Jazz or pop? Acoustic or electronic? - For Matthias Vogt these contradictions were never mutually exclusive. By the artist name of Motorcitysoul he produces electronic club tracks and by his common name Matthias Vogt he works as a bandleader and pianist seeking the points of contact between jazz and electronic. Perhaps this double existence makes him so barely tangible. But if we abandon thinking in pigeonholes, then we discover a musician, who has found his niche in the nowhere land between genres and who holds musical treasures, you would not have assumed to be necessarily there. With his band [re:jazz] he vests electronic club tracks with acoustic jazz robes and so guides electronica fans through the colours of jazz, as well as he turns the faces of jazz lovers towards a musical direction, whose compositions they had not much confidence in. But Matthias Vogt is not „the voice of one crying in the wilderness“. He is not a missionary but a subtle music lover and curious about the possibilities music offers nowadays. Above all he is falling for the gentle notes, as you might realize very quickly when meeting him personally: more introverted, he is a prudent dialog partner who chooses his words carefully but presents them with calm self-confidence. As a musician he prefers the muted timbres to the shrill ones, he paints with the camel hair brush not with the rough bristles. This applies to the pianist as well as to the composer and the producer. In general Matthias Vogt doesn't seem to see these different roles separately. As a pianist he thinks in terms of composition and his compositions are always imprinted by the imaginative capabilities of a producer.
Bass player Andreas Manns and drummer Volker Schmidt contribute mainly to the success of the project. Since many years they have performed together as a trio and have developed an amazing degree of blind comprehension for each other. For the first time their typical trio sound which formed the backbone for the [re:jazz] project can be savoured by itself. The catchy tunes settle with repetitive listening - which is not necessarily limited to the three vocal tracks on „Changing Colours“: Matthias Vogt even crosses the barriers between songwriter and jazz composer effortless. Presumably we will soon hear one of the catchy tunes in an electronic transposition? The story continues.
The soloists on Changing Colours
Roger Cicero
„The Look Into Your Eyes“ is performed by the requested an excellent jazz singer Roger Cicero. After studying singing and playing numerous concerts with the Eugen Cicero Trio and the Horst Jankowski Trio he founded his own quartet in 1999. For four years Roger Cicero was the musical director of Angie's Nightclub in Hamburg. With the band Soullonge Roger Cicero played at the Montreux Jazz Festival and opened up for James Brown and George Benson.
Dania König
„Expecting Repercussions“ is sung by the marvelous singer Dania König, soloist of the successful band Königswerq, who refer to their style as „de_pop“. Königswerq looks back at numerous appearances at different TV stations i.e ZDF Fernsehgarten or ARD Festival der Sieger. The band participated at the preselection of the Eurvision Song contest in Berlin, which was broadcasted live by the ARD and where Königswerq presented a convincing performance of their single „Unschlagbar“ to millions of people.
credits
released February 13, 2006
Executive Producer and A&R : Jan Hagenkoetter
Photos: Sandra Mann
Art Direction and Design by Rafael Jimenez Heckmann / www.fuku.org
Cover Photography by Sandra Mann
MUSICIANS
Matthias Vogt: Grand Piano, Fender Rhodes, Roland JX 3P, Vocals on “Pilot”
Andreas Manns: Upright Bass, Bass
Volker Schmidt : Drums
SPECIAL GUESTS
Dania Koenig: Vocals on “Expecting Repercussions”, Background Vocals on “The Look Into The Eyes“
Roger Cicero Vocals on “The Look Into Your Eyes“