Mezzoforte (band)

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Mezzoforte
Mezzoforte, Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2017
Mezzoforte, Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2017
General information
origin Reykjavík , Iceland
Genre (s) Funk - Fusion
founding 1977
Website www.mezzoforte.com
Founding members
Jóhann Ásmundsson
Friðrik "Frissi" Karlsson
Gunnlaugur "Gulli" Briem
Eyþór Gunnarsson
Mezzoforte in Frankfurt am Main (2012)

Mezzo Forte is a radio - fusion - band from Iceland . It was founded in Reykjavík in 1977 . The name of the band is derived from the Italian term mezzoforte , which means subdued .

history

The group became known in 1983 for the instrumental piece Garden Party , which climbed to number 17 on the charts in the United Kingdom . In Germany , the song reached number 36 in the Netherlands, even the top 10. A wider audience, especially in Berlin and the former East Germany, the title as background music was RIAS telecast music after school with Gregor Rottschalk known. Also, the WDR 1 took a title of Mezzo Forte, EC Blues as theme music of the consignment London Calling - The British hit parade with Achim Preikschat.

The four musicians ( Eythor Gunnarsson on keyboards, Friðrik Karlsson on guitar, Jóhann Ásmundsson on bass and Gulli Briem on drums) were still teenagers when the band was founded.

Even if Garden Party remained their only major chart success, the band gained a worldwide fan base. In the period that followed, the four musicians increasingly concentrated on their own projects, from starting a family to new musical activities.

Mezzoforte has never officially dissolved. The four childhood friends always stayed in contact, even over long distances. Seven years after the last studio album Monkey Fields , it was the German drummer Wolfgang Haffner who woke the quartet from their slumber in spring 2004. The comeback album Forward Motion was created under his aegis . With the DVD Live in Reykjavik , released in 2008 , the band came back into the international spotlight and has been touring together again since then, performing in town halls, at festivals and sometimes in clubs. In late summer 2010 the album Volcanic was released , on which the new band members also co-composed and arranged. The album was recorded and engineered in Iceland under the direction of Johann Asmundsson, the bassist.

Except for Friðrik Karlsson (who is still involved in numerous compositions of the band and occasionally in live performances) all of the founding members are still there; New additions were Óskar Gudjónsson (saxophone) in 1996 , later Thomas Dyani (percussion) and in 2006 Sebastian Studnitzky (trumpet, keyboard) and the Cologne guitarist Bruno Müller , occasionally guest musicians also play with, such as Torbjørn Sunde 1994 or Joo Kraus 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

year Title
music label 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE CH CH UK UK NO NO
1983 Surprise Surprise (EU) / 4 (IS)
Steinar 062 		DE33 (22 weeks)
DE 		- UK28 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: 1982
Producer: Geoff Calver
1984 Observations (EU) / Yfirsýn (IS)
Steinar 074 		DE39 (10 weeks)
DE 		CH23 (5 weeks)
CH 		- NO6 (9 weeks)
NO
First published: February 1984
Producer: Geoff Calver
1986 No Limits
Steinar 08 / RCA 71182 		- - - NO12 (11 weeks)
NO
First published: November 1986
Producer: Nigel Wright
1989 Playing for Time
RCA 74056 		- - - NO5 (11 weeks)
NO
First published: March 1989
Producer: Nigel Wright

further studio albums

  • 1979: Mezzoforte (Steinar 037)
  • 1980: Í Hakanum / Octopus (Steinar 039)
  • 1981: Þvílíkt og annað eins (Steinar 053; White Label , limited to 50 pieces)
  • 1984: Rising (Steinar 06 / RCA 7435)
  • 1987: Solid Silver (with Bobby Harrison; BAT 5 001)
  • 1988: Playing For Time
  • 1993: Daybreak (Spor 13150932)
  • 1996: Monkey Fields (Spor 13165962)
  • 2004: Forward Motion (BHM Productions 1001)
  • 2010: Volcanic (BHM Productions 1052)
  • 2012: Islands (BHM Productions 1063; Release: July)

Live albums

  • 1983: Sprellifandi: Live at the Dominion (Steinar 068)
  • 2007: Live in Reykjavik (2 CDs + DVD; BHM Productions 1035)

Compilations

year Title
music label 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE UK UK
1983 Catching Up with Mezzoforte
(Early Recordings)
Steinar 03/1202 		- UK95 (1 week)
UK
First published: June 1983
Producers: Geoff Calver, Mezzoforte, Simon Heyworth

more compilations

  • 1985: The Saga So Far (Steinar 07)
  • 1991: Fortissimos (RCA 75092)
  • 1999: Garden Party Time: The Best of Mezzoforte (2 CDs; Skífan / Íslenskir ​​Tónar 008)
  • 2007: Anniversary Edition (2 CDs; BHM Productions 6005)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE UK UK
1983 Garden Party
Surprise Surprise 		DE36 (16 weeks)
DE 		UK17 (10 weeks)
UK
First published: January 1983
Author: Eyþór Gunnarsson
1983 Rockall
Observations 		- UK75 (3 weeks)
UK
First published: May 1983
Author: Friðrik Karlsson
1984 Spring Fever
Observations 		- UK100 (1 week)
UK
First published: April 1984
Author: Friðrik Karlsson

more singles

  • 1982: Shooting Star (release: June 25)
  • 1983: Midnight Express
  • 1984: Midnight Sun (released January)
  • 1984: Take Off (release: November)
  • 1985: Taking Off (March release)
  • 1985: Garden Party (Sunshine Mix) (Release: July)
  • 1985: This Is the Night (feat.Noel McCalla; release: September)
  • 1986: Nothing Lasts Forever (release: September)
  • 1987: No Limit (release: March)
  • 1989: High Season
  • 1989: Expressway (release: March)
  • 1991: Better Love / Garden Party (In House Mix)
  • 1994: After Hours
  • 1996: Step Right Back
  • 1996: Monkey Fields
  • 2002: Garden Party (2002 Remix) (Tour Edition, limited to 1000 copies)

swell

  1. ↑ Garden Party: Chart data NL
  2. ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE CH UK NO

Web links

Commons : Mezzoforte  - collection of images, videos and audio files