We just finished a run of concerts in Austria with the new program of "Vienna, World". So glad to have packed all three venues (Treibhaus Innsbruck, Oval Salzurg and Konzerthaus Vienna Grosser Saal).
I am grateful to the wonderful musicians who were with me:
Becca Stevens, vocals
Gabriel Grossi, harp
Benjamin Schmid, violin
Fagner Weseley, piano
Svante Henryson, cello and bass
Alegre Correa, percussion
Here is a review of the concert: http://kurier.at
By the way, the album and the film about Vienna, World are on their way and scheduled to come out in the spring of 2015.
End of March 2014 I will play three concerts in Austria with a program that is very close to my heart. "Vienna, World" is a project, for which I traveled around the world to record and perform new songs with a lot of great musicians. (This will become a CD and a movie.)
Now I present a sort of summary of this idea in three concerts.
March 27: Innsbruck, Treibhaus
March 28: Salzburg: Oval
March 30: Vienna: Konzerthaus
The band will be truly spectacular:
Becca Stevens, vocals
Benjamin Schmid, violin
Svante Henryson, cello and bass
Gabriel Grossi, harmonica
Fagner Wesley, piano
Alegre Correa, drums, perc.
I am so looking forward to this!
We have now travelled to 3 of the 5 destinations for my project Vienna,World. Starting in Sweden, where we recorded 5 songs and played a concert, via Brazil (5 songs and 4 concerts) to Buenos Aires, where we recorded 6 songs and played one show. Right now we are listening to the material and starting to do some editing and sorting out. In general, I am very happy with what's on tape so far and greatful to the many wonderful musicians who have participated so far.The next step will be New York in November, where the singer Becca Stevens and the pianist Billy Childs will join me in my adventure.
My project Vienna, World is becoming a reality. It is a journey around the world with new songs of mine that I am writing now for very special musicians. It will lead me to Tibro (Sweden), Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, New York and back to Vienna. I can't wait to meet and interact with the great musicians I will meet on this trip: Sven Lindvall, Per Lindvall, Svante Henryson, Alegre Correa, Gabriel Grossi, Fagner Wesley, Alune Wade, Guillermo Klein, Sergio Verdinelli, Matias Mendez, Richard Nante, Becca Stevens, Billy Childs, Benjamin Schmid, Forian Eggner and Karl Hodina.
Vienna, World will become a CD and a Documentary Film, made by Laura Pleifer. During the whole travel, my wonderful soundman Ronny Matky will be with us, both for the recordings and the live dates.
Wolfgang teaches Jazz Guitar at Jazzschule Basel in Switzerland.
The school offers Bachelor and Master Programs and is constantly developing. Among the teachers are Larry Grenadier, Aydin Esen, Andy Scherer, Jorge Rossy, Domenic Landolf, Hans Feigenwinter, Guillermo Klein.
In 2014 the school moves into a new building, which is a present from the Swiss Foundation Stiftung Habitat. It will be an amazing place with studios, club, Performance Halls, loads of other music rooms, all well thought through and really geared towards Jazz Music.
We hope to see you at one of our auditions!
Visit the website:
www.jazz.edu
after touring Vienna Naked with Band there will be two solo versions of the song program in January in Austria:
JANARY 24, 2013 WEIZ (A), Kunsthaus Weiz
JANUARY 25, 2013 SEEKIRCHEN (A), Emailwerk.
Now we are happy to say that the album was very well received especially in Austria. Meanwhile the next batch of songs is growing and I am trying to realize my dream of my trip around the world, playing and recording them with many different musicians and dialects from all over the planet. In the concert section you can also find some new dates for next year in different Jazz contexts:
DECEMBER 2012:
recording and producing the music of austrian composer Johannes Berauer, featuring Gwilym Simcock and Klaus Gesing,
FEBRUARY 21 2013, a solo show at the Guitarfestival at Shapeshifter, Brooklyn, NY, USA
MARCH 2, guest artist with pablo held featuring Johannes Enders at WDR3 Jazznacht, Theater Gütersloh, Germany
MAY 4, Vienna Naked solo at SKUSI in Wals, Austria
MAY 7-13, European Tour and recording new Trio music with Brian Blade and Larry Grenadier
The album „Vienna Naked“ is finally released. For me the release day is always the moment when I can also release the music from inside me, meaning there is a new space opening up for new music to be made, thought of, played with.
And of course I am interested in how this album will fare. Now, that the idea of an „album“ is on its way out, because most people prefer to download a single track, we offer this baby with good wishes and thoughts. The most rewarding thing about it is the time I had while working on it. And now the possibilities of a continuation are starting to grow. That process is always the most fun. A new blank page is opening up.
Now that vienna naked is almost released, I am already looking forward to the next steps: adapting the program for a trio, the live concerts, and writing new material for the next reincarnation of the project. my idea is to connect with fellow musicians around the globe and record the new songs with them.
This is my song about the city I live in. I went from a small place called Judenburg, to a biger place by the name of Graz, then to Boston, then to New York, and then I moved to Vienna. Now I am here long enough to complain!
who is matteo? this song was finished long before the lyrics, all I knew was the word "matteo" in a central part of the song. I searched for him then, and found out, that we don't know much about this person, other than the fact that he wrote down the gospel.
Here is a new clip from the studio, a folk song about authenticity versus presentation. "You know the way to me is simple, I just got to hear your truth.." says someone, who has made too many deals in relationships.
No matter how much we plan things, they often turn out differently. A radio segment about Vienna Naked was aired earlier than we thought, which prompted a great CD store in Vienna to decide to give it a good push in their window. So we change our plan and release the album now, exclusively in Austria. Other countries will follow in the middle of June. I am excited about people holding this CD in their hands and listening to the music. All lyrics are printed in the booklet, which was beautifully designed by Laura Pleifer. The whole process from the first idea of Vienna Naked to the finished album has been an intense adventure for me.
She Won't Give Up is a song in the key of John Cassavetes, that has become one of my favourites of this cycle. It's almost a country song to my ears, but only until the dark instrumental interlude. How Schubert of me.
here comes a song about an end of sorts. once in a while we need to finish a chapter and move on. while the verse comes in an angry tone, the chorus points to the truth: everything we experience has a deep meaning for us. in my book that is the most productive way to deal with life. nothing is arbitrary. and we direct our movie.
this is a dark ballad with a big vocal range. in the middle you see some shots of me and roland baumann in his studio, where we mixed.it is a blessing to work with engineers and producers like that.
note that you only hear excerpts of the songs until the release of the album in the middle of June.
When I was writing the music and the lyrics for this project, there was a phase, when a whole bunch of songs came together in a short amount of time. But I also know the opposite state: waiting for something to appear, that one truly likes and wants to be surrounded by. I always thought that composing is less an act of construction than one of finding. The challenge is to not rate those pieces or parts higher that took a lot more work. They are not necessarily better. And also not to get too attached to every aspect of a new piece, since it might become stronger when developed further. But for me the main thing about composing is to wait for those musical cells, that trigger that specific set of emotions every time you hear them. In times where I have little output, that patience is hard to keep.
Here you see the second film of our project. The song is called »Another Round« and its text is almost emblematic of the whole project. In general, the recording of it was done in 2 phases. After phase one I liked the song and playing, but not the singing. So I sang it again. The baritone electric guitar I use here is great. I bought it for 300 bucks and it came to my house in a cardboard box. Its range and tone have inspired quite a few songs by now.
This is the first time I have recorded my voice (other the some background chanting in the past). It was and is a lesson on so many levels to start singing for real and to listen back to the recordings. Everything comes out in your voice, anything you imagine or feel, any picture you have in your mind, any tension you hold somewhere in your body. The same can be said about instrumental music, but it is nowhere else so obvious than with the human voice. I had the great fortune to go visit a voice teacher in Vienna, who has been involved mostly with classical music, but who is mostly interested in bringing out the voice, liberating it, or finding it. I can‘t thank her enough.
While the album Vienna Naked is about voice and guitars only, (the stripped- down version), the way it will be presented live is in a trio format. I am extremely happy to have two very strong musicians with me for this undertaking: Alegre Correa, a brilliant Brazilian musician, who is equally great at playing the guitar, or the drums. (being in Zawinuls‘s band doesn‘t hurt either). Alun Wade, a fantastic Senegalese electric bassist, who also sings like an angel. It is going to be very interesting to translate the solo version of Vienna Naked into trio arrangements, and I can‘t wait to start that process. We will start with a few concerts in the summer and then go on tour in October of 2012.
I have been writing songs forever, mostly for my own bands, and sometimes for other singers, (like occasionally for Rebekka Bakken). And being a big fan of good poetry and good lyrics, I got into writing the words for the songs as well.
But I still had another singer in mind, when I started writing these songs. Finally I decided to sing them myself, write them for my voice, and take some singing lessons. When that decision was made, the whole creative process took off and all I wanted to do was write songs and lyrics and sing them at home. The songs kept and keep coming. What a rush!