The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie

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Concert at Casino Herisau on January 13th 2010
After the concert: Axel Zwingenberger , Charlie Watts , Dave Green and Ben Waters (from left to right)

The ABC & D Of Boogie Woogie are a band project, a collaboration of boogie-woogie - pianist Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters , who also sings, with the Rolling Stones - drummer Charlie Watts and double bassist Dave Green was born. The letter combination "ABC & D" in the name of the group is derived from the first letters of the first names of its members. They describe themselves as a "swinging live band with the motto" Hot Pianos & Rhythm "" that plays mainly boogie-woogie, but also blues and rock 'n' roll . Since its inception in 2009, the band has given several concerts in different cities in Europe. She first performed in the United States in 2012 .

founding

The joy of playing boogie-woogie brought the four musicians together. When the British pianist Ben Waters was in Vienna in 2008 for work , he met his friend Axel Zwingenberger there and they agreed to give a few concerts together in England . While looking for a drummer for the project, Waters contacted Charlie Watts, whose television appearance with Zwingenberger and Dave Green had inspired him as a child. The three had played together in 1986 on the British art and culture television magazine The South Bank Show in an episode about the history of boogie-woogie. Because of his interest in this style of music, which he sees as the foundation of swing and rock 'n' roll, jazz lover Charlie Watts agreed to participate. At his request, Green, his childhood friend, who had already played in the drummer's previous projects, The Charlie Watts Quintet and its expansion, Charlie Watts and The Tentet, was added. After several months of planning, the four finally made their debut at the Tivoli Theater in Dorset on April 9, 2009, together with a few other musicians .

Concerts and tours

Performances on June 28, 2012 at Lincoln Center , with Lila Ammon in the foreground

Her first club concert in Dorset was followed by other appearances in England in 2009, including a four-day tour through the south of the country in September. On October 12th the band played in Hamburg in the St. Pauli Theater .

The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie made further appearances in Europe in early 2010 when they undertook a six-day “Hot Pianos & Rhythm” tour of Europe, during which they gave concerts in Prague , Bad Ischl , Munich and Herisau . This was followed by more appearances in Austria in the spring , participation in the “Bergenfest” in Bergen (Norway) and in September in Paris and Monte Carlo . On October 27th they took part in the “ Steinegg Live ” music festival in South Tyrol . Also in the years 2011 to 2013 they gave several concerts in Europe. Among other things, they made guest appearances in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With Helsinki and Barcelona (both 2011) cities in European countries not yet visited by the band were also on the list.

On March 9, 2011, they played a concert titled “Boogie For Stu” in honor of other musicians including Bill Wyman , Mick Taylor , Ron Wood , Jools Holland , Mick Hucknall and Shakin 'Stevens at the Ambassadors Theater in London of the pianist Ian Stewart ("Stu"), who died in 1985 . The occasion was Ben Waters' music album Boogie 4 Stu - A Tribute To Ian Stewart , which was released shortly afterwards.

On June 28, 2012, the band made their American debut at Lincoln Center as part of the New York dance event "Midsummer Night Swing" . Guest musicians were singer Lila Ammons and pianist Bob Seeley . In the days that followed, the band performed four times at the Iridium Jazz Club .

The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie have appeared on television or radio on various occasions, for example in 2009 on an episode of the British television show Later with Jools Holland and in 2010 with the live broadcast of one of their concerts played in Paris on the French radio station TSF Jazz as well her participation in a concert in London dedicated to the late trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton , recorded and broadcast by the British radio station BBC Radio 4 .

The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie were often on stage with other musicians at their performances. Among them were pianist Martin Pyrker , drummer Pete York , bassist Geoff Gascoyne , saxophonists David Sanborn and Don Weller , rock 'n' roll singer and pianist Andy Lee Lang and pop singer Valérie Sajdik .

repertoire

The band's repertoire includes genre classics such as Down The Road Apiece , Honky Tonk Train Blues , Roll 'Em Pete , Oh, Lady Be Good! , Whole Lotta Shakin 'Goin' On , Route 66 , That Lucky Old Sun, or Blueberry Hill . In addition, there are the musicians' own compositions, for example the title Sympathy For The Drummer composed by Axel Zwingenberger - a joking allusion to the Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil and Charlie Watts as the rock group's drummer.

resonance

Internationally, the media paid special attention to the participation of the celebrated star Charlie Watts and many reports deal with The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie primarily as his second and leisure band alongside the Rolling Stones.

The German-language concert reviews were mostly positive. Above all, the stirring enthusiasm of the musicians and their successful, fast-paced interplay were emphasized. The Upper Austrian News , for example, was enthusiastic about a concert in Bad Ischl:

Like card players who know their trump cards are up their sleeves, Waters and Zwingenberger bid each other high in the boogie game. One acrobatic, reaching for the impossible, weaving in quotations, the other precise and artful, looking far beyond the edge of the keyboard. An intoxicating finger ride [...] Dave Green uses the space between double passes of the key dribblers for solo pleasure. [...] And Charlie lets his tools dance dignified [...] and falls from one wide, enjoyable grin to the next.

The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung also praised the pianists 'rapid “finger acrobatics”, called Watts' playing “technically adept” and a “compass in the jungle of improvisation”; However, she complained about the monotony of the pieces during the course of the event:

This band has neither a guitarist nor a singer. [...] When Ben Water [s] sings to numbers like Ray Charles' "What'd I say" for once, it sounds rather thin. Like an icebreaker, the four stay on the piano boogie course for almost three hours - which is at the expense of the dynamics.

The Jazz Times praised the first appearance in America, spoke of a "serious boogie festival on stage". In their solos, the pianists and Green showed “in-depth knowledge of the form and extensive skills” and “[Watts] is always exactly where he should be, he never plays more, never less, always hits the spot.”

Publications

The band's first CD was released in Germany on June 22, 2012 with the album Live in Paris . The live album contains pieces that were recorded by a local radio station in September 2010 during several appearances at the Paris jazz club Duc des Lombards and form a mixture of original compositions, improvisations as well as blues and boogie-woogie standards.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie. Featuring Axel Zwingenberger, Ben Waters, Charlie Watts and Dave Green. In: rosebudus.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011 (press release on the band on the Rosebud Agency website).
  2. 2. NEW CD 2012: "The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie - Live in Paris". In: boogiewoogie.net. Axel Zwingenberger, archived from the original on August 14, 2012 ; accessed on July 29, 2012 (presentation of the CD Live in Paris on the Axel Zwingenberger website).
  3. a b c Stones drummer Charlie Watts as guest in the Ö3 studio. In: youtube.com. You-Tube channel Oe3hitradio, March 20, 2011, accessed on April 16, 2011 (English, unknown language, German, video recording of the Hitradio Ö3 broadcast Solid Gold from March 20, 2011, interview with Ben Waters, Charlie Watts and Dave Green).
  4. a b Simone Benne: Charlie Watts plays boogie in Wülfel. In: haz.de. Madsack Online GmbH & Co. KG, March 15, 2011, accessed on May 11, 2011 (website of the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung ).
  5. ^ The South Bank Show . South Bank Boogie . Produced and directed by John Jeremy. London Weekend Television 1986.
  6. ^ Stones drummer Charlie Watts turns 65. rp-online.de, May 31, 2006, accessed on February 19, 2014 .
  7. ^ A b Later with Jools Holland . Season 35, episode 2. BBC 2009 (including a short interview with Charlie Watts and musical contributions from The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie).
  8. a b The Rolling Stones Charlie Watts exclusive interview - The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie. In: You Tube. You-Tube channel ArtisanNewsService, August 25, 2012, accessed on August 26, 2012 (English, video of an interview with Dave Green and Charlie Watts).
  9. For the quintet see: Jesse Hamlin: A Different Beat for Charlie Watts. Rolling Stones drummer brings jazz quintet to Bay Area. In: sfgate.com. July 7, 1996, accessed August 1, 2012 (English, website of the San Francisco Chronicle , article mentioning band member Dave Green (as David Green)). For the tentet see: “A little big band, built around Charlie's original quintet […] Those who like their Monk jagged and their rhythm sections on the brink of disintegration may find […] the un-insisting persistence of Dave Green to be unprovocative. “( Watts at Scott's. (PDF; 710.13 kB) In: Charlie Watts. The Rosebud Agency, p. 2 , accessed on April 11, 2012 (text on rosebudus.com with excerpts from reviews by Jon Newey ( Jazzwise Magazine ) and Bill Shoemaker ( Downbeat , October 2004) on the CD Watts at Scott’s des Tentett). )
  10. Ben Waters: Charlie Watts, Canada, Dr John & Blues Award. In: blog by ben waters. Myspace LLC, April 1, 2009, accessed April 19, 2011 (blog on Myspace ).
  11. Tino Lange: Boogie-Woogie with Rolling Stone. In: Abendblatt.de. Axel Springer AG, September 5, 2009, accessed on April 19, 2011 (website of the Hamburger Abendblatt ).
  12. "Charlie, will you play this piece in F please?" In: Abendblatt.de. Axel Springer AG, October 14, 2009, accessed April 20, 2011 .
  13. a b c d Nico Zentgraf: The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones - Database. Retrieved April 16, 2013 .
  14. Ben Waters [interpreter, producer]: Boogie 4 Stu. A Tribute To Ian Stewart . Eagle Rock Entertainment 2011, CD. Eagle Records EAGCD441 (with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Dave Green, Jools Holland, PJ Harvey, Hamish Maxwell and others).
  15. Boogie 4 hours In: ronniewood.com. Retrieved May 9, 2011 (Ron Wood's website).
  16. ^ Jeff Tamarkin: The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie at Lincoln Center, 6-28-12. The Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts shows where it all came from. In: jazztimes.com. June 29, 2012, accessed July 5, 2012 (review on the Jazz Times website ). See also Lincoln Center presents The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie US debut. In: midsummerightswing.org. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, June 28, 2012, archived from the original July 17, 2012 ; accessed on July 5, 2012 (English, video with pictures from the performance).
  17. Nico Zentgraf: 2012. Entry 120628A ff. In: The complete works of the Rolling Stones - Database. Retrieved July 5, 2012 .
  18. ↑ The "Rolling Stones" drummer stayed in time with jazz. In: krone.at. Krone Multimedia GmbH & Co KG, March 19, 2010, accessed on October 30, 2013 ( Kronen Zeitung website ).
  19. See for example: Bubeník Rolling Stones Charlie Watts předvede Praze abecedu boogie woogie . In: idnes.cz , December 3, 2009 (Czech); Jørn Gjersøe: Sengetegneren Watts kom! . In: nrk.no , April 28, 2010 (Norwegian); Charlie Watts, uno Stone a Collepietra  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / altoadige.gelocal.it   . In: altoadige.gelocal.it , September 24, 2010 (Italian); Uwe Janssen: Charlie Watts is a guest in Wülfel . In: haz.de , February 25, 2011; Page no longer available , search in web archives: Boogie Woogie with Charlie Watts@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ndr.de . In: ndr.de , March 15, 2011; Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts with band in Imst  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.pressezone.at   In: pressezone.at , March 18, 2011. All accessed on May 8, 2011.
  20. See for example: Tino Lange: Axel Zwingenberger invites Stones drummers to the Kiez Boogie In: abendblatt.de , October 13, 2009 ; Boogie with Charlie Watts in Bad Ischl ( memento from November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . In: kleinezeitung.at , January 12, 2010 .; "Rolling Stones" drummer stayed in time with jazz as well . In: krone.at , March 19, 2010; Sam Schlagenhaufen: Boogie Woogie with Mister Watts ( Memento from September 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) . In: kleinezeitung.at , March 22, 2010 (Internet presence of the Kleine Zeitung ). All accessed October 30, 2013.
  21. ^ Bernhard Lichtenberger: Charlie Watts makes a Karl. In: nachrichten.at. January 13, 2010, accessed on May 12, 2011 (website of the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten ).
  22. Original English quote: "[T] hat was one serious boogie fest happening on that stage." ( Jeff Tamarkin: The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie at Lincoln Center, 6-28-12. The Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts shows where it all came . from In: jazztimes.com. June 29, 2012, accessed July 31, 2012 . )
  23. Original English quote: "Depth of knowledge of the form and overall skills" ( Jeff Tamarkin: The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie at Lincoln Center, 6-28-12. The Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts shows where it all came from. In: jazztimes .com. June 29, 2012, accessed July 31, 2012 . )
  24. Original English quote: "He is always precisely where he should be, never playing more, never playing less, always in the pocket." ( Jeff Tamarkin: The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie at Lincoln Center, 6-28-12. The Rolling Stones 'Charlie Watts shows where it all came from. In: jazztimes.com. June 29, 2012, accessed July 31, 2012 . )
  25. The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie [performers]: Live in Paris . Eagle Rock Entertainment 2012, CD. Eagle Records 1014882EAG (distributed by Edel; recordings from the Duc des Lombards in Paris, September 2010).
  26. The A, B, C & D Of Boogie Woogie - Live In Paris. In: germusica.com. GerMusica Promotion & Management, May 30, 2012, accessed on June 13, 2012 (advertising text). See also: Birgitt Schwanke: PINK FLOYD; A, B, C & D of Boogie Woogie and RETURN TO FOREVER - German Press release. The A, B, C & D of Boogie Woogie. Live in Paris. In: Germusica's blog. May 30, 2012, accessed June 13, 2012 (press release).

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