Release type
ALBUM
The Jazz Album
Product information
From $9.90
2006
12 Tracks
49:05
Release options
© 2007 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin
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1Popularity 10/10
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2Popularity 9/10
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3Popularity 8/10
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4Popularity 9/10
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5Popularity 9/10
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6Popularity 7/10
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7Popularity 7/10
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8Popularity 8/10
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9Popularity 7/10
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10Popularity 7/10
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11Popularity 7/10
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12Popularity 6/10
The great German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff has done some astonishing things in his career, even appearing on-stage in the role of Amfortas in Wagner's Parsifal. This, though, has to be the widest left turn that Quasthoff has made yet, a "jazz" album of 12 American pop standards. Yeah, sure, other classical singers have done it, often with crossover dollars or Euros in mind, almost always with laughably pompous, treacly or condescending results. Quasthoff claims that he had experience singing jazz per se early in his career, but so did singers like Kiri Te Kanawa and Renée Fleming -- neither of whom sound convincing in pop.
So how does Quasthoff manage to succeed in this venture where others do not? For one thing, there is nothing resembling operatic or lieder feeling in his delivery. His English diction is perfect, and yet his rich, deep, resonant timbre is intact, arrestingly so. Herb Jeffries or Johnny Hartman are the closest reference points, but Quasthoff doesn't copy either of them. When Quasthoff raises his voice to a big climax on Stevie Wonder's "You And I," he doesn't sound like a classical singer; there's a edge and grit at the top that an impassioned pop vocalist would be more likely to bring. He doesn't improvise, but he can comfortably bend a swinging inflection now and then; one imagines that he has imbibed heavily from the fountain of Sinatra. The only serious criticism is that sometimes Quasthoff's treatment of the line sounds a bit stiff and unyielding. Perhaps if he had recorded in the same room with the band, the real-time contact with real-life jazzers would have loosened him up some. In any case, Quasthoff gets a first-class production from Till Brönner, who also contributes some crackling or moody-Miles trumpet solos in spots. The arrangements feature either a studio big band or the luxurious Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, with Alan Broadbent (who redeems "Secret Love" with an appealing bossa nova treatment) and Nan Schwartz exchanging chart action, spelled by Steve Gray's New Orleans second-line jiggling of "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive." ~ Richard S. Ginell
So how does Quasthoff manage to succeed in this venture where others do not? For one thing, there is nothing resembling operatic or lieder feeling in his delivery. His English diction is perfect, and yet his rich, deep, resonant timbre is intact, arrestingly so. Herb Jeffries or Johnny Hartman are the closest reference points, but Quasthoff doesn't copy either of them. When Quasthoff raises his voice to a big climax on Stevie Wonder's "You And I," he doesn't sound like a classical singer; there's a edge and grit at the top that an impassioned pop vocalist would be more likely to bring. He doesn't improvise, but he can comfortably bend a swinging inflection now and then; one imagines that he has imbibed heavily from the fountain of Sinatra. The only serious criticism is that sometimes Quasthoff's treatment of the line sounds a bit stiff and unyielding. Perhaps if he had recorded in the same room with the band, the real-time contact with real-life jazzers would have loosened him up some. In any case, Quasthoff gets a first-class production from Till Brönner, who also contributes some crackling or moody-Miles trumpet solos in spots. The arrangements feature either a studio big band or the luxurious Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, with Alan Broadbent (who redeems "Secret Love" with an appealing bossa nova treatment) and Nan Schwartz exchanging chart action, spelled by Steve Gray's New Orleans second-line jiggling of "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive." ~ Richard S. Ginell
1. There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York
- Alto Saxophone
- Fiete Felsch
- Baritone Saxophone
- Marcus Bartelt
- Arranger
- Alan Broadbent
- Lyricist
- George Gershwin
- Author
- Ira Gershwin
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Electric Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Guitar
- Karl Schloz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Composer
- George Gershwin
- Performer
-
Ruud Breuls
Fiete Felsch
Axel Schlosser
Günter Bollmann
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Karl Schloz
Marcus Bartelt
Peter Erskine
Uli Plettendorf
Andreas Maile
Chuck Loeb - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Tenor Saxophone
- Andreas Maile
- Trombone
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Günter Bollmann
Uli Plettendorf - Executive Producer
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Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder - Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
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Patrick Kirsammer
Adrian Von Ripka - Trumpet
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Axel Schlosser
Ruud Breuls - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
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Pino Brönner
Hartmut Bender
Till Brönner
Christopher Alder
Michael Schöbel
2. Watch What Happens
- Lyricist
- Michel Legrand
- Author
- Norman Gimbel
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Bass Clarinet
- Marcus Bartelt
- Clarinet
- Andreas Maile
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Electric Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Flute
- Fiete Felsch
- Guitar
- Karl Schloz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Composer
- Michel Legrand
- Performer
-
Ruud Breuls
Fiete Felsch
Marcus Bartelt
Uli Plettendorf
Axel Schlosser
Andreas Maile
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Karl Schloz
Peter Erskine
Chuck Loeb
Günter Bollmann - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Trombone
-
Günter Bollmann
Uli Plettendorf - Executive Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender - Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Patrick Kirsammer
Adrian Von Ripka - Trumpet
-
Axel Schlosser
Ruud Breuls - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Till Brönner
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder
3. Secret Love
- Arranger
- Alan Broadbent
- Author
- Paul Francis Webster
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Bass Clarinet
- Marcus Bartelt
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Executive Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel - Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Flugelhorn
- Ruud Breuls
- Flute
-
Andreas Maile
Fiete Felsch - Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Keyboard
- Frank Chastenier
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Trombone
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Uli Plettendorf
Günter Bollmann - Composer
- Sammy Fain
- Performer
-
Peter Erskine
Uli Plettendorf
Marcus Bartelt
Günter Bollmann
Frank Chastenier
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Chuck Loeb
Fiete Felsch
Ruud Breuls
Andreas Maile
Axel Schlosser - Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Adrian Von Ripka
Patrick Kirsammer - Trumpet
- Axel Schlosser
- Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder
Till Brönner
4. You And I
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Composer
-
Nan Schwartz
Stevie Wonder - Electric Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Lyricist
-
Nan Schwartz
Stevie Wonder - Keyboard
- Frank Chastenier
- Orchestra Leader
- Nan Schwartz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Performer
-
Nan Schwartz
Chuck Loeb
Peter Erskine
Alan Broadbent
Dieter Ilg
Frank Chastenier
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Executive Producer
-
Hartmut Bender
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Assistant
- Ansgar Wempe
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
- Studio Personnel
-
Tobias Lehmann
Ansgar Wempe - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Till Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel
5. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
- Baritone Saxophone
- Marcus Bartelt
- Arranger
- Steve Gray
- Author
- Johnny Mercer
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Electric Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Composer
- Harold Arlen
- Performer
-
Chuck Loeb
Uli Plettendorf
Marcus Bartelt
Andreas Maile
Axel Schlosser
Günter Bollmann
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Peter Erskine
Till Brönner - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Tenor Saxophone
- Andreas Maile
- Trombone
-
Günter Bollmann
Uli Plettendorf - Executive Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder - Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Patrick Kirsammer
Adrian Von Ripka - Trumpet
-
Till Brönner
Axel Schlosser - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Till Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel
6. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Arranger
- Nan Schwartz
- Author
- Alan Jay Lerner
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
-
Patrick Kirsammer
Ansgar Wempe - French Horn
- Richard Todd
- Guitar
-
Chuck Loeb
Karl Schloz - Keyboard
- Frank Chastenier
- Orchestra Leader
- Nan Schwartz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Composer
- Frederick Loewe
- Performer
-
Till Brönner
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
Richard Todd
Nan Schwartz
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Karl Schloz
Peter Erskine
Chuck Loeb
Frank Chastenier - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Tobias Lehmann
Ansgar Wempe
Adrian Von Ripka
Patrick Kirsammer - Trumpet
- Till Brönner
- Executive Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Pino Brönner - Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
- Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Till Brönner
Pino Brönner
7. Can't We Be Friends
- Alto Saxophone
- Fiete Felsch
- Composer
-
Paul James
Kay Swift - Baritone Saxophone
- Marcus Bartelt
- Guitar
-
Karl Schloz
Dieter Ilg - Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Arranger
- Alan Broadbent
- Lyricist
-
Paul James
Kay Swift - Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Electric Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Performer
-
Chuck Loeb
Marcus Bartelt
Fiete Felsch
Uli Plettendorf
Ruud Breuls
Andreas Maile
Axel Schlosser
Günter Bollmann
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Karl Schloz
Peter Erskine
Till Brönner - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Tenor Saxophone
- Andreas Maile
- Studio Personnel
-
Adrian Von Ripka
Patrick Kirsammer - Trombone
-
Uli Plettendorf
Günter Bollmann - Executive Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Pino Brönner - Trumpet
-
Axel Schlosser
Ruud Breuls
Till Brönner - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Till Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Pino Brönner
8. Smile
- Arranger
- Nan Schwartz
- Composer
- Charlie Chaplin
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Orchestra Leader
- Nan Schwartz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Performer
-
Alan Broadbent
Peter Erskine
Till Brönner
Chuck Loeb
Nan Schwartz
Dieter Ilg
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Author
-
John Turner
Geoffrey Parsons - Executive Producer
-
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Assistant
- Ansgar Wempe
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Tobias Lehmann
Ansgar Wempe - Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
- Trumpet
- Till Brönner
- Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Till Brönner
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder
9. They All Laughed
- Alto Saxophone
- Fiete Felsch
- Composer
- George Gershwin
- Baritone Saxophone
- Marcus Bartelt
- Arranger
- Alan Broadbent
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Guitar
-
Chuck Loeb
Karl Schloz - Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Performer
-
Chuck Loeb
Marcus Bartelt
Fiete Felsch
Uli Plettendorf
Ruud Breuls
Andreas Maile
Axel Schlosser
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Karl Schloz
Peter Erskine
Till Brönner
Günter Bollmann - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Tenor Flute
- Andreas Maile
- Author
- Ira Gershwin
- Balance Engineer
- Adrian Von Ripka
- Recording Assistant
- Patrick Kirsammer
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Adrian Von Ripka
Patrick Kirsammer - Trombone
-
Uli Plettendorf
Günter Bollmann - Executive Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Pino Brönner - Trumpet
-
Axel Schlosser
Ruud Breuls
Till Brönner - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner
Till Brönner
10. My Funny Valentine
- Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Performer
-
Nan Schwartz
Alan Broadbent
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Arranger
- Nan Schwartz
- Composer
- Richard Rodgers
- Author
- Lorenz Hart
- Executive Producer
-
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner - Orchestra Contractor
- Nan Schwartz
- Producer
-
Pino Brönner
Till Brönner
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Assistant
- Ansgar Wempe
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Ansgar Wempe
Tobias Lehmann - Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
11. What are you doing the rest of your life?
- Composer
- Michel Legrand
- Double Bass
- Dieter Ilg
- Flugelhorn
- Till Brönner
- Guitar
- Chuck Loeb
- Keyboard
- Frank Chastenier
- Orchestra Leader
- Nan Schwartz
- Percussion
- Peter Erskine
- Performer
-
Chuck Loeb
Nan Schwartz
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
Frank Chastenier
Dieter Ilg
Alan Broadbent
Peter Erskine
Till Brönner - Piano
- Alan Broadbent
- Author
-
Alan Bergman
Marilyn Bergman - Executive Producer
-
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Assistant
- Ansgar Wempe
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
- Studio Personnel
-
Ansgar Wempe
Tobias Lehmann - Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Producer
-
Till Brönner
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Christopher Alder
12. In My Solitude
- Orchestra Leader
- Nan Schwartz
- Primary Artist
- Thomas Quasthoff
- Performer
-
Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
Nan Schwartz - Arranger
- Nan Schwartz
- Composer
- Duke Ellington
- Author
- Irving Mills
- Executive Producer
-
Christopher Alder
Hartmut Bender
Michael Schöbel
Pino Brönner - Producer
-
Christopher Alder
Pino Brönner
Michael Schöbel
Hartmut Bender
Till Brönner - Recording
- Tobias Lehmann
- Recording Assistant
- Ansgar Wempe
- Recording Producer
- Till Brönner
- Studio Personnel
-
Ansgar Wempe
Tobias Lehmann - Orchestra/member
- Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin
Technical Specifications
- Volume
- 1 volume only
- Tracks
- 12 tracks available
- Type
- ALBUM
- Format
- Digital Media
- Duration
- 49 minutes and 5 seconds
- Explicit
- None
- Coverart
- Available and up to 1000x1000 px
- Booklet
- Not available
- Max Quality
CD Quality (Lossless)
16bit / 44.1 kHz
Stereo
- Audio Extension
Lossless: FLAC, M4A, WAV, WV, AIFF
Lossy: AAC, MP3, M4A, MP4, OGA, OGG, OPUS, WMA
- Archive Format
- Available in these formats: ZIP, TAR, RAR
- Lyrics
- 7/12 tracks have lyrics
- Synchronized Lyrics
- No synced lyrics found
- Genres
- Jazz, Classical
- Label
- Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
- Music Distribution Service
- UMG Global
- Country
Germany- Language
- English (United States)
- Popularity
- Popularity 0/10
- Release Date
- Dec 31, 2006
- Track Preview
- Available
- Delivery Charge
- Free
- Delivery Method
- Digital download link via Email or Personal Dashboard on this site
- UPC
- 28947765011
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