jazzkeller 69 e.V. Archiv


12.03.2003 - Einlass: 20:00:00 Beginn: 20:30:00
Waati - Reinhardtstr. 30, 10117

TONY SCHERR und BAND

Tony Scherr und Band - Tony Scherr - Gitarre, Vocal
Tony Scherr und Band - Tim Luntzel - Bass
Tony Scherr und Band - Kenny Wollesen - Schlagzeug

Tony Scherr, so sagt man, macht Dinge auf der Gitarre, die sich sonst in New York niemand traut. Dabei ist es ihm egal, um welche Gitarre es sich dabei handelt. Einige lokale Rezensenten sind der Meinung, der Mann sei ausschließlich Bassist. Auf Grund seiner Vielseitigkeit und Klasse ist Tony Scherr seit vielen Jahren ein gefragter Mann an der Ostküste. Er musiziert mit und bei Bill Frisell, Steven Bernstein (Sex Mob), Norah Jones (die Tochter von Ravi Shanker und Grammy-Gewinnerin) und Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos. Dort gemeinsam mit seinen beiden Tourbegleitern Kenny Wollesen (drums) und Tim Luntzel (bass). Zumindest Kenny Wollesen sollte auch nicht nur Insidern bekannt sein. Er sitzt ansonsten hinter Tom Waits am Schlagwerk. Nach Jahren der Zu- und Mitarbeit ist Tony Scherr nun mit eigenen Songs unterwegs. Und mit diesen gelingt dem 'heißesten Jazzbassisten New York's' eine echte Überraschung. Kaum jemand konnte erwarten, daß sich Tony Scherr als 'low-tempo-rocker' mit Hang zu Folk und Country outet. Kompakt und minimalistisch, reich an musikalischen Ideen bewegt er sich mit seinen Kollegen zwischen heavy und heartbreak. Abwechslungsreich zudem, weil Tony Scherr auch noch zum Banjo und zur Slide Guitar greift. In einer amerikanischen Kritik zum Debüt von Tony Scherr schreibt eine Dame; 'So ähnlich müßte es sein, wenn Fellini einen Film über eine Kinderweihnachtsfeier dreht.' Musik also die überrascht und doch voller Wärme ist.

Since coming to New York in the 80s, Tony Scherr has become one of the city's most prolific and in-demand sidemen, playing integral roles in the music of such notable artists as Bill Frisell, John Lurie (Lounge Lizards), Steve Bernstein (Sex Mob), and Norah Jones, as well as some of New York's better-kept secrets, such as Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos, The Wollesens, Ursa Minor, and Slowpoke. Tony has recorded most of these latter artists at his Brooklyn home studio, helping to foster and document a tight-knit, intimate scene of players who are as skilled and daring as they are broadminded and modest. Originally hailing from New Haven, CT, Tony played rock guitar in a garage band with his brother Peter Scherr as teens, before the two went their seperate ways -- Peter to become a concert bassist and film composer, and Tony to slug it out in the clubs of New York, ironically as primarily a bassist himself. His debut album Come Around is a reunion of sorts, between the two brothers, between Tony and the electric guitar, and between the brothers and the rock/song idiom. The lyrical content in particular also charts a deeply personal journey, documenting a process of overcoming catastrophe and a renewed faith in the healing power of music. Above all else, the album serves as a message of hope.

Kenny Wollesen grew up in Santa Cruz, California, moved to San Francisco early in his career and has since lived and worked in New York City. He is a regular memeber of the bands of Bill Frisell and Tom Waits, Steven Bernstein's Sex Mob, Kamikaze Ground Crew and others. He has played with John Zorn, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, John Scofield, Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos, Sean Lennon, Mitchell Froom, Big John Patton, John Lurie, Jim Hall, Jessica Williams and Myra Melford. He also leads his own band, The Wollesens.

Tim Luntzel – bass player for the tour - was born and raised in Palo Alto, California where at the age of 11 he began playing the bass guitar. He studied double bass at the Berklee College of Music under the tutelage of Ron Carter and later Marc Johnson. After moving to Brooklyn in 1998, Tim immediately became busy filling people's bass-related needs with artists such as Cocktail Angst, David Kolker, the Bloomdaddies (feat. Seamus Blake and Chris Cheek), Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos (feat. Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen), Tracy Bonham and the Melvin Sparks Band, as well as founding his own soul-jazz quintet, the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout. He has performed and/or recorded with Bernard Purdie, Melvin Sparks, Mark Whitfield... and even played a song with Bill Frisell once.

Tony Scherr's debut CD 'Come Around' was released on the 'Smells Like Records' label of Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) in the fall of 2002.