Lions Jazz mit Sandra Pires

A very thoughtful and refreshing evening of nice Jazz Music

Buddies: Täubchen, Christian
Rating: 4 out of 5
Merch: nope
Again? We liked it a lot

Diknu Schneeberger Trio

Another breathtaking performance of this unique trio with their new CD with them.


Buddies: Täubeli, Sigi, Pez, Action
Rating: 5 out of 5
Merch: the new CD
Again: for sure

Brad Mehldau Trio

Since Täubchen and Jakob preferred not to be in Vienna this weekend, friends joined.




Buddies: Birgit, Lorenz, and Gerhard
Rating: 4/5
Merch: Their new CD 'Seymour Reads The Constitution!'
Again? Yes, I am basically on subscription ;-)


After quite a number of Brad Mehldau performances, it gets harder to write something novel. The trio, consisting of Brad Mehldau, larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, came with a focus on their new CD, but also some songs from their 'Blues and Ballads' album. But maybe this night, the quality of a classical jazz trio truly emerged to me - again. It is always a small miracle to experience the interaction that only the classical jazz trio allows for. All three instruments mostly are in their exclusive sonic range and can be seen equal to each other. In addition the amplification of all three instruments provide for the perfect jazz sound that I prefer over smaller venues - the sound is more powerful in that way.

Konzerthaus Wien is where a modern Jazz Trio shines for me

Also after some days, it is too early to judge on the new CD, but the songs represent the state of this trio, which I personally really like. It is not for everybody on this evening, and probably it will be just Jakob and myself to continue this very nice tradition to listen to the quite unique style of Brad Mehldau and his trio. So why 'just' four out of five? The actual gig has been relatively short, and some four encores did not fully compensate, we know better, e.g. from the gig with Chris Tile. But that's nitty-gritty, it was a great evening that ended, as always in Weinzierl just perfectly.

Brad Mehldau and Chris Tile

As with most of Brad Mehldau's performances, he again succeeds to easily meet high expectations here. His duet with Chris Tile is one of its kind and hard to match.


Buddies: Täubchen, Birgit and Jakob
Rating: 5/5
Merch: none
Again: we already have tickets for the trio in spring 2018


This is not the entire setlist, their encores were too many and too various, but gives you a glimpse:
1. The Old Shade Tree
2. Tallahassee Junction
3. Fast As You Can
4. Independence Day
5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
6. Scarlet Town
7. Dark Turn Of Mind

So even a duet of a piano and a mandolin, along with Chris Tile's vocals, works out, and the auditorium was amazed. For sure, this duet is on the more silent side, but Chris has his moments of (relative) loudness. Of course this can only work out with proper amplification, which I mostly liked. Only the mandoline scrubbing sounded sometimes a bit harsh to me, but that's probably just personal and just fine that way. It was music just made for mid-November, a bit melancholic, but never depressive, and powerful enough to warm your heart. After the fulminant Bach performance another very surprising highlight. It seems to me that Brad Mehldau has an extremely productive and inspired phase as a songwriter.

Brad Mehldau - Three Pieces after Bach

Turns out to be his most interesting and intense performance so far.


Score: 5/5
Buddy: Jakob
Merch: nope
Again? Anytime, anyplace

Jazz and Classical performances are hardest to review. First there is always a lot of history behind this music to embrace Second the level of Classical performances, in particular in Konzerthaus Wien, rather leaves it to the experts than to the occasional listener to express an opinion. Bearing that in mind and not having that much knowledge of musical history, it's typically very hard for me to judge. A subjective moment.

Not in this case - at least to a significantly lesser degree. When Brad Mehldau plays Bach, this is fundamentally different.

As I learnt from the  Konzerthaus Wien website, Brad Mehldau is originally trained as a classical musician. His initial approach to Bach seems classical first. I admire his strict and precise Legato, which is so important in Bach (compared to the masters of Bach, he plays more Legato, which I really like). Some seconds later, there is this groove that changes everything. Far away from any metronomesqhe precision, his interpretations imply rhythmical flexibility I have never heard before - in Bach. 

Brad Mehldau goes further by introducing his improvisation after every piece - and this is where the sun starts to shine. Yes, the sun because now very impressionistic themes erase the remaining heavy touch that Bach so often can have. Much lighter and far more enjoyable, at the same time fascinating.

His programme on this evening:

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium 3 Cis-Dur BWV 848 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 1: Rondo (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium C-Dur BWV 870 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)

Fuge 16 g-moll BWV 885 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 2: Ostinato (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

***

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium 6 d-moll BWV 851 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 3: Toccata (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Allemande (aus Partita Nr. 4 D-Dur BWV 828) (1726-1731)

Brad Mehldau

Improvisation on Bach I

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium und Fuge 12 f-moll BWV 857 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

Improvisation on Bach II

-----------------------------------------

Encore:

Radiohead

Little By Little

George Gershwin

How Long Has This Been Going On (Rosalie) (1927)

Frank Loesser

The Inch Worm

 

Muthspiel - Scofield/Mehldau/Guliana

As so often in live Jazz music, this event turns out quite differently than expected.

Buddies: Birgit, Täubchen, Jakob

Score: 4 out of 5

Merch: nope

Again? Mehldau definitely, and Guiliana is the future

We have very high expectations when we arrive at our seats. The stage is built beyond the orchestra pit of the Vienna Opera, thus we are very close to the artists, and the view is perfect. Since I expect not to take any photos during the session, I take one of the empty stage.

Brad Mehldau & Friends - "The Salvation Hunters"

Brad Mehldau, an extraordinary contemporary pianist and composer, plays his own soundtrack to "The Salvation Hunters"

Score: 4 out of 5
Buddy: Jakob
Again? Any time








Stage and screen set for the show:

Fernwärme Wien Open Air II

Damn hot weather as last time, and look at the ticket price...

Score: 3 out of 5
Buddy: Täubchen
Again: definitely

Sebastian Grimus Soulett

Ein wunderbarer Abend bei Soul und Jazz mit einem Einheimischen, der sein Instrument perfekt beherrscht und den Soul in sich trägt. Mehr dazu später...

Mit dabei war: Pez
Merch: Sebastian vergaß leider seine CDs :-)
Nochmal? Jederzeit

...

Diknu Schneeberger

Ein weiterer Tagebucheintrag auf Deutsch. Rund 50 Gäste finden sich in die Kulturmü Hollabrunn ein und werden reichlich mit wunderschöner und virtuoser Musik ganz nach dem Vermächtnis Django Reinhardts belohnt.

Mit dabei waren: Sigi und Pez

Bewertung: 5 von 5

Merchandize: eine signierte CD

Wieder einmal? Definitiv

(Was für ein Konzertticket ;-)

Ich traf auf Diknu Schneeberger erstmals in einem Gitarrenbuch, in dem er als "würdiger Nachfolger Reinhardts" gepriesen wurde. Seine Technik könne "eigentlich so gar nicht sein" - doch sie ist Realität. In der Kulturmü Hollabrunn gibt sich das Trio, bestehend aus Diknu und Joschi Schneeberger (Kontrabass) sowie dem nicht weniger phänomenalen Martin Spitzer (Gitarre) ein Stelldichein. Die Videos sprechen für sich, mehr ist dazu eigentlich nicht zu sagen. Es war ganz toll, und bei der Signierung der CD zeigte sich Diknu von seiner humorvollen Seite, die er nach eigenen Angaben gar nicht habe ("Bitte um Verzeihung, dass ihr meinen schlechten Humor ertragen musst.").

Andreas Böhlen Quartett

A very young jazz quartett plays modern jazz that is still dedicated to its roots. I captured some short impressions in this video that tells about everything:

Score: 4 out of 5
Buddy: Täubchen
Another Gig? Sure!

It has been a rather cold and rainy day in Hamburg and we are late. Fortunately, Birdland is heated well. It is a small jazz venue, but we manage to find a decent place. The quartett offers everything for a very nice evening of modern jazz (plus one part of contemporary music). With us being late, the gig is eventually rather short, but it still feels right. Kudos to a very young team of highly gifted musicians.

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Fernwärme Wien Jazz (Count Basic, Till Brönner, Jazzkantine)

At 36 Celsius, Smooth Jazz is probably the only thing you can bear for some time. The gig was more or less for free (see ticket price), the mood relaxed. The video speaks for itself.


Buddy: Täubchen
Score: 3 out of 5
Another gig? Yes, at lower temperatures

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