A Soul Journey Bigband der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Young Voices Brandenburg & Christian Brückner

• 1A Soul Prologue03:57
• 2Ein Vater des Soul01:17
• 3Wonderful World03:08
• 4Der Hohepriester des Soul00:41
• 5Let the Good Times Roll04:27
• 6Der Womanizer des Soul01:23
• 7Whats Going On04:04
• 8Der King of Soul00:59
• 9Try a Little Tenderness03:50
• 10Die Queen of Soul01:29
• 11Respect03:33
• 12Die Disco Queen00:52
• 13Ain't No Mountain High Enough05:27
• 14Der Godfather des Soul00:41
• 15It's a Man's World03:37
• 16Der King of Pop01:16
• 17Man in the Mirror05:49
• 18A Soulful Hallelujah05:43
• Total Runtime52:13

Info for A Soul Journey

Some projects can seem like haut cuisine recipes: the long list of ingredients alone can have chefs quaking in their boots. But then again, the mere thought of the delights to come can set the mouth watering …

Sebastian Krol and Rüdiger Ruppert, the two organizers of the Big Band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, can easily bear comparison with any visionary culinary artist. To keep the metaphor going – gospel, blues, soul, jazz, funk, disco and hip-hop are all flavours of music that blend very closely together. Even though these musical styles come from the most diverse range of environments and eras, they are characterized by their similarities in groove, brass sections, wide range of distinctive voices, and in their harmonic relationships.

“This blend needs to be expressed and delivered on stage in all its complexity – and musically it has to be very entertaining!” That was Ruppert and Krol’s idea, and together these two creative chefs compiled their exquisite list of ingredients:

A big band with an exuberant brass section, plus Hammond organ, plus percussion – The Big Band of the ­Deutsche Oper Berlin! (BB of the DOB)

A complete choir specializing in soul and jazz – The Young Voices Brandenburg!

Three top singers with excellent voices who are happy to embark on this adventure – Florezelle Amend, Amber Schoop and Worthy Davis!

A clever arranger who can easily bring it all together – Manfred Honetschläger, musical director of the Big Band of the DOB!

Informative and entertaining lyrics which illustrate the history of the music and its stars – artists like Sam Cook, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, James Brown and Michael Jackson!

And last but not least, THE voice that can breathe life into these lyrics and lives, someone who can guide this musical and narrative odyssey – “The Voice” Christian Brückner!

The big moment arrived at the beginning of 2018 – the line up was complete, everything was “ready to serve”, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin was completely sold out! Kulturradio rbb’s outside broadcasting unit was there to record every note – the awesome sound and the unique arrangements electrified the audience and players alike …

A Soul Journey is the essence of this brilliant concert. Enjoy!

Amber Schoop, vocals
Worthy Davis, vocals
Florezelle Amend, vocals
Christian Brückner, Speaker
BigBand of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Young Voices Brandenburg
Manfred Honetschläger, musical direction, arrangements

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 48 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

BigBand of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
The American magazine "All About Jazz" writes about the BigBand of the Deutsche Oper Berlin: "Germany, which supports the performing arts to a degree far beyond what is practised here in the United States, has produced a number of world-class big bands as a result of this support. This is one of them."

A benefit concert in 2005 with the 12 brass players and a percussionist from the Deutsche Oper orchestra is regarded as the actual birth of the Big Band. Initially, baritone saxophonist Rolf von Nordenskjöld led the band. Today, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger Manfred Honetschläger provides the right sound. Stars such as Katharine Mehrling, Madeline Bell, Lyambiko, Jocelyn B. Smith, Pe Werner, Bill Ramsey, Georgie Fame, Jiggs Whigham, Jeff Cascaro and Richard Galliano have already been guests. In collaboration with General Music Director Donald Runnicles, a crossover concert took place in 2011, as well as the world premiere of the jazz melodrama "The Seduction of Pentheus" by Manfred Honetschläger on the main stage of the Deutsche Oper with the orchestra and big band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2016, also under the direction of GMD Donald Runnicles and together with actor Ben Becker.

Other highlights included a concert with Paul Kuhn in June 2012, the last time he performed with a big band. Also worth mentioning is the concert at the Brandenburg Summer Concerts 2014 at the unopened BER airport Berlin-Brandenburg with over 2000 visitors. The BigBand celebrated its tenth anniversary in March 2016 with a brilliant concert in front of a sold-out audience with soloists Torsten Goods, Polly Gibbons and trumpeter Till Brönner; in April 2018, the BigBand was invited by the Deutsche Oper Berlin for a three-day guest performance in Warsaw, which included two concerts together with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Three CDs have been released by monsrecords to date: The CD "Premiere" was released in 2008 together with Bill Ramsey, a second was released in 2010 under the title "How long is now?" together with Pascal von Wroblewsky. The third CD "A Soul Journey" is a concert recording by RBB from February 2018 with soloists, choir and big band, in which Christian "The Voice" Brückner guides us through the history of soul.

This album contains no booklet.