Max Neissendorfer

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Max Neissendorfer at the Unterfahrt jazz club (Munich, April 2009)

Max Neissendorfer (born March 14, 1957 in Munich ) is a German jazz pianist and jazz singer who moves stylistically between mainstream jazz , blues and funk .

biography

After taking classical piano and composition lessons, Max Neissendorfer completed an apprenticeship at the Munich Jazz School from 1974 with the pianist Joe Haider . With his first own jazz formation, the EMPS Trio , he dedicated himself to experimental modern jazz and initiated the Jazz Tage Erding festival near Munich. Through Haider he came into contact with the Swiss jazz scene: in the early 1980s he toured Europe with the Swiss Jazz Quintet and accompanied the saxophonists Pony Poindexter and Archie Shepp , the trumpeters Thad Jones and Hannibal Marvin Peterson and the singer Leon Thomas . During a tour through the USA they made a joint album in Detroit.

From the mid-1980s Neissendorfer toured again through Europe with the Swiss jazz drummer Charly Antolini and his jazz power . Through this collaboration, the pianist opened up more to mainstream jazz.

Shortly afterwards he founded the “Max Neissendorfer Trio” with fellow Swiss Jazz Quintet David Elias on drums and Swiss Michel Poffet on bass. The focus of the joint work is the modern adaptation of standards from the Great American Songbook in combination with their own compositions. With the two releases "For you" and "Staubfrei" - on the latter, the trio jazzed up German folk songs and well-known hits - Neissendorfer also opened up the Asian record market. Neissendorfer's trio opened up to funk through the collaboration with the American singer and actress Torita Quick. He worked as a duo with the guitarist Thomas Reimer .

After numerous vocal workshops, Neissendorfer began to transfer his experience in improvisation, timing and phrasing from piano to singing in the late 1990s. He developed a virtuosity in scat singing, which earned him the nickname "Scat Max".

Neissendorfer has been active with his Munich big band “The Uptown Orchestra” since the beginning of 2000 and as a guest singer with formations such as the “Swiss Jazz Orchestra” and the Swiss “Sinatra Tribute Band” throughout German-speaking countries. Neissendorfer and his trio show another facet together with the film and TV actor Friedrich von Thun in the literary-musical project "Novecento - The Ocean Pianist".

Max Neissendorfer has been teaching at the Munich Jazzschool since the mid-1970s, which he has directed since 1985 and transformed into the Neue Jazzschool München eV. There he dedicates himself as a lecturer for singing and piano to the next generation of musicians.

Awards

  • Culture Prize for Interpretive Art of the City of Munich (1982)
  • 1st prize of the International Jazz Federation with the "Swiss Jazz Quintett" (1980)
  • 1st prize by the German Phono Academy with the EMPS Trio (1978)

Discography (excerpt)

  • A Man And His Music with the Sinatra Tribute Band (2014)
  • Winter Wonderland   with the Sinatra Tribute Band (2013)
  • All the way with the Sinatra Tribute Band (2011)
  • Two Friends with Charly Antolini (2007)
  • Scat Max & The Uptown Orchestra (2004)
  • Heartbeat Max Neissendorfer with Barbara Mayr & Band (1998)
  • Dust-free with the "Max Neissendorfer Trio" (1995)
  • Torita Quick & Max Neissendorfer Trio (1991)
  • Thunderball with Charly Antolini's Jazz Power (1985)
  • Live in Detroit with the "Swiss Jazz Quintett" (1982)
  • Imagination with the Swiss Jazz Quintett feat. Franco Ambrosetti (1981)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Neissendorfer, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz musician and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH March 14, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich