Theo Bleckmann
Theo Bleckmann is an award-winning new music vocalist, jazz singer, and composer whose music straddles a variety of traditions from classical to the avant-garde. A student of acclaimed vocalist Sheila Jordan, Bleckmann debuted in the early '90s, working with forward-thinking artists like Kirk Nurock and John Hollenbeck, and as a member of Meredith Monk's ensemble. He has released a string of highly regarded albums for the Winter & Winter label, and earned accolades including the Jazz Echo Award for 2008's Twelve Songs with Kneebody and a Grammy nomination for 2009's Schumann's Favored Bard Songs. Bleckmann has continued to expand his approach, exploring pop music as on 2011's Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush and collaborating with the progressive brass ensemble the Westerlies on 2021's This Land.
Though his earliest musical influences included the music of the Great American Songbook, Bleckmann didn't set out to be a singer; he trained as an ice dancer in his native Germany before shifting his focus to music. After meeting his mentor, jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan, at a workshop in 1989, he moved to New York and became an integral part of its music, theater, and performance scenes. His first recording, Theo & Kirk (with pianist Kirk Nurock), appeared in 1992. He has cut subsequent duo sets with guitarist Ben Monder and worked extensively in a variety of settings with drummer John Hollenbeck. He also recorded with Jordan on 1999's Jazz Child.
Bleckmann spent 15 years as a member of Meredith Monk's ensemble and appeared on 2002's Mercy and 2008's Impermanence. He has also worked with Philip Glass, John Zorn, Kenny Wheeler, and David Lang, to name but a few.
His solo debut was the album Origami for Songlines in 2001, then the singer released what became a long discography for Winter & Winter. His efforts for the label include three albums of "bar songs" with pianist Fumio Yasuda: Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night They Invented Champagne (2006), Berlin: Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile (2007), and Schumann's Favored Bar Songs (2009), for which he received a Grammy nomination for best Classical Crossover Album). In between the last two albums, he cut 2008's Twelve Songs by Charles Ives with jazz-rock outfit Kneebody. Its startling new arrangements of the American composer's songs earned international acclaim. In 2010, he received the prestigious Jazz Echo Award from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie in his native Germany for his album I Dwell in Possibility. That same year, his collaborative group Moss, with vocalists/composers Luciana Sousa, Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhan, and Kate McGarry, released their self-titled debut for Sunnyside. In 2012, Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush, was issued by Winter & Winter. It was selected by numerous publications and music websites as one of that year's finest recordings. In 2014, he was a featured guest on trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire's The Imagined Savior Is Easier to Paint. The following year, he was the vocalist with the Julia Hülsmann Quartet on Clear Midnight: Kurt Weill & America. Bleckmann made his ECM leader debut with 2017's Elegy, and in 2019 collaborated with New York improviser Joseph Branciforte on the electronic-oriented LP1, the first album on the latter's new Greyfade label. More collaborations followed, including 2019's Terrain with composer Jacob Cooper and singer Jodie Landau, and 2021's This Land with the brass ensemble the Westerlies.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
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Music for Ironing on a Rainy Sunday Afternoon
Paul Motian, Theo Bleckmann, Fumio Yasuda, Uri Caine Ensemble, Cassandra Wilson
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 14 août 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Clear Midnight / Kurt Weill And America
Julia Hülsmann Quartet, Theo Bleckmann
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 6 mars 2015
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Elegy
Jazz vocal - Paru chez ECM Records le 27 janv. 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann's Favored Bar Songs
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 27 nov. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hello Earth! - The Music of Kate Bush
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 16 sept. 2011
Découverte JAZZ NEWS24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Love Song (Jubilee Edition)
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 3 juil. 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Parsonage
Theo Bleckmann, Alicia Olatuja, Dan Tepfer
Jazz - Paru chez Sunnyside le 7 avr. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
My Choice
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 26 nov. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
This Land
The Westerlies, Theo Bleckmann
Jazz - Paru chez MRI le 29 janv. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlin – Songs of love and war, peace and exile
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 28 sept. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elegy
Theo Bleckmann, Shai Maestro Trio, Ben Monder, Chris Tordini, John Hollenbeck
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 27 janv. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mother Goose's Melodies
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 22 févr. 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
12 Songs by Charles Ives
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 19 sept. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Night they invented Champagne
Fumio Yasuda, Theo Bleckmann, Kammerorchester Basel, Bernd Ruf
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 31 mars 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Land
The Westerlies, Theo Bleckmann
Jazz - Paru chez MRI le 20 oct. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I dwell in possibility
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 14 mai 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Refuge Trio
Theo Bleckmann, John Hollenbeck, Gary Versace
Jazz - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 31 oct. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Der Kastanienball - La Chute de Lucrèce Borgia
Classique - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 9 mai 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo