City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Ensemble van Beethoven

Musicians of Ensemble van Beethoven in concert at Bonn Theatre’s season opening party on August 30.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Schääl Sick Big Band’s first Concert

 Schääl Sick Big Band gave its first successful concert with mix of pop and swing music at the 2009 Beuel district party, on Sunday, September 6. The big band was founded in 2008 by musical instrument builder Achim Büchel and is directed by Hans Thomas. Schääl Sick Big Band comprises 25 musicians and is supported by lady singer Claudia Thiessen.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Sir Williams, tribute to Robbie Williams

Sir Williams “the one and only Robbie Williams tribute show” from Siegburg, at the annual Beuel district party (Bürgerfest) on Sunday, September 6.

Michael Niess

Rolf Montenbrück

Markus Müller

City Views Bonn – Beethovenfest 2009 – Festival Opening Day

On Saturday, September 5, symphony orchestras,  bassoon, flute, piano and violin players, children’s and youth choirs as well as  brass bands took the stages for “Bühne frei für Beethoven”, the opening festival of  the 2009 Bonn Beethovenfest. From 12 – 19 p.m. more than 1000 young musicians performed highly enjoyable live music on nearly every corner of the city.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Competition for High School Big Bands

On Sunday, August 30, a competition for high school big bands took place in the Chestnuts Garden of Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. The theme was “Ode to Joy”  from Beethoven’s famous 9th symphony. Four big bands participated in the competiton, namely: CoJoBo Big Band (Collegium Josephinum), HBG Jazz Band (Hardtberg Gymnasium), Wooden Helmets-Big Band (Helmholtz-Gymnasium) and Rhine Island Big Band (Gymnasium Nonnenwerth). Finally, after a thrilling musical competition, the ensembles of Helmholtz-Gymnasium and Gymnasium Nonnenwerth were selected as the winners by the jury, chaired by the popular German trombonist and bandleader Peter Herbolzheimer.

City Views Bonn – An Evening of Jazz at Bad Godesberg City Park Summer Party

For the first time the annual Bad Godesberg City Park Summer Party on Saturday August, 29, closed with a very well-attended evening of swinging traditional and dixieland jazz on the main stage near the tennis courts. The meeting was opened at 7 p.m. by Papa Joe’s Jazzmen, a group of 6 musicians from Cologne, namely: Wiel Derix (sousaphone), Reiner Polz (drums), Ronald Schliewa (bass), Prof. Dr. Heinz Thissen (banjo/guitar), Klaus Wegener (saxphone/clarinet/vocals) and Didi Zander (trumpet/vocals). The second concert was presented by Allotria Jazzband from Munich, directed by Rainer Sander (clarinet/altosaxophone), supported by Gregor Beck (drums), Peter Cischeck (bass), Colin T. Dawson (trumpet/vocals) Juergen Hinz (guitar), Andrey Lobanov (trumpet), Fritz Stewens (trombone) and Thilo Wagner (piano).

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Schelmish – Mediaeval Hard Rock with Bagpipe and Shawm

Several thousand people came to Markplatz on Saturday, August 15, to see the powerful and highly enjoyable two-hour live music spectacle by Schelmish. Schelmish is a popular band from Bonn, founded in 1999,  who plays hard rock using – besides the electric guitar, drums and sampler – mediaeval instruments such as bagpipe, bouzouki and shawm. Great show and ambiance at Bonn Marktplatz from 8 – 10 p.m.

Schelmish was composed of : Dextro alias Esrael von Boeckstein (vocals, bagpipe, bombarde, bouzouki, flutes, guitar, shawm), Susanne DesDemonia (vocals, bagpipe, bouzouki, percussion), Picus von Corvin (davul, percussion, sampling), Samtron alias Jörg Duschanek (drums, percussion), Daniel San (e-guitar), Schwammi (bass), Rimsbold von Tiefentann alias Ulf von Schellenberg) vocals, bagpipes, shawm, flute, percussion) and Luzzi das L. (bagpipes,shawm).

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Full House for MAM Concert

Saturday evening, August 8,  MAM performed live at Marktplatz in front of an estimated enthusiastic crowd of about 2000-3000 fans. The concert of the popular BAP cover band from Cologne was filled with energy. The vibrating Kölsch-rock performance ended with thunderous applause, at  exactly10 p.m.  Much to the regret of their fans in excess, because of the City of Bonn Noise Ordinance, there were no encores.

MAM are:  Klaus Drotbohm (bandleader/vocals/guitar), Alexandar Arnautovic (percussion), Marco Beier (drums), Christoph Freitag (saxophone), Klaus Kindler (bass), Oliver Küster (guitar) and Andreas Opitz (flute/e-piano).

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Concert of Southeast Derbyshire Music Centre Brass Band

On Tuesday, July 28 Southeast Derbyshire Music Centre Brass Band made up of more than 50 talented  young brass and percussion musicians aged 11-18 performed a well-attended and successful concert a Markplatz.  The program of the 75 minutes performance, directed by Alison Madin, included music of Abba, The Beatles, as well as film music.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – On the Way to the Top: Rupa & The April Fishes

On Saturday evening, July 25, Rupa & The April Fishes gave an energetic and memorable concert on the stage at Marktplatz which undoubtedly was one of the highlights of this year’s Bonn Summer Music Festival (Bonner Sommer).

Rupa & The April Fishes is an ambitious pop band from San Francisco who currently quite successfully is touring in Europe (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom). The band, however, doesn’t play conventional pop but rather a pulsing cocktail of American folk, French chansons and Romanian gipsy swing, as well as funk and rock, mixed with Indian sounds, inviting people to dance and groove.

Rupa & The April Fishes whose debut CD  (“Extraordinary Renditions”) was released by Cumbancha in April 2008 is composed of dynamic and talented musicians. In Bonn frontwoman Rupa Marya (guitar/vocals), musician and physician with Indian, American and French roots, was supported by Ara Anderson (trumpet), Isabel Douglass (accordeon), Aaron Kierbel (drums), Safa Shokrai (bass) and Andy Strain (trombone).

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Guildo Horn & Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe

As usual “Master” Guildo Horn & Die Orthpädischen Strümpfe (The Orthopaedic Stockings), namely August Schrader (bandleader/guitar/ vocals), Giselas Ginster (drums), Addi Millig (keyboard) and Petra Pogo (bass), closed the annual 3-day Beer Festival at Rheinaue with an energetic and highly enjoyable 2 hour live music spectacle on Sunday, July 26.

City Views Bonn – Ialma in Concert

The wonderful passionate music of IALMA  created an enthusiastic mood at Marktplatz, on Saturday, July 18. IALMA is a Belgo-Galician group composed of 5 female singers: Nuria Aldao, Natalia & Veronica Codesal, Magali Menéndez and Marisol Palomo.  They are all daughters of Galician immigrants and born in Belgium. On occasion of their concert in Bonn the quintet was supported by 3 excellent Belgian musicians namely Pascal Chardome (guitar), Didier Laloy (accordeon) and Frédéric Malempré (drums). Originally IALMA only performed traditional music from Galicia. Today the artists with Spanish roots  have developed their very own style and bring refreshing multicultural music with traditional sounds from Galicia, along with Flemish, Wallonian and European influences.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Bunk Brothers, Rude & Mrs. Kite

 

On Friday, July 17 three Danish newcomer bands from Hvidovre performed at Marktplatz with jazz, pop, rock and soul music, namely: The Bunk Brothers, Rude and Mrs. Kite.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Fairfield High School Concert

On Thursday, July 16, Fairfield High School orchestra and jazz band, directed by Lyndon Eatough-Smith and Geoffrey Soar, performed an open-air concert with a pretty wide variety of music at Marktplatz as a part of the Bonn Summer Music Festival (“Bonner Sommer”). It was their third and last concert in Germany for this year. The talented students, 11-16 years of age, from Peterchurch – a small village near the Black Mountains in Herefordshire – gave successful concerts in Linz and Bad Ems, too.

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Twin Cities International Music Project

On Saturday July 11, three bands with musicians from Bonn’s  twin cities (La Paz, Minsk and Yerevan ) performed at Marktplatz. The evening was opened at 7 pm with a concert by Yayo Morales, an excellent drummer from La Paz (Bolivia), supported by saxophone player Peter Materna (Bonn) and contrabassist Henning Sieverts (Munich). The band played modern trio jazz with music composed by bandleader Peter Materna. Various solo pieces allowed the musicians to demonstrate  their high technical ability on their instrument.

Next came Time Report Band from Armenia. The  group with Vardan Arakelyan (bass), Vardan Grigoryan (Duduk, Zurna), Edo Harutyunyan (percussions), Armen Hyusnunts (saxophone ), Arman Jalalyan (drums) and Khachik Sahakyan (keyboards) played wonderful, very enjoyable ethnic jazz. Time Report Band – founded in 1996 by Armen Hyusnunts and Khachik Sahakyan  - succesfully performed on several international jazz festivals and concerts e.g. in Armenia (Yerevan-1998 and 2000), Germany (Expo 2000 in Hannover), France and Georgia (GeoCell Jazz Festival-2000).

 The free open-air concert evening finally was closed with fascinating ethnographic sounds from Belarus, performed on modern and traditional instruments by Troitsa. The musicians of Troitsa are: Ivan Kirchuk (bandleader, lead vocal, guitar, domras, smyk, gusli, pipes, whistles, harmonica, reed stick, zhaleykas, lyre, ocarinas, wargan, pipe, rainmaker, duda, kalimba),  Yury Dzmitrieu (guitars, domra, smyk, zither, vocal) and Yury Paulouski (drums, gong, darabuka, gundang, anklung, bells, wood stick, kalimba, djembe, bamboofon).

City Views Bonn – Big Band Festival – JJO-NRW

 

City Views Bonn – 1st Bonn Big Band Festival

From May 22 to 24 several thousand people enjoyed the 1st edition of the Bonn Big Band Festival at Museumsplatz. Origanised on the initiative of Stefan Eisel by German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat) in association with the Art & Exhibition Hall of the FRG and the City of Bonn, the three-day music event presented an attractive mix of German big bands and jazz performers. The festival also included a workshop for local youth big bands under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer.

The festival was opened on Friday, May 22 at 5:45 p.m. with a rousing concert by the 17-member Bonn University Big Band, founded (in 2002) and directed by Oliver Pospiech, trombone player and arranger. At 7 p.m. WDR-Big Band featuring Francesco Cafisco on alt-saxophone and John Marshall on trumpet continued the concert evening. Francesco Cafisco who was born in Vittoria (I)  on May 24, 1989 is one of the most brilliant saxophone players of the new generation. John Marshall (N.Y. 1952) performed among others with Lionel Hampton, Gerry Mulligan, Maceo Parker, Ferdinand Povel and Joe Zawinul. Since 1992 he is the principal solo trumpet player of the outstanding WDR-Big Band from Cologne, currently leaded by Michael Abene.

 Saturday festival program provided (3 p.m.) an opportunity for young artists, who attended the jazz workshop, to display their talent.  At 5 p.m.  the Bonn School of Music Big Band/ (Béla’s Bläser) gave a concert under the big white top at Museumsplatz. Béla Rudolf Weissbach and his ensemble combined jazz, pop and swing sounds into a powerful, highly enjoyable 90-minute performance.

 The highlight of the day was the sparkling evening concert of Peter Herbolzheimer’s Grey Hair Convention with Special Guest Ack van Rooyen, the legendary Dutch Flügelhorn/trumpet player, and accompanied by the Master Birds, a young quintet with 3 female and 2 male vocalists. Grey Hair Convention is the senior big band of the European Jazz Academy. The band founded in 2007  by Peter Herbolzheimer – bass trombone player and director of the Academy –  is composed of experienced European jazz instrumentalists – professionals and serious amateurs - who want to join a big band, but are too old to play in the academy’s Open Class or Master Class big band.

 The 1st Bonn Big Band Festival finally closed on Sunday, May 24 with a matinée featuring two worth hearing  jazz concerts performed  by Germany’s renowed youth big band BuJazzO under the baton of Steffen Schorn (at 11 a.m.) followed by Jugendjazzorchester NRW directed by Marko Lackner, shortly after midday.

City Views Bonn – Dancer

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Deserted and Sunny Skies

Two local bands, Deserted and Sunny Skies had the honour to close this year’s Summer Concert Series at Marktplatz on Saturday, August 23. Deserted, a successful quartet – founded in 2004, second prize winner of Toys2Masters, the greatest newcomer band contest in North  Rhine-Westphalia – with Björn Donath (guitar/bandleader), Philipp Honrath (vocals), Philipp Immenkötter (bass) and Jens Fischer (drums), opened the concert evening with guitar-dominated funky progressive rock music, genre and Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Vai.

After the pause Sunny Skies, a very popular pop and rock band, gave a sparkling 90-minute light/music show with hits by e.g. The Beatles, AC/DC and Billy Joel. Sunny Skies made its public debut 36 years ago (1972) at the stage of ex-student pub Le Coq in Bonn. Meanwhile the bands line-up changed almost completely. Rope Schmitz (guitar/vocals) is the only remaining member of the “original” Sunny Skies. Actually, the other musicians of the band are: Jeanne Altfeld (vocals), Andreas Altmeier (drums), René Andrié (trumpet), Martin Behr (guitar), Tobias Flerus (trombone), Leo Gatzweiler (keyboard), Alex Krienke (vocals), Beate Müller (sax) and Marvin Philippi (bass).

City Views Bonn/Bonner Sommer – Dirty Deeds versus The Killerz

On Saturday, August 16, The Killerz and Dirty Deeds, two popular local hard rock cover and tribute bands, attracted many people to their performance at Marktplatz in Bonn. The Killerz, a quintet with Alex (vocals), Andi (drums), Armin (guitar), Martin (guitar) and Rolf (bass) opened the music spectacle with a powerful music show with songs of the well known heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The band’s songlist contains all great hits the British group ever produced, as for example „Iron Maiden“, „Running Free“, „Run To The Hills“, „The Trooper“, „Two Minutes To Midnight“ and „666 – Number Of the Beast“.

After a pause the open-air summer special continued with a hot 65 minute music performance by Dirty Deeds, one of the leading German AC/DC cover and tribute bands. Since 1989 the band, directed by lead guitarist Volker “Vangus” Voigt, plays without exception songs of the Australian group which is considered to be one of the pioneers of hard rock. The other current Dirty Deeds are: Alex “Big Bonn” (vocals), KutA Young (rhythmus guitar), Dr. Williams (bass) and Gonz “the machine” Rudd (drums). Exciting and long applause for The Killerz as well as for Dirty Deeds at the end of their concert.