| deutsch | english Christopher Dell (with Ladi Geisler) Christopher Dell vib Carsten Daerr p Oliver Potratz b Eric Schäfer dr Ladi Geisler git |
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Everybody knows Strangers in the Night, one of the greatest hits of the 20th
century. Yet, hardly anybody knows that the German composer Bert Kaempfert
wrote the song. One can find his name credited next to a great number of
world-famous titles. Kaempfert made music history and created a distinctive
style with titles like Spanish Eyes, Danke Schoen, A Swingin Safari or the
aforementioned Strangers in the Night, that facilitated Frank Sinatra's
furious return to the top of the charts in 1966.
The Hamburg-born composer, arranger and big-band leader Bert Kaempfert
(October 16th 1923 June 21st 1980) discovered the Beatles and produced
their first recordings, he arranged for Elvis Presley, and helped Al Martino
to his comeback with Spanish Eyes. His incomparable sound dominant
"knack-bass" figures (Ladi doubling the bass line an octave up on muted
guitar), swinging rhythms, horns and a carefully created luminous background
of choir and strings created a stir all over the world in the early
1960s.
All the greatest stars of American showbiz were crazy about Kaempfert's
work. Wayne Newton adorned himself with Danke Schoen; the great Nat King
Cole celebrated a triumph with L.O.V.E. Jack Jones (Lady), Dean Martin (I
Can¹t Help Remembering You), Sammy Davis Jr. (Lonely Is The Name), but also
Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Caterina Valente,
Nancy Wilson all of them had celebrated success with compositions by Bert
Kaempfert. His hits have become evergreens.
In the year 1993, Kaempfert posthumously received the greatest honour that
can be bestowed upon a composer: the acceptance into the American
Songwriter¹s Hall Of Fame.
Christopher Dell about THE WORLD WE KNEW
Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler: the most noteworthy German songwriters of the 20th
century. Here is another one: Bert Kaempfert. His melodies, atmospheres and
his - then revolutionary - concept of sound and space have moved millions of
listeners worldwide.
There is a unique quality to each of is compositions, that has fascinated me
as a musical "problem" to be solved. Another musically interesting aspect of
his work was Kaempfert's way of interpreting music as a design object.
In approaching the music, it was important for me that we transport the
compositions into a contemporary context. To achieve this, we tried to not
let the aspect of space (Kaempfert) or structure (jazz) take priority;
rather we focused completely on colour. This impressionist approach allows
our music to become a statement independent of the original.
The pieces seem to become excavated monuments from far-gone days. They have
the morbid charm of a ruined building, the beauty of which becomes apparent
if we take a second look. The voices and the atmosphere that once filled
these rooms with life sound out to us from its walls. The title "The World
We Knew" takes on a whole new meaning in this context, and contributes an
inner unity to our conception of a "considerate archaeology".
There is one musician whose sound left its mark on Kaempfert's music: guitar
player Ladi Geisler. I¹m very pleased that he contributed so much of his
creativity and elegance to this recording. Christopher Dell currently lives
in Berlin. The Reclam dictionary of jazz names him as the leading jazz
vibraphone player of his generation. While he has developed a unique style
characterised by maturity and a strong personality, Dell is a musician who
moves effortlessly in and out between free improvisation, contemporary
composed music and jazz. He has worked as a soloist with, among others,
the radio big bands of the WDR and NDR (based in Cologne and Hamburg), the
radio jazz ensemble of the HR (based in Frankfurt), with Benny Golson, Kenny
Wheeler, Lee Konitz and Bob Brookmeyer. He played in projects such as the
Klaus König Orchestra, the Heinz Sauer Quartet, and the Theo Jörgensmann
Quartet. Dell plays and has played concerts and tours extensively all around
the world (in among other places Canada, China, USA, Japan, India, Africa
and South America), and is featured on numerous CD releases. He has received
a great number of prizes for his work, for example the Downbeat All-star
Award, the annual German Record Critics' Award (Preis der Deutschen
Schallplattenkritik), and the JazzArt-Award Music of the 21st century.
In 2005, Dell received the music award of the city of Darmstadt, which was
presented for the first time in that year. The jury commission stated that
he is "one of the most important improvising musicians in Germany", and
called the vibraphone player, composer and improvisation conceptualist Dell
"without doubt the most interesting exponent of his instrument in Europe".
In 2002, he released the book "Prinzip Improvisation" (The Improvisation
Principle) and has been director of ifit, the Institute for Improvisation
Technology, Berlin, since the year 2000
Christopher Dell was appointed to the position of a lecturer for architectural theory
at the University of the Arts (UdK) Berlin in 2006.
following areas can be booked by
Concertbüro Uli Fild: Europe
record company
ECM records