Showing posts with label Jean-Pierre Bertrand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jean-Pierre Bertrand. Show all posts

Friday, January 22, 2016

Jean-Pierre Bertrand & Frank Muschalle - Piano Brotherhood

Size: 109,9 MB
Time: 46:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Blues, Boogie Woogie
Art: Front

01. Lucky Shuffle (2:24)
02. Rhythm Boogie (2:07)
03. Blues O'clock (3:30)
04. Midnight Boogie (3:27)
05. If You're Not Mine (3:04)
06. Boogie Woogie Blues (3:38)
07. Sixth Avenue Express (3:01)
08. Piano Brotherhood (2:59)
09. Why Did You That To Me (2:34)
10. A Fred's Smile For The Boogie Man (3:17)
11. Funny & Uprising (2:45)
12. Blues With A Feeling (2:51)
13. Swanee River Boogie (3:05)
14. Searing Blues (4:01)
15. Ammons Warlock Boogie (3:22)

Jean-Pierre Bertrand:
Born 22 August 1955, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

Among the European school of boogie woogie pianists, which started in the 1970s, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Bertrand certainly ranks among the Top 5 of most important players. Bertrand was born into a family of music lovers, involved in classical music and opera. So it was only natural that he would start taking classical piano lessons at the age of seven. He received a first prize in classical piano in 1968, but already then he was fascinated by the discovery of a Memphis Slim record in a music shop. From classical piano he moved to studying boogie woogie and blues piano. However, he also had to make a living. Between 1971 and 1976 he studied at the "École hotelière" (Hotel School) in Toulouse. After working in several restaurants in Paris, he was able to open his own place, "La Table d'Harmonie" in 1984, which became both a restaurant and a jazz club, where many prominent European pianists were invited and also the great Memphis Slim, who had taken up residence in Paris as early as 1962. Apart from Memphis Slim and Albert Ammons, Bertrand was musically influenced by Jean-Paul Amouroux (a real fundamentalist of the boogie woogie genre) and German pianist Axel Zwingenberger, the man most responsible for the European revival of boogie woogie.

Frank Muschalle:
Frank was born in 1969. After 11 years studying classical piano he discovered the joys of boogie woogie at the age of 19. Since then he has devoted himself entirely to this music. The boogie woogie trio Ammons, Johnson and Lewis as well as pianists like Axel Zwingenberger, Little Brother Montgomery or Cow Cow Davenport have deeply influenced his development. Within a short period of time Frank has acquired a fine reputation not only among insiders. Appearances on TV and radio have contributed to Frank´s remarkable success. As early as October 1995 his debut-CD,"Great Boogie Woogie News", was published by the Vienna label Document Records. Afterwards Frank gave performances in jazz clubs and festivals, on a tour of Austria with the Mojo Bluesband and Red Holloway, at concerts in the Jazzland and the Starclub (Vienna), and at concerts with Axel Zwingenberger, Vince Weber and Martin Pyrker. Quite soon Frank Muschalle outgrew his role as a local talent; invitations to concerts such as the "Stars of Boogie Woogie" - Festival in the Vienna Concert Hall speak for themselves. In March 1997 the second CD, "Battin´ The Boogie", came out, also published by Document Records. The production caused a sensation among international experts. In September 1998 Frank was invited on a two - week tour of South Carolina (USA) with the Mojo Bluesband. In the course of this tour, recordings with Jimmy McCracklin and Nappy Brown were made for Ripete Records (USA). In 2002 the "40 - Years American - Folk - Blues - Festival Jubilee" took place in Germany and Frank played on this Tour with Blues-Stars Hubert Sumlin, Carey Bell, Bob Stroger and Lousiana Red. Two Month later, Frank was invited to the "Jumpin´at the Flagships" - Tour through all parts of Switzerland. He played there with Red Holloway, Jimmy Coe, Carrie Smith and Rusty Zinn. The Swiss TV recorded a one hour TV - Show of this performance. At this point of time, Frank has recorded 7 different cds and his musical style is well-known for its superb technical fireworks and subtle nuances. Time and again he creates an expectant atmosphere in his audience which is constantly heightened by the skilful changes of musical mood. For all that, Frank Muschalle´s convincing and unaffected performances make dramatic stage effects superfluous - the music speaks for itself.

Piano Brotherhood

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Jean-Pierre Bertrand - Rhythm Boogie

Size: 134,2 MB
Time: 57:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Piano Blues, Woogie Boogie
Art: Front

01. Rhythm Boogie (2:58)
02. Down In The Alley (2:42)
03. Honky Tonk Train Blues (2:47)
04. Long Last Evening Blues (4:43)
05. Roses De Picardie Boogie (3:23)
06. The Bird Of The Blues (3:24)
07. Chicago Breakdown (3:53)
08. Buona Sera (2:46)
09. The Fives (3:24)
10. T'esbo Tibo Boogie (3:35)
11. Has Anyone Seen Corinne (2:36)
12. Nostalgimmy (3:42)
13. Bass Goin' Crazy (3:57)
14. Hey Good Looking (2:41)
15. Boogie Kivalsendo (3:40)
16. Migratory Pianist (3:47)
17. Slim & Fat Booige (3:09)

Boogie Woogie is a prominent piano style. It was created by Black Americans at the end of the 19th century and it represents, among other things, hope and liberty. It is full of exceptional energy.
The dynamics of Boogie, which is a piano form of Blues, reached its height during the migration of Southern musicians towards the big cities, basically Kansan City, Chicago and New York.
The concert in 1938, "From Spiritual to Swing", organized by the well-known sponsor John Hammond at Carnegie Hall in New York contributed without a doubt to the notoriety of Jazz and Boogie Woogie.
This event brought together the greatest stars and made famous the giants of piano such as Albert AMMONS, Pete JOHNSON and Meade "Lux" LEWIS, to cite only a few.
Piano solos, piano duets and orchestras of the different kinds were presented to an enthousiastic audience. Boogie had just conquered an unknowing public, ready for joyful, jubilatory and swinging jazz.
This style of piano was played by small and big bands and by almost all jazz pianists. However the pure specialists are without a doubt those who devoted almost or all of there repertory to Boogie and invented special musical forms, a mixture of rhythmic bass lines and of melodies or superb improvisations in the right hand. I must say that Albert AMMONS was the only pianist I know of who had the brilliant idea of transforming great jazz standards into Boogie: Lady Be Good, Margie and The Sheik Of Araby are great examples.
For around forty years, Boogie has been growing in Europe thanks to musicians who are following in the steps of the pioneers.
In 1989, I created the renowned "Nuit Jazz & Boogie Piano" at the Hôtel Lutétia (Paris left bank) specifically in order to contribute to the continuity of this art which I discovered in 1967 while listening to a Memphis Slim record in my parent's collection. What a joy !
For the past twenty-five years I have been producing this event as well as others such as "Beaune Blues Boogie" in Burgundy. More and more people are delighted to discover this extremely communicative and direct music, a prerogative of so-called popular music. Many festivals have increased the number of events with Boogie in France. There are now more than ten festivals a year in this country whereas there was only one in Paris in 1989 !
Since then, I have always wanted to dig deeper into this music but also to include my personal feelings and a mixture of my love of beautiful songs and swing.
The word is out: swing gives life to everything and brings depth and energy and a sort of magical fascination.
Many pianists nowadays are not only perpetuating tradition but are also part of "modernising" Boogie Woogie: new forms of bass-lines, the criss-crossing of several styles also emanating from their own musical culture, personal improvisations, sounds and colors all amplifie and enlarge the range.
This album contains three of my favorite forms: solo piano, duet and trio. It is eclectic but faithful to classical Boogie.
I wanted to express several facets of the most rhythmic blues and Boogie Woogie. Accompanying me are Lionel GRIVET on drums and Thibaut CHOPIN on bass who also sings and plays the harmonica in "Down In The Alley".
Lionel is quite versatile but always with solid and stable tempos. Thanks to his great knowledge, he mingles ideas which go along perfectly with Boogie while not just being a
basic accompaniment.
Thibaut is well versed in blues. He is part of many French and foreign bands. His culture in Blues, Boogie, Rock 'n' Roll is an insurance of his capacity for playing twelve-bar blues, jazz standards and sometimes also Country tunes such as "Hey Good Looking" in this album.
Boogie is a musical style, part of the vast universe of Jazz, but it is also a type of its own with its codes and language which offer great possibilities for improvisation and immense freedom. The cross between the right and left hands is what makes Boogie what it is.
Our aim is to offer an album of varieties, turn some tunes such as "Buona Sera" into a Boogie and revisit some standards.
I do not like to stick to an exact copy. In fact, that is almost impossible for me to do, either because I don't play like so-and-so or so-and-so or because I need to create and change aspects of the tune I play and leave my personal mark without being pretentious. A pale copy is never as good as the original and I think that the listener wants to hear JPB !
New ideas had to come about in order for Boogie Woogie to develop as it did with the on- coming of Rock 'n' Roll in the 50's.
I hope that we have succeeded in transmitting this message and in communicating our diverse feelings with these tunes which spark emotion based on rhythm.

Rhythm Boogie