Anke Helfrich - Stormproof

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:27
Size: 122.4 MB
Styles: Ciontemporary jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:20] 1. Hackensack
[5:57] 2. September Song
[7:30] 3. Stormproof
[5:18] 4. Sehnsucht
[7:03] 5. In Good Times As In Bad
[1:56] 6. After The Rain
[8:22] 7. Circles
[4:54] 8. Swiss Moment
[5:09] 9. Speak Low
[2:53] 10. Little Giant

Bass, Cello, Bass Guitar – Henning Sieverts; Drums, Glockenspiel, Percussion – Dejan Terzić; Trombone – Nils Wogram; Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Harmonium – Anke Helfrich.

German pianist Anke Helfrich has absorbed the influence of everyone from Thelonious Monk to Les McCann and channeled it into an original style that's rooted but not retro. On STORMPROOF, she covers Monk's "Hackensack," and its knotty harmonies and angular feel suit her singular style, but she really stretches out on her own compositions, where her approach feels completely contemporary. She doesn't stick strictly to the 88s, either; she occasionally moves over to electric piano and even harmonium. And while her thoughtful melodic statements are clearly the focus here, trombonist Nils Wogram offers some striking moments of his own throughout this, Helfrich's third release as a leader. ~Jim Allen

Stormproof

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Anke Helfrich feat. Tim Hagans - Dedication

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:49
Size: 132,9 MB
Art: Front

( 5:52)  1. Invictus
( 7:30)  2. Chan's Song
( 1:11)  3. Interlude - Lost & Found
( 7:11)  4. Rise and Shine
( 1:04)  5. Interlude - Wehklage
( 7:03)  6. Sagrada Familia
( 6:07)  7. Think of One
( 6:31)  8. Aspettami (Wait for Me)
(11:58)  9. The Prize
( 3:17) 10. A Simple Act of Kindness

Anke Helfrich belongs to the exclusive elite of European pianists who has been able to contribute a new kind of energy and spirit to jazz music. She is a fantastic pianist, known for captivating her audiences. Now, with Dedication, she reveals new facets of her musicianship. This release is a personal project where she successfully maintains jazz’ American roots while offering her own interpretation of jazz as it sounds today. We will always need artists who take chances, and Anke Helfrich does this masterfully.~ Christian Brorsen, Music Director  Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen.

Anke Helfrich in her liner notes: "Dedication means commitment and devotion. Being a jazz musician and playing improvised music requires total commitment, in every way. It is a constant challenge. It offers the possibility to express yourself through music and to transform emotions into your playing and compositions. Each track of this CD is dedicated to inspirational figures, influential people in my life and themes, that have inspired me."

"During my childhood in Namibia my parents were committed to an anti-apartheid organization. I accompanied my mother regularly to the kindergarten of the black town ships to distribute donations, clothes and toys. It was a ritual to hold each other’s hands and to sing together "We shall overcome". Nelson Mandela was, also during the time of his incarceration, the venerated man. His determination and perseverance to believe in something and to not have his will power broken even in decades of captivity is inspiring and gives courage. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henry gave strength to Mandela during this period. I created a dialogue between words and melody which culminates and than leaves space for the important message: I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!

I have read and researched a great deal about the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. As with Nelson Mandela I am touched and inspired, by his courage and incredible commitment, his fight for equal rights, improvement of living conditions, and change in thelaw. He is an icon for many jazz musicians and his attachment to blues and jazz is documented in the preface "On the Importance of Jazz", introducing the first Berlin Jazz Festival 1964. Here he describes how important this music was for the American Peace Movement. I harmonized his most significant speech and accompanied it on the the piano, giving it an almost gospel-like melody and sound." Excerpts from the liner notes. http://www.anke-helfrich.de/music/cd4/nucd4.htm

Personnel:  Anke Helfrich, piano, fender rhodes, harmonium;  Tim Hagans, trumpet, flugelhorn;  Ardie Walser: voice;  Martin Wind, bass;  Jonas Burgwinkel, drums

Dedication

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Anke Helfrich Trio (Featuring Roy Hargrove) - Better Times Ahead

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:44
Size: 118,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:26)  1. Movin' In
(6:30)  2. My Ship
(6:36)  3. Der Turm
(7:48)  4. Thanks For Beeing There
(7:03)  5. Better Times Ahead
(4:08)  6. I Mean You
(1:54)  7. Miniatur: An-ma-de
(6:37)  8. Trust & Faith
(4:39)  9. Ask Me Now

Anke Helfrich has been through what presumably must be the usual channels to get where she is right now, meaning that she's studied with some key figures in the music, and the results of that study are here in abundance. As such, the usual terms apply here much as they do with nearly every example of this modern mainstream thing. The music is urbane, harmonically sophisticated, faultlessly articulated, and almost entirely free of the quirks that would make this disc stand out from the crowd. That said, there are exceptions to the rule, not the least of them being the nearly two-minute "Miniatur: An-Ma-De," which finds Helfrich and drummer Dejan Terzic engaged in a free duo in which both musicians prove themselves equal to the very different demands of free playing. The brevity of the piece, however, creates the impression of a track tacked on, despite the fact that it occurs in the middle of the programme; furthermore, that same issue also makes the effort, with its faded ending, sound as if it was treated in such a way so as not to alienate the audience for which the music is otherwise intended. 

There are a couple of Thelonious Monk compositions here, and the fact that Helfrich gets as close to a Monkian spirit as anyone, particularly on her solo reading of "Ask Me Now," is to her credit. Roy Hargrove is featured on four tracks, including Monk's "I Mean You," and with every note he plays, he again shows that his conception is in its way every bit as individual as Blue Mitchell's. Helfrich also gets to show off some of her credentials as an accompanist of no little individuality, and the resulting music raises a smile.
~ Nic Jones  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=22904#.UopgxOJc_vs

Personnel: Anke Helfrich: piano; Martin Gjakanovski: bass; Dejan Terzic: drums; Roy Hargrove: trumpet, flugelhorn (3,4,6).

Better Times Ahead

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Anke Helfrich - Stormproof

Styles:  Piano Jazz

Year: 2009

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 54:02

Size: 124,6 MB

Scans: Front

(4:23)  1. Hackensack

(5:59)  2. September Song

(7:32)  3. Stormproof

(5:21)  4. Sehnsucht

(7:07)  5. In Good Times As In Bad

(1:59)  6. After The Rain

(8:26)  7. Circles

(4:58)  8. Swiss Moment

(5:14)  9. Speak Low

(2:58) 10. Little Giant

German pianist Anke Helfrich has absorbed the influence of everyone from Thelonious Monk to Les McCann and channeled it into an original style that's rooted but not retro. On STORMPROOF, she covers Monk's "Hackensack," and its knotty harmonies and angular feel suit her singular style, but she really stretches out on her own compositions, where her approach feels completely contemporary. She doesn't stick strictly to the 88s, either; she occasionally moves over to electric piano and even harmonium. And while her thoughtful melodic statements are clearly the focus here, trombonist Nils Wogram offers some striking moments of his own throughout this, Helfrich's third release as a leader.~Jim Allen (www.allmusic.com/album/stormproof-mw0000813304).

Stormproof

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