La Grande bleue
The Band:
La Grande Bleue (“the big blue”) is a French nickname for the Mediterranean Sea, which separates and connects Orient and Occident, and carried its music and instruments to the New World.
La Grande Bleue lubricates the joints between these worlds and blends the Mediterranean into the Caribbean and the Rio de la Plata to create a musical “mare nostrum” – our sea. Four men in one boat, and each one brings something for the trip: a dash of tango; a bit of jazz; a hint of “barrio”; the flavor of the Orient; the aroma of the fugue; and a pinch of contemporary music. When the quartet sets sail, its course can touch on many borders of the world. Their music becomes the wind in La Grande Bleue’s, moving us onto an open sea, where poetry and energy are at home.
Join us as we reckon by stars and wind on a journey that will create new imagery in your mind’s eye, touch new chords in your mind’s ear, and free your imagination to travel beyond the lands your feet could even begin to visit.
The Crew:
Edgar Herzog: saxophones, flute, bass clarinet
Edgar spans the world of saxophones like the old saying about March: he roars like a lion on the baritone, but is gentle as a lamb on the soprano. His smooth and elegant tones and endless repertoire of improvisation has led him to work with such notable names as as Maria Schneider, Bob Brookmeyer, Ray Charles and Robbie Williams. Edgar has also been part of the German Radio Big Bands for the networks NDR, HR and WDR, and continues to sit in regularly with the NDR Big Band. He has written and arranged for many ensembles, and led his own cello quartet Oblique. In addition to teaching at the Hamburg Conservatory, where he received his formal training, Edgar also leads the internationally renowned youth ensemble Big Band Port.
Valentin Butt: accordeon
Started playing the accordeon in the age of 6. Later he formerly studied at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin and at the Conservatory of Halle. Meanwhile he is freelance musician in Berlin and is one of the few accordeon players who know to improvise. He is part of the notorious "Skazka Orchestra" and of Laura Winklers acclaimed "Holler My Dear". Valentin has won several competitions like the ones of Tschirpan (Bulgaria, 1993), St. Petersburg (1994), German Akkordeoncompetition Baden-Baden 1997 and nationwide German competition "Jugend musiziert" 1998 or Kurashiki (Japan, 1999 & 2003), and Klingenthal (2005). Valentin was performing a.o. on Festivals in Slowenia, Hungray, Norway and Italy and is playing as a soloist frequently with orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonnic Orchestra w/ Simon Rattle as well as in theatres like Staatsoper Berlin, Deustches Theater Berlin, BE and Maxim Gorkij.
Oli Bott: vibraphone, glockenspiel
Oli is one of Germany’s leading vibraphone players. His versatility extends beyond traditional swing and bebop, and he seeks new inspiration from around the world. Outside of La Grande Bleue, he leads the Oli Bott Orchestra, and the modern tango quartet Vibratanghissimo. Oli has composed for the German Radio Big Bands of both NDR and RIAS, and has worked alongside such well-known musicians as Christof Lauer, Rudi Mahall and Bill Egard. A summa cum laude graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Oli has won several prizes, including the Jazz Award of the Senate of Berlin in 2005, Leipzig Improvisation Contests in 2000 & 2001, the Music Award of North German State Radio NDR for bigband conducting in 1998, the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop of NYC in 1996 and the Wayne Shorter Award 1996.
Henry Altmann: bass, mandoloncello, percussion, euphonium, composition & lead
A well-known composer for independent film, theater and the German Radio Big Band for NDR, Henry is an established member of Germany’s jazz scene. He’s served as the musical director for the TV stars Herman & Tietjen, and hosts a weekly jazz radio show on NDR. His noted for his intricate work on the bass, which incorporates a variety of unique sounds and additional percussion simultaneously – some of which is drawn from his French Roma ancestry. He’s been the driving force behind such projects as Trio Macchiato and La KaffeehausAvantgarde, and has collaborated with the likes of Peter Madsen, Pascal von Wroblewsky, Vladyslav Sendecki, Gianni Gebbia and Kalle Kalima. Henry studied musical form and philosophy in both Hamburg and New York and received several prizes for his art-music project Alphabet City and the Trude-Unruh-Award for SchubertEcho.