• Home
• /
• Entertainment

‘For me jazz is always sexy’

Trumpeter Till Bronner is set to thrill fans with his unique fusion approach at the Emirates Palace on Friday

A SHOOTING STAR, a magician, the latest young hope, the best pop star – there are as many plaudits as there are music critics when it comes to trumpeter Till Brönner and his success. Till has thrilled the international jazz circuit with not only his unique jazz approach influenced by bebop and fusion jazz, but also modern pop music, movie soundtracks, country music and even German pop songs.

Born in Germany and bred in 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,” he recalls. “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.” 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 his album ‘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, he was the talk of the trade.

It seems that you are enjoying the position that Clifford Brown enjoyed in the early and mid 90s?

Clifford Brown inspired me with his music up to his death in 1956. Next to him there are obviously all these other great players, such as Miles, Chet and Freddie Hubbard that have been a major influence. The fact is that after a couple of years on the scene, idols become less important, since you set your own tone.

A jazz audience isn't known to be particularly young; what made you gravitate towards it? How did you overcome ‘the odd man out’ image?

For me jazz is always sexy. Frank Sinatra was the big star of his time. So was Miles Davis. There are a lot of musicians out there bringing jazz to a young audience. I am just a part of it. The trumpet to me is the closest instrument to the human voice. This makes people listen and I try to sing with the trumpet whenever I play.

So when it comes to practice, what is your routine?

Playing the trumpet is a blessing and very hard work at the same time. I have to practice every day, so wherever I go my trumpet goes with me and I work on it every day for a couple of hours.

Is there any difference between your present style of music and what you started out with? What will you play when you are in your sixties?

This is a tough question. I am working on developing my own sound everyday and I see recordings always as a documentation of my current sound. Listening back to my older recordings I have a feeling that my sound was already there 15 years ago, however it has developed and the music has developed along with it. I am confident that these developments will go on within music in general. Luckily it is not possible to predict where things will end up. The most important thing to me is that I keep playing the music I love.

Tell us something about ‘A Night in Berlin’. That is quite different from other recordings.

We wanted to record a concert as an HD-DVD in a studio, everything played live, but without audience. When you watch the DVD you are the only person in the room with us and therefore have a very intimate atmosphere. This was important to us since you can always see a band at a concert with a big audience. In the case of ‘A night in Berlin’ it is more of a private showcase.

Do the Germans know jazz? It hardly played on radios there.

The radio landscape is terrible for Jazz around the globe. However I feel that people find this music, if they are interested in it. The internet makes things easily available and Germany by now is a highly creative place when it comes to Jazz. Especially Berlin: the scene has improved a lot and many great German and international musicians are moving here right now.

How did you come up with the idea of making ‘Rio’ - a complete bossa nova record?

I always liked bossa nova. The real successful part of bossa nova was a combination of jazz and the music from Brazil, actually. And when the Girl From Ipanema finally took place and conquered the world as they say, we already heard a combination of jazz and that kind of music. It was our goal to capture the magic of the original tracks from the late 50s and 60s and combine them with the sound quality and soundscapes of the present. This is why the guest vocalists on the album range from Brazilian originals such as Milton Nascimento and Sergio Mendes to international jazz and pop stars such as Kurt Elling, Annie Lennox and Aimee Mann. The rhythm section was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and consisted of great Brazilian musicians that I met in Rio for the first time. It was a mind-blowing experience.

How much did the city of Rio de Janeiro inspire you?

People love Berlin right now because they say, ‘Berlin has a spirit’. When you visit New York to record a jazz album there, even though they have the same gear and the same microphones and fantastic engineers as well, you have a different spirit in the studio because you know you’re in New York a place where energy level is remarkable. The music, flavour, way of life will become a part of your recording. When you come to Brazil, it’s just amazing to see how many young people like folk songs. They commonly play them on the radio. When you get into a taxi – that’s the first thing that happened to me obviously when I arrived in Rio – the first thing that I heard was boss nova on the radio. I asked the guy, “Do you like bossa nova?” – “No, no, I like all kinds of music.” And then he switched to another station and they also played that kind of stuff. So it seems to be very natural and give a good impression of yourself when you’re Brazilian. There is a very good feeling about the tradition - and they just love themselves in a positive way. I like that.

The record has kind of an old school sound – in a positive way. Did you talk and discuss about the sound of the record?

We talked a lot about the sound of the record. When you start thinking about Brazilian music today you can actually tell that pop music takes over wherever you go. So Brazilian music of today doesn’t sound like the old recordings anymore. The pick for me had to be the rather traditional way because I don’t want to sound like pop music all over the world. I wanted to do a bossa nova album. So, since I got involved that kind of stuff, with some of these musicians, I wanted to find out if I could do anything that sounds like that.

Do you think jazz is transferable to the classic?

Jazz is freedom and therefore can cross into any kind of music. From classical to hip-hop – everything is possible. This is why jazz will be a big part of our musical future.

What is in store for the UAE audience?

This is our first performance in Abu Dhabi. We are very much looking forward and will present a great band with two players from Sweden, one from the Netherlands and a couple of German players. These guys are the top of the crop in Europe and I am blessed to have them in my band.

What’s next after that?

After Abu Dhabi, I will play a tour with the group Steps Ahead in Europe until mid November. Right after that my own tour starts until the end of the year. I will be back to home for Christmas…

EVENT DETAILS

Till Bronner will perform in the Abu Dhabi Classics inaugural gala on October 24 at the Emirates Palace auditorium, Abu Dhabi.

citytime@emirates.net.ae