| News
New
Zealand, once again...
4th
Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival, Japan
New Zealand
"Kiwi-Jazz"
New
CD "Auf eigenen Fuessen" ("On One’s Own Feet")
Las
Vegas und New York
Pictures
of my recent tour to Chicago
Writer for "The Harmonica Educator"
New
CD out !!!
Pictures
of my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia
Workshop
beim World Harmonica Festival 2001 in Trossingen
3rd
Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in Seoul/Korea
CD-recording in Chicago
Toots Thielemanns comment about the new CD!
|
New
Zealand, once again…
In autumn, I spent another ten days in Wellington,
playing a couple of gigs.
On my way to New Zealand, I had a stopover
for half a day in Singapore, where I conducted a workshop about "jazz
on chromatic harmonica" at the club house of the "Harmonica
Afficionados Society".
|
|
|
|
4th Asia Pacific
Harmonica Festival
in Atsugi/Japan
From July 30 through August 4, the 4th Asia Pacific Harmonica
Festival took place near Tokyo. Besides my job as a judge of the harmonica
competitions, I had a performance at the gala-concert with jazz pianist
Jiro Kizaki.
A selection of pictures of this event can be seen at the
website of the All Japan Harmonica Federation at http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicHall-Horn/1514/eindex.htm
and at Ling-Zi Chong’s private photo collection website http://www.geocities.com/harmonicaclub.
I am also invited, together with Uli
Wagner, for the next Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in Hong Kong in
August 2004.
|
|
|
|
4th Asia Pacific
Harmonica Festival
in Atsugi/Japan
From July 30 through August 4, the 4th Asia
Pacific Harmonica Festival will be held near Tokio. Due to my contacts
with the Asian harmonica-scene, I will once again participate in this
event which will be attended by several hundreds of harmonica enthusiasts.
I’ve also been invited, together with Uli Wagner, for
the next festival in Hong Kong in August 2004.
|
|
|
|
New
Zealand
This spring, I once again spent some time in New Zealand
playing with jazz musicians from Wellington. Besides a guest performance
with the band "The Boptet", I sat in a couple of times with the
group "Deja
Blue".
For autumn, a concert tour is planned, followed by the
recording of a new CD.
|
|
|
|
"Kiwi"-Jazz
|
|
While here in Germany October showed up with
some warm and sunny days, I spent
my time on the other side of the globe, in
Wellington, New Zealand’s capital.
|
|
|
The main purpose of this trip was to visit my
girlfriend Wangyue, but I also had some
musical mission. |
|
|
With the great support of Wellington’s blues harmonica
player Neil Billington and drummer Mark Lockett, I performed at "The
Flamingo", the venue of the
Wellington
Jazz Club, in front of an audience of over 100
people. With me on stage were some of the best jazz musicians in town:
James Illingworth (p), Paul Dyne (b), Mark Lockett (dr) and Nick van Dijk
on flugelhorn.
My musical activities were rounded by the jam session at
the "Blue Note Bar", a guest performance with the jazz trio
"The Vipers" at the restaurant "The Beacon" and an
interview at the local jazz radio station Radio Active89 FM.
In order to expand my knowledge of the technical aspects
of the instrument, I visited Greg Dyer, the creator of the extensive
harmonica-information website "Harp
On!".
Thanks to all who made my stay so pleasant – despite
the rainy weather and a flu -, first and foremost to Wangyue, Neil, Mark
and Greg!
|
|
|
|
|
New CD "Auf eigenen Fuessen"
("On One’s Own Feet")
This summer, my guitar player Uli Wagner and I recorded
a CD at the sound studio of Palatina
Viva, a record label which
specializes in promoting artists from the Palatinate, the beautiful
wine-growing area in southwestern Germany - the region in which I live.
This project is a co-production with the
"Diakonisches Werk", a charity organisation of the Protestant
Church, which raises funds for "Brot für die
Welt" ("Bread
to the World !"), with the purpose of helping people in developing
countries to help themselves, to be able to stand "on their own
feet".
Together with guest musician Ralf Himer, percussion, and
actors Karin Schroeder and Klaus Goette, the CD features music and German
poetry around the given motifs "feet, path, traces".
Release date of the CD is 15 October.
Important note: Even if you are not able to understand
German, you will definitely enjoy the music and the meditative character
of this album. Furthermore, 20 % of the price of this CD will be donated
to support the afore-mentioned charity . Please contact me for further
details.
(Foto) Uli Wagner, Jens Bunge and sound engineer
Uwe Henke
|
|
|
|
Las Vegas and New
York
From the end of June to the beginning of July I spent a
week in Las Vegas. There I had the opportunity to sit in with the "Moses
Hazan Trio" which performed in the lounge of the "Golden
Gate". Unfortunately, this excellent jazz group had to compete with
the continuos ringing and jingle of the coins from the surrounding slot
machines...
Bill
Romel, who overhauled and gold plated a harmonica for me about two
years ago, invited me to his home. In his garage-workshop, he showed me
some of his tricks and secrets of harmonica repair.
A trip to the Grand Canyon completed my week in the
desert (with temperatures up to 118 ° F !),
before I flew to New York.
There I visited the "Coffee Shop" at Union Square
and took the chance to play with the quartet of the great vocalist Maucha
Adnet, who has, among others, worked with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Randy
Brecker.
The photo features, from left to right: Jose Pienasolla
(bass), Helio Alves (piano), Maucha Adnet (voc), and Duduka da Fonseca
(drums).
On my last night in the United States I attended the jam
session at "Smoke",
with, among others, John Farnsworth (sax) and Eddie Henderson (trp), and
spent my final bucks...
|
|
|
| Pictures
of my recent tour to Chicago
In April I was in Chicago again and played some
concerts to promote my recent CD "Meet You In Chicago".
Thanks to all, who helped to make my time in the "Windy
City" so pleasant!
Jens Bunge Quartett
"Chicago Reader", April 6, 2001
Scott Holman Trio featuring Jens Bunge
Jens & Marshall
Vente
|
|
|
| Writer
for "The Harmonica Educator"
From this year on I am a regular writer for the
quarterly issued international magazine
"The
Harmonica Educator"
By request of Richard Martin, editor and
publisher, I write (side by side with Jamey Aebersold) a series of
articles for the column "The World of Jazz" to initiate
the readers into the secrets of improvising on the chromatic
harmonica.
|
|
|
| New
CD out !!!
My new CD "Meet You In Chicago",
recorded in April 2000, has finally come out.
As always, to anyone who orders directly from me I
guarantee the best deal (20 US $ including s & h) and quick
delivery.
Please click here
for more information and (soon) soundclips .
|
|
|
| Pictures
of my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia
Around New Year I spent a week in Kuala Lumpur
where I met with Chong Ah Kow, a great promoter of the harmonica in
Malaysia whom I know from the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in
Seoul. Besides a short performance at his harmonica class of the
YMCA I was also invited to play at a wedding dinner in the
Renaissance Hotel on New Year's Eve, in front of 500 guests.
Afterwards we went to the Twin Towers to watch the great fireworks
and welcome the new millenium (at tropical temperatures !) . Here
are some pictures of this week in K.L.:
|
|
|
| Workshop
at the World Harmonica Festival 2001 in Trossingen
At the coming World Harmonica Festival which takes
place in Trossingen/Germany from 24 - 28 October and which expects
hundreds of harmonica lovers from all parts of the world, I'll once
again conduct a workshop about "Jazz on Chromatic
Harmonica". For more details about the festival see their
website at www.whf-2001.de.
|
|
|
3rd
Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in Seoul/Korea
 From
1 - 4 August I had the chance to participate in this gathering of
harmonica players from all Asia. I can hardly describe the
friendliness and hospitality I experienced in Korea.
The team of the Korean jazz label GOOD
INTERNATIONAL, Wayne, Sam and Eve, helped me in so many ways,
starting with an unexpected pick-up service when I arrived at the
airport some days prior to the festival, continueing with
sightseeing tours, invitations to drink and dinner and last but not
least by finding me a local jazz guitar player for my performance at
the gala concert. Thanks a lot !
The harmonica festival was certainly another
highlight of my musical career; more than 1000 harmonica players and
harmonica lovers from Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Singapore and Japan filled the rooms and halls of the luxurious
Olympia Hotel Seoul, actively competing in the various categories of
the contest, listening to the competitors, attending workshops or
visiting the nightly gala concerts.
The organization team, presided by Mr. Lee Hea
Bong, did everything to make my stay as pleasant as possible; in
order to make sure that I didn't get lost and kept my time schedule
I had my own escort service, a nice young lady who guided me to the
rooms where I had to judge, carried my harmonica bag, served
refreshments and escorted me to the restaurant for lunch and dinner.
I can't count how often I had to pose for photos or how many
autographs I wrote; after two days I had run out of my name cards,
but carried at least 40 addresses of new friends in my pocket.
Here's a small selection of pictures:
 |
"The
Jury" |
 |
With Sam & Eve
at the office of "Good International" |
 |
Spontane Blues-Session mit Mr. Zong, Big Joe & Monsieur Jean Labre |
 |
Kim Hyông Jun (git) & Jens Bunge (harm) |
|
|
|
CD recording in Chicago
In April I was in a sound
studio in Chicago to record my new CD. Besides this I also had the
chance to sit in and play at some concerts. Here a selection of
pictures with impressions of that most exciting week:
- Thomas Guenther, piano - German-born, has been
living in Chicago for three years and teaches at the Music Department
of Columbia University
- Michael Arnopol, bass - plays and records with
pianist and singer Patricia Barber for the renown "Blue
Note" label.
- Rusty Jones, drums - working with George
Shearing for seven years, he became surely one of the world's best
players on the brushes
Besides these excellent musicians, there were also some
guest soloists in the studio:
- Jackie
Allen, vocals - shooting-star of the Chicago-scene, performs
worldwide at clubs and festivals
- Greg Fishman, tenor sax
- insiders regard him
as a legitimate successor of Stan Getz, whose solos he has transcribed
and published
- Diane
Delin, violin - played among others with Ray Charles,
Manhattan Transfer and the Frank Sinatra Orchestra
- Joe Pardon, percussion - one of Chicago's
foremost salsa-/latin-players
- Judy Roberts, piano & vocals -
internationally working musician; I first met her in 1995 when she and
her band played in Singapore. In 1998 I met her again in her home town
Chicago, where she introduced me to the jazz scene and thus kind of
laid the foundations of this CD
At the end of June the recorded tracks were
mixed and mastered at "Klangstudio Leyh" in
Heidelberg-Sandhausen. The CD will be released in September on
the jazz4ever
label.
|
Chicago
Rusty, Thomas, Michael, Jens, Greg, Greg, Joe & Diane
mit Jackie Allen
mit Judy Roberts
|
|
|
|
 The
Master of Jazz Harmonica himself, Toots Thielemans, wrote the
following
note about my new CD
--------->
|
|
|
Contact
Jens Bunge
Wingertstraße 11a
67227 Frankenthal
Fon & Fax 06233-9786
e-mail jensbunge@web.de |
