Uwe Hollburg

Es gibt sie noch, die echten, wahren Gentlemen. Selbst in einer Ellenbogen-Branche wie dem Musikgeschäft. Da sind höfliche, ruhige, achtsame Menschen aber zugegebenermaßen selten. Der Prototyp von ihnen heißt Uwe Busse. Schon seine Vita legt das Gentleman-Dasein nahe: Jahrelang hielt er sich zurück, schrieb seine Songs Künstlern wie den Flippers, G. G. Anderson, Mireille Mathieu, Roger Whittaker, Andrea Jürgens, Ireen Sheer, Roland Kaiser, Wencke Myhre und Audrey Landers auf den Leib und ermöglichte ihnen damit millionenstarke Karrieren. Erst nach über 20 Jahren im Showgeschäft besann er sich seines eigenen Potentials als Sänger und bestieg die Bühne. "Applaus für dich" möchte man ihm da zurufen. Schade nur, dass diese Zeile schon vergeben ist: "Applaus für dich" heißt Uwe Busses neues Album. Es erscheint am 18.07.2014.

G.G. und Rex, Mireille und Roger, Roland und Roy, und nicht zuletzt Die Flippers sie alle wussten ganz genau, was sie an diesem Mann haben: Uwe Busse zählt nicht ohne Grund zu den ganz, ganz großen Songschreibern und Kreativköpfen im deutschen Schlager und das seit über 30 Jahren.

Musical soulmates organist Daniel Stickan and saxophonist Uwe Steinmetz follow their German Grammy-nominated album Where Roots Grow with Deeper Standards, in which they continue their 14-year artistic journey by exploring the language and songs of their grandparents, who spoke and sang in Plattdeutsch (Low Saxon), an ancient West Germanic dialect.

It must be considered a stroke of good fortune that these three musicians have come together: On double bass, the Swede Anders Jornim, one of the most essential bass players on the European jazz scene with eight albums as bandleader for ECM and a packed artistic CV with tours and recordings alongside legends such as Elvin Jones, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, and Kenny Wheeler. On guitar, Arne Jansen, the two-time "ECHO Jazz" award-winning Berliner, who has played with the Senegalese Orchestra Baobab, Nils Landgren, and Jazzanova and whose duo recording with Nils Wülker recently climbed to number 15 in the German pop charts. On saxophone, Uwe Steinmetz, who also lives in Berlin, has made a name for himself as a composer for the NDR Big Band and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in addition to his collaborations with Joe Maneri and Tord Gustafvsen, among others.

It must be considered a stroke of good fortune that these three musicians have come together: On double bass, the Swede Anders Jornim, one of the most essential bass players on the European jazz scene with eight albums as bandleader for ECM and a packed artistic CV with tours and recordings alongside legends such as Elvin Jones, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, and Kenny Wheeler. On guitar, Arne Jansen, the two-time "ECHO Jazz" award-winning Berliner, who has played with the Senegalese Orchestra Baobab, Nils Landgren, and Jazzanova and whose duo recording with Nils Wülker recently climbed to number 15 in the German pop charts. On saxophone, Uwe Steinmetz, who also lives in Berlin, has made a name for himself as a composer for the NDR Big Band and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in addition to his collaborations with Joe Maneri and Tord Gustafvsen, among others.

Unless one lived in a major European centre with an orchestra, the opportunity to hear large-scale works by the great composers of the age was well-nigh impossible.

Despite all the problems in the world today, versatile German composer and keyboardist Uwe Gronau says, “I think humans are smart enough to create a good society for future generations, and one of the keys is the utilization of music.” The theme of pondering the future helped inspire the music on Gronau’s latest album, Thoughts of Tomorrow.

Auch mit seiner neuen Novelle "Freitisch" zeigt Uwe Timm, dass er zu Recht zu den besten deutschen Schriftstellern der Gegenwart gezählt wird. Reflektierte er in zwei seiner letzten Bücher das Leben und das Schicksal von Menschen, die er persönlich kannte und dachte über seine Beziehung zu ihnen nach, seinen Bruder bei der Waffen-SS in "Am Beispiel meines Bruders" und den vom Polizisten Kurras 1967 erschossenen Studenten Benno Ohnesorg in "Der Freund und der Fremde", spielt er auch in dieser Novelle virtuos mit seiner Erinnerung…

Lacy Pool is a small group of musicians whom Uwe Oberg picks to unlock Steve Lacy's compositions. Why no bass? Uwe Oberg: 'That never was a question. I wanted the band to function unlike a jazz quartet and it should not have a soprano sax. Now Lacy's pieces were mine and ours, and it got easier and easier, everything fell into place. The clarity, the repeating motifs, the collage approach, the deconstruction, the flow. What fun!' Uwe Oberg - piano, Rudi Mahall - clarinets, Michael Griener - drums.