Till Brönner Till Brönner

• 1Will Of Nature05:16
• 2F.F.H.06:45
• 3Return To The Fold06:17
• 4Gibraltar04:00
• 5Pegasus04:13
• 6Red Street04:47
• 7Condor06:13
• 8Lazy Afternoon07:07
• 9Wacky Wes05:28
• 10The Gate06:15
• 11Half Story05:54
• 12Once Upon A Summertime05:38
• Total Runtime01:07:53

Info for Till Brönner

The understatement that these words express is no calculated coquetry, but goes with the music of his new album. Never before Brönner presented himself in such an unpretentious fashion. He is not seeking the limelight as he did on some of his previous albums. He plays flugelhorn almost exclusively and by this needs less tones to say what he wants to say. By stepping back a little he gains edge and sounds much superior, more self-assured and mature. In the last few years, self-restraint and musical reduction became increasingly important to him: 'What's the point in playing more and more virtuoso on every new album? I simply do not want play that many phrases on my horn anymore, because there is so much that has already been said.'

By now, Till Brönner is a media icon in Germany, due to many TV appearances his face is known to many who may have never heard a single tone from his trumpet. As a wanderer between the worlds of popular media and jazz, Till Brönner divides the public opinion like few German musicians. While he is nearly idolized by some, he is rejected by others. Firm prejudices are now to be shattered by nobody else but the artist himself. Till Bönner calls his new album simply 'Till Brönner'. That alone makes it clear that he, as a musician who never had to care about sales figures, is not just continuing on his once chosen musical path. With this new work he confronts his fans and adversaries alike with a new personal positioning.

Thus a humble Brönner steps into a world of sound that may be new for many listeners, but which he himself knows quite well. 'The line-up is no novelty. There are a lot of albums with this exact line-up which had been released in the late 1960s and early 1970s.' The Berlin-based artist is, of course, referring to the legendary CTI label for which his idol Freddie Hubbard recorded various albums. CTI productions were often pretty sumptuos and tried to reach a broader audience by using string arrangements and similar popular concepts. But on the other hand, their approach to sound was revolutionary for that time because it applied the esthetics of the 1970s to the world of hard bop and soul jazz. Brönner, however, is not overawed by this era. Instead he looks at it with amusement: 'At that time, these albums did not live up to their expectations. They nevertheless had a certain quality because nobody forced Freddie Hubbard to play crowd-pleasing stuff. He was allowed to remain true to himself. I have always been a huge fan of this esthetics and I always wanted to record an entire album with this exact line-up.'

It seems as if the German trumpet player has come back to his origins. But he is eager to emphasize that he has always been there. He too remains true to himself. For Brönner it is first and foremost a genuine declaration of his commitment to jazz. 'When we made these recordings the music was more important than the image I have of myself. Though I have written most of the music, it only came to life in the studio when we all together simply gave our best.'

While Till Brönner provides six originals, he also delivers renditions of classics like Freddie Hubbard's 'Gibraltar', Dave Grusin's soundtrack theme from the Sydney Pollack thriller '3 Days Of The Condor', Frenchman Michel Legrand's classic ballad 'Once Upon A Summertime ', and the song 'Lazy Afternoon' from the 1954 Broadway musical 'The Golden Apple', which was sung by legends from Shirley Horn to Barbra Streisand. The repertoire is rounded off with Larry Goldings' 'Pegasus' and bassist Christian von Kaphengst's 'Red Street'.

Brönner's album is like a fresh breeze that easily reaches and refreshes the listener. The music flows, the musicians involved (including the leader) are carried forward by its urgent pulse. It seems as if they cannot escape it. Not for a single moment you have the impression they want to prove something to themselves or to the listener. Brönner plays this music because it gives him a hell of a lot of fun. And all those who want to accompany him on this musical trip are absolutely welcome.

'This album had simply been on my agenda for quite a while, and now it is finally here', says Till Brönner, Germany's best known and most successful jazz musician.

Till Brönner, trumpet, flugelhorn, brass
Magnus Lindgren, saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, woodwinds
Tilmann Dehnhard, flute
Robert Di Gioia, keyboards, vibraphone, guitar
Jasper Soffers, keyboards
Bruno Müller, guitars
Albert Johnson, bass
Christian von Kaphengst, bass
Matteo Scimali, drums
Wolfgang Haffner, drums
Roland Peil, percussion

Brass and Woodwinds arranged by Till Brönner & Magnus Lindgren
Strings (2, 3, 9-12) arranged and conducted by Nan Schwartz

Produced by Till Brönner, Samon Kawamura & Robert Di Gioia

Till Brönner - Trumpet
“Calling Till Brönner the new aspiring German trumpet talent is obsolete, since he has sold more records than any other German jazz musician. He plays big time now and is well known in the New York jazz circuit, which itself is top of the crop.” ME SOUNDS/Rolling Stone

Born in 1971 in Viersen, Germany and raised in Rome, Italy, Till experienced his outset with the help of Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker: “Hearing Bebop for the first time, Charlie Parker; that set the whole thing off for me. I was 13 years old and it was an almost erotic sensation. I thought that it was indecent. The music was like a woman having a go at me.” Till stems from a family of musicians; after a well-protected childhood, he enjoyed a classical education followed by a study of the jazz trumpet at Cologne’s Music Academy. After only three semesters he convinced the leader of Berlin’s “RIAS-Tanzorchester” at an audition, taking his first hurdle at the age of 20.

Only two years later, he raised more than one eyebrow with “Generations of Jazz”, being both a classic mainstream recording and his debut as a bandleader. By the time he released “German Songs”, his third album of old German film songs, arranged for jazz quartet and classical orchestra, he was the talk of the trade.

- in 2008 he is nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Classical Crossover Album” for “The Jazz Album”, an album he produced with classical bass-baritone singer Thomas Quasthoff

- for “The Christmas Album” he wins the 2008 Echo Award in the jazz category

- as a celebration of “50 years of bossa nova” he releases on September 19, 2008 his new album “Rio” recorded with stellar guests (such as Annie Lennox, Milton Nascimento, and Aimee Mann)

- in 2009 he is nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Jazz Instrumental Solo” for his solo on the album “The Standard” made by the legendary vocal ensemble Take 6

- for his album “Rio” he wins the 2009 Echo Award in the jazz category (it is his third consecutive win in this category)

This album contains no booklet.