Double Quartet Henning Sieverts

• 1Bass Twins01:47
• 2Cantus Five06:12
• 3Hexa Countdown08:28
• 4Drum Twins00:51
• 5Vipia Twins01:10
• 6Firm Chant05:28
• 7Cantus Seven08:39
• 8Sax Twins01:09
• 9Hexa Circle12:10
• 10Hexa Twelve06:15
• 11Hidden Hexa04:11
• 12Ebird04:33
• 13Fasoldo04:41
• 14Ursin05:01
• 15Bass Twins (reprise)01:00
• Total Runtime01:11:35

Info for Double Quartet

Henning Sieverts: Double Quartet, Sievert’s fourth dividing the scale between the 3rd and 4th note. Sieverts album for PIROUET, is an offshoot of the bassist/composer’s musical vision for the 2014 edition of the yearly Tonspuren Festival at the Irsee Monastery in lower Bavaria.

While researching over 600 years of this former Benedictine Abbey’s history, Sieverts unearthed a Mass composed in 1614 specifically for the Abbey’s festival of St. Benedict. Sieverts chose two elements from this festive Mass, a cantus firmus, an archaic leitmotif in the Pro Offertorio movement of the mass, and a hexachord, a symmetric six note scale composed of four whole tones with a half tone incorporated these elements as leitmotifs in his own com- positions. Henning emphasizes that “They permeate my Irsee music in every creative form possible.” The music at the monastery spanned three days; on two of these days a string chamber orchestra was integrated into the double quartet. A Saturday evening “lounge” concert featured the double quartet by itself. All three were inspired by the music composed and sung by the Irsee Monks. The day after the concerts the double quartet traveled to Munich and PIROUET’s Kyberg Studio to record this impressive work. Henning pointed out that, “The eight musicians recorded in one room, and there were no overdubs. The results were so satisfying simply because the musicians were concentrated and listened so intently to each other. Besides that, the studio’s sound and ambience is fantastic!”

Born in 1966, composer, bassist/cellist Henning Sieverts now numbers among the elite player/composers in jazz. Backed by classical training and years of work with top international players, he has played on over 130 CDs, 15 under his own name, and has participated in tours on six continents. His long list of awards includes best jazz bassist at the International Society of Bassists’ competition, winner of the New German Jazz Prize as soloist on both cello and bass, and Germany’s prestigious Echo Jazz 2010 award as best bassist for his playing on his PIROUET CD Blackbird. He also moderates and produces jazz programs for the Bavarian Radio and teaches bass, cello, and composition at the Munich University for Music and the Performing Arts.

Loren Stillman, alto & soprano saxophone
Silvain Rifflet, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Florian Weber, piano
Pascal Schumacher, vibraphone
Françoise Thuillier, tuba
Henning Sieverts, bass, cello
Jochen Rueckert, drums
John Hollenbeck, drums

Henning Sieverts
The influential German newspaper „Zeit“ (Time) said of him, “...as bassist, he is the man of the hour”, and in 2010 he received the prestigious German “Echo” jazz award for his Pirouet production, Blackbird: Henning Sieverts, musi- cian and journalist, born in 1966 in Berlin. Sieverts began playing the cello at the age of five. At 16 he taught himself how to play bass, and collected his first experiences playing jazz. From 1977 to 1984 he studied cello, piano, and music theory at the Berlin Conservatory. In both 1983 and 1984 he was awarded first prize at the „Schülerkomponieren” (Students Compose) competition. In 1985 Sieverts began studying journalism in Munich at the German School of Journalism and the Ludwig-Maximilians University. He received his di- ploma in 1990. Along with his studies, Sieverts was deeply involved with jazz, playing acoustic and electric bass, and composing both jazz and classical pieces. In 1990 Henning Sieverts became a member of the German State Jazz Orchestra (BuJazzO) under the direction of the acclaimed big band leader Peter Herbolzheimer. In the same year he was awarded the Musikförderpreis der Landeshauptstadt München (Munich’s award for outstanding musicians). In 1994 he completed his final exam at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich and received the Staatlichen Förderpreis für junge Künstler des Freistaats Bayern (Bavar- ia’s award for young artists). In 2007 Sieverts won the New German Jazz Prize as well as the Soloist Prize section of the New German Jazz Prize (in Mannheim). Henning Sieverts can be heard playing bass and/or cello on over 100 CD productions. He has recorded twelve CDs under his own name. Sieverts is also active as journalist; since 2003 he has moderated a jazz program at the Bavarian Radio.

Ronny Graupe
was born in 1979 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germa- ny. He was the winner of the state of Saxony’s “Jugend musi- ziert—Jugend jazzt” competition in 1997. In 1998 he began his studies at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig, and then continued on to study in 2002/2003 at the Rytmisk Music Conservatory in Copen- hagen. From 1998 until 2001 Graupe played with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. In 2001 he received the Marion Ermer Foun- dation’s Jazz Newcomer Stipendium. Graupe, along with Christian Lillinger and Philipp Gropper, formed the trio Hyperactive Kid in 2002. Now living in Berlin, Ronny Graupe has worked with Carsten Daerr, Daniel Erdmann, Kalle Kalima, Rolf Kühn, Frank Möbus, Matthias Schriefl, and John Schröder. He has also played in groups with Johannes Lauer, Henning Sieverts, and Wanja Slavin. Ronny Graupe is a member of the Berlin Jazz Collective.

Nils Wogram
Reclams Jazz Lexicon praised Nils Wogram as being “...one the most outstanding trombonists of the younger generation of European jazz musicians.” Born in 1972 in Braunschweig, Germany, Wogram studied classical trombone along with piano and music theory in his home city. In 1988 he began playing in the Lower Saxony State Youth Jazz Orchestra, then in 1989 moved on to the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. Wogram won the prize for best solo trombonist in the “Jugend musiziert“ competition in 1989 and again in 1991.The first CD under his own name, New York Conversations, came out in1994. In 1998 Wogram received North Rhine-Westphalia’s award for the advancement of jazz as well as Germany’s Southwest Radio Jazz Prize. He leads his own group, is a member of Root 70, Nostalgia Trio, plays in duo with pianist Simon Nabatov and with fellow trombonist Conny Bauer, and is a member of the Aki Takase Quintet. Nils Wogram currently lives in Zurich where he is a member of the group Underkarl. Since 2004 he has been teaching jazz studies at the Univer- sity of Lucern.

Booklet for Double Quartet