-stereptypes. ..." (Claus Regnault, Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 2011)
“I was immediately taken with [Raible’s] Bud Powell-influence, choice of material and the way he interpreted it…
Photos courtesy of Lena Semmelroggen ......................................................................................................... MAD ABOUT TADD! the CLAUS RAIBLE NONET presents: Tadley Ewing Dameron (1917-1965), composer, pianist and arranger, is considered one of the key figures of the jazz avant-garde movement of the 1940’s, and together with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke laid the foundation for the Be Bop movement,. Many of his compositions, such as Hot House, If You Could See Me Now, Our Delight and The Scene Is Clean are definite jazz classics. He learned his craft by writing for swing bands like Lucky Millinder, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, but found his own style later through his collaborations with Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, and Gillespie. The features of this style are extremely strong melodies combined with lush and warm harmonics which stand in exciting contrast to rhythmic intensity. Tadd Dameron said of himself, “I think of my writing as being in the vein of Debussy and Ravel. I try to make it flow, make everything go. You know, it’s just like reading a book – it has to have a regular story. You can’t have one idea and then jump to another one. I try to make it flow along coherently“ This nonet presents purely Tadd Dameron compositions, many of which are hardly ever heard in live situations. The entire program is exclusively arranged for this set up. All members of the ensemble are highly profiled soloists and are among the most sought after musicians on the scene.
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the BRAD LEALI / CLAUS RAIBLE QUARTET BRAD LEALI - alto saxophone
Photo Courtesy of Oskar Henn The cooperation between Brad Leali and Claus Raible has been ongoing for over ten years, since they met for the first time in a New York jazz club in 1995. Since then, they collaborated on numerous mutual projects such as "Loopin' With Lea - The Claus Raible Sextet”, "Maria Juanez - The Brad Leali Jazz Orchestra”, "The Music Of Elmo Hope - The Brad Leali / Claus Raible Quintet”, as well as countless performances and tours in Europe and the U.S. The Quartet is captivating through the spontanity and homogeneousness of the performance as well as with the communicative, non-verbal interaction of the four musicians. BRAD LEALI , Alto Sax, composer and Arranger, is one of the most outstanding alto saxophonists on New York’s jazz scene. After his tenure as the musical director for Harry Connick Jr., he became the featured alto saxophone soloist in the world reknown Count Basie Orchestra under the leadership of Grover Mitchell. His solo work on “Star-Crossed Lovers” on the album “Count Plays Duke” was nominated for the Grammy Award. CLAUS RAIBLE Piano, compositions and arrangements GIORGIOUS ANTONIOU originally comes from Greece and now resides in Bern, Switzerland since 1994. As an accomplished bassist, he has already shared the stage with such greats as Johnny Griffin, Albert Heath, Phil Woods or John Lewis and appeared on many international festivals like Montreux, Bern, Burghausen, etc. ALVESTER GARNETT is one of the most employed New York drummers. He honed his crafts with such stellar musicians as Ellis Marsalis, Max Roach und Victor Lewis. For several years he worked with vocal legends Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln. Also instrumentalists like Wynton Marsalis, Regina Carter or Cyrus Chestnut highly appreciate the fire and energy Alvester brings to and shares on the stage. Some comments about the quartet in the press: “This quartet enchanted the audience from the first, almost explosion like saxophone note and put them under their spell ... The four earned an exorbitant applause after their version of Dizzy Gillespie’s „Be Bop“. In spite of a neck breaking tempo Raible and Leali showed a perfectly synchronised combination. ...” “This concert became a brilliant occurrence. ...Phenomenal, how the four musicians got their impro phrases in to prestige in such extremely rapid time order ...” “Has it ever happened before, that a hard bopping quartet is doing a 20 minutes lasting slow blues as an encore at Basel’s “Bird’s Eye”: in close contact with an enthusiastic audience? The writer can’t racall having seen anything similar for the last six or eight years. ... Here the ability of going out and giving the maximum is supplemented with an other one: listening to each other and getting inspired...” "Time and again it was the Thelonious Monk admirer Claus Raible, who let his provoked right hand course over the 88 keyes during his breath-taking piano solos; he did that in a vertiginous manner ...” (Vera Stiller, "Süddeutsche Zeitung") See photos from the quartet's recent european tour: At the Q4 in Switzerland and in Pfaffenhofen, Germany Listen to Brad leali interviewed for the U.S. Embassy in Athens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- the CLAUS RAIBLE TRIO The jazz trio is often refered to as the ultimate display of both combo virtuosity and individual artistic expression. Over the last several years, Claus has continued to explore and expand on his love for the trio configuration with various outstanding musicians. In Claus' words, "the 'trio' has always been an integral part of my musical journey. I have always wanted to play with two musicians with whom I felt without reservation that all three of us where flying towards the same destination in tight formation, with each member confidently and forcefully taking lead in the formation..." Some of the recent trios include Mario Gonzi, Paulo Cardoso („Introducing The Exciting“), The last edition of the trio featured bass man Zenker and master percussionist Ed Thigpen („Claus Raible Trio –Live At Birdland“). The current setup presents bassist Giorgos Antoniou and legendary blue note drummer Ben Dixon: ”FIRST TIME IN EUROPE“
Photo Courtesy of Konstantin Kern Back in the ‘60s BEN DIXON was one of the busiest musicians on the soul jazz scene as house drummer in the legendary Blue Note Records’ rhythm section, with Big John Patton and Grant Green, that recorded with many of the decade’s funkiest players. Dixon performed on dozens of sessions led by the organist and guitarist and with saxophonists like George Braith, Lou Donaldson, Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Harold Vick and Don Wilkerson. He earned a reputation as the B-3 band drummer, making dates with Wild Bill Davis, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Brother Jack McDuff, Sonny Phillips, Shirley Scott, Baby Face Willette and Larry Young, while working with everybody from Sonny Rollins to Lloyd Price. The collaboration between Claus Raible and Ben Dixon started some years ago in New York when Claus became member of the Ben Dixon Sextet. Together with bassist Giorgos Antoniou the trio can be heard on a production for the Munich Pirouet label, which is expected to be released soon. On the up coming tour Ben Dixon will appear for the first time live in Europe.
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