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Theo Bleckmann

Elegy

ECM

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Theo Bleckmann - Elegy
Theo Bleckmann - Elegy (Interview)
Theo Bleckmann & The Westerlies | Another Holiday
John Hollenbeck & Theo Bleckmann with l'Orchestre national du jazz Montreal
Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies-Another Holiday-New York City-1/5/2019

Tour Dates

09/11/2018 - Ravinia Festival / Chicago, IL
09/22/2018 - The Westerlies Fest / Seattle, WA
10/09/2018 - Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg / Hamburg, Germany
10/18/2018 - Russelsheim / Main, Germany
10/19/2018 - Bayreuth - Becher-Saal / Bayreuth, Germany
10/21/2018 - Schwabsich Hall / Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
11/01/2018 - Neue Galerie / New York, NY
11/02/2018 - Jefferson Center / Roanoke, VA
11/03/2018 - Kennedy Center / Washington, DC
11/04/2018 - University of Richmond / Richmond, VA
11/15/2018 - Music In New Technologies Conference / Halifax, Nova Scotia
11/16/2018 - Music In New Technologies Conference / Halifax, Nova Scotia
11/17/2018 - Music In New Technologies Conference / Halifax, Nova Scotia
11/18/2018 - Music In New Technologies Conference / Halifax, Nova Scotia
12/05/2018 - OPERA LYON / Lyon, France
12/08/2018 - Universitat / Aachen, Germany
12/09/2018 - Philharmonie Essen / Essen, Germany
01/25/2019 - Mondavi Center / Davis, CA
01/26/2019 - Mondavi Center / Davis, CA
02/08/2019 - McCullough Theatre / Austin, TX
04/04/2019 - The Kennedy Center / Washington, D.C.
1 Semblance
2 Comedy Tonight
3 Fields
4 The Mission
5 Littlefields
6 Elegy
7 To Be Shown To Monks At A Certain
8 Cortege
9 Elegy (Var.)
10 Take My Life
11 Wither
12 Alate
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Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showcases Bleckmann as a composer as much as a singer, with several instrumental pieces voiced by what he calls his "ambient" band of kindred-spirit guitarist Ben Monder, keyboardist Shai Maestro and the subtle rhythm team of Chris Tordini and John Hollenbeck. Highlights include Bleckmann's sublime rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Comedy Tonight" ("tragedy tomorrow… comedy tonight"), as well as the mellifluous vocalise of "Little Elegy" and achingly poetic song "To Be Shown to Monks at a Certain Temple."

14 NEW  93 TOTAL
SYND: PRI/Jazz After Hours, CBC
Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Denver, Austin, Berkeley CA, San Antonio, Hartford CT, Knoxville, Rochester NY, Honolulu, Toronto, Vancouver
INTER: Canada, Germany, Mexico, UK, France
Online: all about jazz, wsj, Mozart and me, Straightnochaser, KUHS, SoulandJazz, JazzTrail, allmusic, Jazz from Gallery 41, Radio Valencia, theguardian, OBSERVER, stereotag, writteninmusic.com, mdr, Europe Jazz Network, Radio France, Radio Univeridad

19 JazzWeek ADD's

All Press Secured by Tina Pelikan- ECM

  • SF Performances celebrates 40 years / San Francisco Chronicle
    Posted At: April 9, 2019 12:00 AM

    The 2019-20 season of San Francisco Performances, which marks the 40th anniversary of the performing arts presenter, will begin Sept. 27 and includes; a new collaboration by choreographer Lucinda Childs and composer David Lang, a concert with the Alexander String Quartet, and composer Gabriel Kahane. The experimental Pivot series will return for a fifth season Jan. 23-26, 2020, with appearances by compos...
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  • Ben Monder, Theo Bleckmann set for ZINC. / City Guide NY
    Posted At: October 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    Acclaimed jazz guitarist Ben Monder joins forces with vocalist Theo Bleckmann to perform at ZINC. jazz club on Monday, October 15. A musician in the New York City area for over 30 years, Ben Monder has performed with a wide variety of artists, including Jack McDuff, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, Billy Childs, Andrew Cyrille, George Garzone, Paul Motian, Maria Schneider, and Marshall Crenshaw. He also con...
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  • The Westerlies, Theo Bleckmann team for refuge and 'Another Holiday' / WBGO
    Posted At: September 1, 2018 12:00 AM

    The Westerlies, a young brass quartet at the intersection of new music and progressive jazz, has teamed up with the equally broadminded vocalist Theo Bleckmann for a pointed new project, Songs of Refuge and Resistance. Developed during a residency earlier this summer in Putney, Vt., it's a concert-length suite of songs, some of them by canonical American songwriters like Woody Guthrie and Joni Mitchell, ...
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  • watch - John Hollenbeck & Theo Bleckmann with l'Orchestre national du jazz Montreal
    Posted At: April 20, 2018 12:00 AM

    John Hollenbeck leads l'Orchestre national du jazz Montreal through an original, and highly unconventional concert.  Part performance art, part theatre improv, Hollenbeck's composition reimagines the role of improvisation.  Considered by the composer as a "spatial experiment", the project was noticeably free of most musical and theatrical boundaries.   Hollenbeck, an American d...
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  • Songs of Freedom' at UC's - Logan Center / Chicago Tribune
    Posted At: April 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    The transcendent moment in "Songs of Freedom," drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.'s reflection on music of the turbulent 1960s, sneaked up on listeners. For after hearing inspired but straightforward readings of music identified with Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and Joni Mitchell, the audience Friday night at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts encountered something ethereal, mystical and fearless...
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  • Theo Bleckmann Quintet is without impurities at Big Ears Festival / I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
    Posted At: April 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    The 2017 Big Ears Festival continued its eclectic programming on March 25-26 with performances by Meredith Monk, the Theo Bleckmann Quintet, The Magnetic Fields, Yasmine Hamdan, Deerhoof, and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble. I had never heard Meredith Monk perform, but that changed on Saturday, March 25th at the Bijou Theatre. Monk's music is meditative, like water bubbling from a stream. The flow was cons...
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  • Theo Bleckmann picks up 2017 JJA nom for 'Male Vocalist Of The Year'
    Posted At: April 24, 2017 12:00 AM

    p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px} 2017 JJA Jazz Awards Nominees were chosen by the votes of Jazz Journalists Association members. Nominations were made on the basis of work done in calendar year 2016, with the exception of Lifetime Achievement Awards categories, in which nominations are for a lifetime body of work. Members and others were able to subm...
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  • Theo Bleckmann interview with Party934
    Posted At: April 16, 2017 12:00 AM

    Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showc...
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  • Theo Bleckmann visits with WBGO: Singers Unlimited
    Posted At: April 7, 2017 12:00 AM

    Singer and composer Theo Bleckmann shapes his voice into an array of subtle orchestral colors. In this visit to WBGO: Newark NJ - Singers Unlimited, he talks with Michael Bourne about his new album, Elegy, as well as his work for the stage and collaborations with a jazz mentor, Sheila Jordan.  Bleckmann, the German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith M...
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  • Texture and dynamics apparent in Theo Bleckmann Quintet's, Big Ears set / all about jazz
    Posted At: April 6, 2017 12:00 AM

    German-American vocalist Theo Bleckmann recently made his ECM Records debut with Elegy. His quintet features guitarist Ben Monder (who he has worked with for over 20 years), as well as pianist Nitai Hershkovits (subbing for Shai Maestro) and the rhythm team of bassist Chris Tordini and drummer John Hollenbeck. The group's Big Ears Festival set opened with vocalise accompanied only by the piano; as th...
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  • Theo Bleckmann Q&A with quaderni d'altri tempi
    Posted At: April 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    A little over a year since the release of A clear midnight. Kurt Weill and America , host of the quartet of German pianist Julia Hülsmann, Theo Bleckmann signing Elegy , a new work for ECM. On this occasion the singer faces for the first time a project entirely on his behalf for the label of Manfred Eicher, after collaborations with Meredith Monk and Hülsmann, proving the composer and lyricist ...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / JazzdaGama review
    Posted At: April 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    There is considerable evidence on Elegy this ethereally beautiful recording (which of his isn't) by Theo Bleckmann to suggest that he might be, for some, the modern-day Erdmann Neumeister. The poetry of his texts, combined with his soaring music suggest pieces seem inspired – and closely mimic – by the cantatas of Bach, whose sacred ones were based on Neumeister's poetry. Bleckmann's own piec...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / New York City Jazz Record review
    Posted At: April 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    German-born singer Theo Bleckmann likes to explore the outer reaches of vocally produced sound. His explorations yield different discoveries, however. On Elegy, his latest release as a leader and first for ECM, Bleckmann feels his way through the grief process, pondering the mystery of death with an almost ritualistic affect. His vocal approach to the compositions recal...
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  • Theo Bleckmann set for Jamboree - Barcelona / Tomajazz Podcast
    Posted At: March 15, 2017 12:00 AM

    On Thursday, March 16, in the usual double sessions of 20:00 and 22:00, singer Theo Bleckmann will present his new recording Elegy (ECM, 2017) at the Jamboree in Barcelona, at the head of the group that has recorded in the prestigious German stamp A quartet of many carats with accompanists like John Hollenbeck (Claudia Quintet), Ben Monder , Shai Mae...
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  • Theo Bleckmann set for Big Ears Fest speaks with 91.9: WUOT - Knoxville
    Posted At: March 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album ...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / JazzHistoryOnline review
    Posted At: March 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    "Elegy" is Theo Bleckmann's album-length  meditation on death and transcendence. Over the years, Bleckmann has defied audience expectations with unusual adaptations of music by Charles Ives and Kate Bush. On this album (his ECM debut as a leader), the first words we hear are from Stephen Sondheim's "Comedy Tonight", here sung in a slow tempo with Bleckmann affecting a distant tone and making sur...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / Jazzeno review
    Posted At: February 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    Elegy is the first album of singer Theo Bleckmann under ECM Records. A special project in which the music certainly has something of a lament, from beginning to end, the compositions of Bleckman imbued with melancholy, sadness and r...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / BLURT review
    Posted At: February 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    Theo Bleckmann has garnered a solid reputation for his distinctive interpretation of jazz singing. He's not a belter or crooner, but a sort of ambient dreamweaver. So it's no surprise to find that Elegy, his latest solo album and first for natural home ECM, is definitely not a set of genuine and faux standards. Working with equally forward-thinking guitarist Ben Monder, pianist Shai Maestr...
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  • Theo Bleckmann interview with 88.9 KUCI: Irvine
    Posted At: February 17, 2017 12:00 AM

    Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showc...
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  • Theo Bleckmann, one of the true vocal innovators, releases - Elegy / The Irish Times
    Posted At: February 16, 2017 12:00 AM

    German-born, New York-resident singer Theo Bleckmann is one of the true vocal innovators, a voice-as-instrument musician who combines the sonic adventure of the New York avant-garde with the precision and arch intensity of Weimar cabaret. As the title implies, his leader debut for ECM is a set of self-composed reflections death and transcendence, but it's nothing like as dark or morbid as that suggests. ...
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  • SFJazz set for ECM week / The Mercury News
    Posted At: February 14, 2017 12:00 AM

    Officially, SFJazz's ECM Week runs from Feb. 23-26, with eight exceptionally divergent ensembles packed into four double-bill concerts. But given the German record label's vast, disparate and pervasively influential catalogue it's not surprising that artists associated with ECM can't be contained in a single four-day block of booking. The organization could have easily and explicitly ...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / theguardian review
    Posted At: February 9, 2017 12:00 AM

    Theo Bleckmann is a fascinating German-born cross-genre singer who has worked with Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass and John Zorn, and recently made a terrific album of Kurt Weill songs (A Clear Midnight) with the jazz pianist Julia Hulsmann. Elegy presents his own compositions, supported by an ideally attuned quartet including guitarist Ben Monder and drummer/composer John Hollenbeck, with the only cover b...
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  • Theo Bleckmann set for Santa Monica - Broad Stage / The Argonaut
    Posted At: February 9, 2017 12:00 AM

    Like serious jazz players, vocalist and composer Theo Bleckmann is adept at improvisation, although he does not scat like trad jazz singers; the sonically shape-shifting music created by the onetime art student and his flexible backing combo lives somewhere between vocal jazz, cabaret and ambient pop. On Bleckmann's fine new album "Elegy," the existential darkness of "Comedy" is counterbalanced by the sw...
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  • Theo Bleckmann set for Duc des Lombards / Radio France - Open Jazz
    Posted At: February 8, 2017 12:00 AM

    In addition to being a vocalist doing shows of rare audacity, Theo Bleckmann is a sound artist, who creates what the American magazine JazzTimes aptly described as " bright star " of music. The native New Yorker of Germany made his sensational debut for the ECM label as a leader with " Elegy ," after appearing on two albums previously home of Meredith Monk and another pianist Julia Hülsmann. "Elegy"...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / WBGO: Take Five
    Posted At: February 7, 2017 12:00 AM

    By now it's no secret that Theo Bleckmann is one of the most restlessly intriguing vocalists in improvised music. He made Elegy, his ECM debut as a leader, with a handful of close collaborators: guitarist Ben Monder, pianist Shai Maestro, drummer John Hollenbeck and bassist Chris Tordini. The album contains a series of reflections on mortality, in one form or another: among its highlights is a v...
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  • Theo Bleckmann assembles a great quartet for ECM leader debut / jazztrail review
    Posted At: February 7, 2017 12:00 AM

    Theo Bleckmann, a resourceful vocalist/composer whose work frequently slips into avant-garde genre, convokes a great quartet for his ECM leader debut, Elegy, a career highlight. Innovative guitarist Ben Monder and resilient drummer John Hollenbeck are two longtime associates who easily pour out the tones and textures envisioned by the singer.  Joining for the first time, but incredibly adapted to th...
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  • A Conversation with Theo Bleckmann on Straightnochaser: Podcast 560
    Posted At: February 4, 2017 12:00 AM

    Do we have a more diverse singer today than Theo Bleckmann?  The German born singer and composer's recordings range from albums of Las Vegas standards, Weimar art songs, newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); and his acclaimed Hello Earth - the Music of Kate Bush.  You may also have heard Bleckmann on jazz recordings by Ambrose Akinmusire and Julia Hülsm...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy makes OBSERVER: February 'Best in Jazz'
    Posted At: February 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    Welcome to the first dispatch from our new monthly jazz column, The Best in Jazz, where we will offer you the best of what's ahead with jazz concerts and performances in and around New York, highlighting one stand-out show in particular in an in-depth interview. Since arriving to New York from his native Germany shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, singer/composer Theo Bleckmann has thr...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy makes Europe Jazz Media Chart for February 2017
    Posted At: February 1, 2017 12:00 AM

    Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showc...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / KUCI review
    Posted At: January 30, 2017 12:00 AM

    The adjective often associated with Theo Bleckmann's singing is ethereal. Perhaps it is because of his tonal purity that lends an angelic quality to his vocals. Perhaps it is because his timbre reverses the formula where an instrument seeks identity by imitating vocal characteristics. He uses his voice operatically as a urhuman instrument.  Often in popular and art music this effect is achi...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / allmusic review
    Posted At: January 30, 2017 12:00 AM

    Elegy is the ECM leader debut by vocalist and composer Theo Bleckmann. A prolific recording artist, his association with the label dates back to Meredith Monk's 2002 date Mercy and its follow-up, Impermanence, in 2008 (Bleckmann was a member of her ensemble for 15 years). His voice was also a focal point of Julia Hulsmann's quartet on 2015's Clear Midnight: Kurt Weill & America. For a sin...
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  • Theo Bleckmann - Elegy / Wall Street Journal review
    Posted At: January 26, 2017 12:00 AM

    Vocalist and composer Theo Bleckmann has been a leader or collaborator on some of the most interesting jazz and newmusic projects of the past 25 years. He has clear, crisp diction and can render a lyric poignant during a straightforward reading, but Mr. Bleckmann is unusually tech savvy and often uses delays and other effects to create an ethereal dreamscape. He has taken vocalese into the 21st century. ...
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  • Theo Bleckmann's delicately moving, aptly titled 'Elegy' / all about jazz review
    Posted At: January 20, 2017 12:00 AM

    While ECM is a label largely renowned for its subtlety, attention to space and detail, and overall understated, "less is more" aesthetic-an early sampler titled, even, The Most Beautiful Sound Next To Silence-it's hard to imagine a label debut as a leader that could be less about virtuosity and more about creating soft atmospheres and ambiences than singer Theo Bleckmann's delicately moving,...
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  • 'Mozart and me.' A conversation with Theo Bleckmann
    Posted At: January 20, 2017 12:00 AM

    Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as "luminous webs" in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and on another by pianist Julia Hülsmann of Kurt Weill songs – makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy. This album showc...
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