Count Basie's Star Drummer Butch Miles, Dan Barrett, einer der geschmackvollsten Posaunisten und Arrangeure der Classic Jazz Welt, virtuose internationale Solisten und eine beeindruckende australische Bassistin, die Guido Westerwelle und Heidi Klum besingt - lassen Sie sich überraschen!

Das Konzert wurde im Rahmen einer mehrwöchigen Europa-Tournee im Neu-Ulmer Edwin-Scharff-Haus aufgenommen. Die BonusTracks stammen aus dem mit 1500 Zuschauern ausverkauften Konzert in der Bochumer Jahrhunderthalle, das seinerzeit in fast voller Länge vom WDR-Rundfunk gesendet wurde.

Vol. 1 präsentiert im wesentlichen Head-Arrangements, unterschiedliche Besetzungen sowie spontane Improvisationen mit viel Live-Spirit und Spielfreude.

Vol. 2 legt den Fokus auf seltene und verblüffende Arrangements aus der Feder von Sidney Bechet bis Neal Hefti, Eigenkompositionen und mehr.


>A bunch of international jazz cats that all seem to have gotten together through an association with Arbors Jazz get their passports stamped for a get together in various places in Germany to jam, taking a lot of jazz back to the root. The kind of players that really blossom in a live setting away from the show biz trappings of the record making process, nobody steps on anybody else’s toes and the playing is one of those rare treats throughout. A delightfully swinging pair of discs, available separately, you can jump in any place and have a fine time. Wonderful stuff that’s sure to give you that blissful smile of enjoyment as you just sink into the music and let it do it’s thing. Killer stuff throughout.<
Chris Spector, MIDWEST RECORD


>Pianist Chris Hopkins was born in the United States, but has been living in Germany since the age of six. Among his many accomplishments has been to serve as the leader of a superb jazz group comprised of European jazz musicians, Echoes of Swing. He participated as the pianist in DAN BARRETT’S INTERNATIONAL SWING PARTY, and has released, on his Echoes of Swing label, two discs featuring selections from two concerts in Germany recorded during the group’s European tour, Tour 2010- Volumes 1 and 2 (Echoes of Swing – 4508 and 4509). With a lineup of Barrett on trombone, Duke Heitger on trumpet, Dan Block and Engelbert Wrobel on reeds, Hopkins on piano, Eddie Erickson on guitar and banjo, Nicki Parrott on bass and Butch Miles on drums, it was guaranteed that the tour would produce a plethora of exciting and swinging sounds, and that is exactly what can be found on these two discs. Barrett, Heitger, Parrott and Erickson also provide occasional vocals. The program is replete with pop and jazz classics like 'Back Home in Indiana', 'One O’Clock Jump', 'Hindustan', 'On the Sunny Side of the Street' and 'Tea for Two'. This is the kind of group that would be right at home playing at an NJJS concert, and you can enjoy it wherever you have a CD player.<
Joseph Lang, JERSEY JAZZ


>Die 'kleine Großbesetzung' intoniert heitere bis melancholische Nummern zum Teil aus der Prä-Swing-Ära, wobei man nicht genau weiß, was man mehr bewundern soll: die stupende Musikalität dieses Ensembles oder die Zeitlosigkeit der alten Kompositionen, die manchmal wie New Orleans-Musik klingen, und doch schon das swingende Verve der 30er Jahre atmen. Zeitgemäße Swing-Musik, die einfach Spaß macht!<
Jürgen Boebers-Süßmann, WESTDEUTSCHE ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG


TEN BEST NEW RELEASES of 2012:
Dan Barrett/Chris Hopkins International Swing Party: Tour 2010 — Live! (Echoes of Swing Productions)
Anat Cohen, Claroscuro (Anzic)
Curtis Fuller, Down Home (Capri)
Keith Jarrett, Sleeper (ECM)
Brad Mehldau, Ode (Nonesuch)
Art Pepper, Unreleased Art Pepper
JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
Best of Jazz List, W. Royal Stokes