ROOT FOTO BOOKLET 12.12.DEF - uk-promotion.de
Transcript of ROOT FOTO BOOKLET 12.12.DEF - uk-promotion.de
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Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness.Yousuf Karsh
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Photo, taken 2003, spotted at Tangente, Lichtenstein2018
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Seldom do I dare to leave my downtown library and even more seldom do I appear in photos, but for the crew of Root70 and the final photo of this collection I made an exception. After writing numerous Liner notes for this burning combo through out its 20 years of history, the band’s tour of Central America in 2016 was my first chance to hear them in the flesh on stage. And boy was that a gig and a half! The wooden theatre in downtown Guatemala City was almost scorched and charred black by the hot jazz that was served up to a rapturous crowd who were surely tasting the Root70 songbook for the first time. Backstage I had a chance to share a wine with the men and meet face to face the stalwart swingers I had so long admired. And indeed it is from that long memorable night of stories from the road that I could craft some petite
anecdotes to prelude this photographic essay of an endangered species: a true working band.
Kalchreuth-Wernigerode I’ve noted before that Root70’s exhaustive years of touring have featured a plethora of German towns that are neither possible to pronounce nor remember. It is in the once smoky depths of their respective Jazz cellars or «Caipi Bars» that the band cut its teeth and formed the sound that has made them instantly recognisable today. Chisholm seems to stand proudly in front of the deserted train station of Kalchreuth, yet the deserted, Kafkaesque surroundings of these settlements, the solitary light from the unassailable castle overlooking the cold village, and the lonely quiet evenings in sordid and decrepit inns with sawdust floors must
Root70 through the Years – A Prelude to a Photo Essay By Ahmet Shabo
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surely have taken their toll on these road warriors. It was something I caught more in the hue of their eyes than from the lines on their faces and on that particular night in Guatemala, it was above all else related by the raw immediacy and graceful depth of their band sound. Yes, the band sound.
Mexico The members of the combo are portrayed individually in an airport waiting lounge with the blue Mexican sky extending endlessly behind them. Penman is checking his phone, Rückert sipping a beverage, Chisholm gazing into space, and the band leader Wogram is deep in his thoughts with a beer. As a simple fan and critic, we can only guess as to what it really means to clock up hundreds of thousands of miles touring the world over. These portraits exude a zenlike quality of travellers who have walked literally for days in the post9/11 zigzagged cattle like preimmigration waiting zones and been packed tightly into runway transport buses as the airbridge stands emtpy
so often that their only option was to expect the very worst and hold tight to their childhood dream, in this case jazz, whatever the cost.
Berlin But there is sunlight in between the cruel drudgery of modern travel, and the black and white studio photos from the sadly now defunct yet once legendary Nelepa Strasse studios in Berlin in which several Root70 sides were cut bring us close to a place where they really shine: upclose and intimate in a great sounding room. The Luxury Habits recording shot gives us a precious glimpse into a type of Jazz recording that has sadly ebbed in popularity (for reasons to be dis sected another time) in which the musicians set up closely together with no headphones and record directly to tape. This can only be done when the band sound is in itself perfectly balanced and several of the groups albums were made this way. To this day, Wise Men Can be Wrong re mains one of my alltime favourites.
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Maastricht to Masada This photo volume reveals some of the personal stories of the band as they collectively age like a fine wine through the years. In Holland we see them congregating at one of the infamous throughthewall eateries in which the crab sticks must be a wicked chemical assault to the stomachs of men who all pride themselves as being very decent cooks. Searching for the right sustenance on these arduous tours, I learned, be came an immutable ritual of sorts that could make or break the day offstage.
High on Masada in Israel under the glaring heat the band poses with the Dead Sea in the distance. No one in that moment could have guessed that the fine lass who out of goodwill clicked the shutter would one day become the bassist’s beloved wife. Surely many other priceless moments like this one were shared by this Quartet who, beyond the music, strike me as sharing a deep friendship far beyond the stage.
New Plymouth to New YorkChanging continents like they do haircuts in this collection, the captioned place names reveal the extensive touring of this band. Nils himself was unable to put an exact number on the gigs but with 20 years of touring now under their belt, the two Kiwis and the two Ger mans will surely have more than a few stories to tell. In the sax man’s home town of New Plymouth, we see the Rhythm section relaxing on the black volcanic sand. And in the now hometown of the Rhythm section in New York City, we see the band at work at Avatar Studios – another legendary studio also fallen prey to development and to be remembered only in sound. This reason makes albums like Fahrvergnügen all the more prized in my collection.
Hannover The photos from Hannover way back in 2002 reveal another two important facets to the band: education and a healthy dose of humour. Throughout their strenuous
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concert programming, the men from Root70 have always striven to share and teach whenever possible, fully aware that some of these young upcoming jazz talents from Russia or Honduras could well become the downtown cats and session kings of the coming decades. In the Hannover workshop concert we see the band in drag clothing, a provocative gesture which was employed on several tours, most notoriously in Russia where security teams were once at hand to protect the jazzmen from jazz fans unwilling or unable to swallow a dose of irony blending with the hot jazz. As the story goes, to break the monotony of touring European jazz clubs, theatrical elements like moustaches, sunburn, drag clothing and Chisholm’s erotic Tai Chi announcements were thrown into the concerts, sometimes sending them swiftly into the realm of performance art, something this critic is not qualified to comment on.
CodaThe beginning quote is not necessarily meant to insinuate that the characters of this band were forged in the oftentimes dark and lonely world of jazz touring, but we can clearly observe in sound and pictures the unrelenting brush of time painting away through these passing decades. If I have tried throughout the years with my humble Liner notes to get a little closer to the essence of the music made by these men, then these photos reveal a more personal side to their story. It’s a story worthy of telling, full of delightful sound and fury and peppered with that elusive thing we like to call jazz. Ahmet Shabo, NYC 2019
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The first picture of the band2000
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2000
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On stage2002
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WorkshopHannover, 2002
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Workshop concertHannover, 2002
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Matt and Jochen with Nils and his future wife Corinne2001
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In a hotel2003
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At the former German border 2003
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In the tour bus 2003
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Eindhoven, 2003
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At a theatre in Novosibirsk, 2004ATrane, Berlin, 2004
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2005
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2005
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At Avatar Studio, New York City, during the Fahrvergnügen recording session 2006On a steamboat in Russia 2006
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During the Root70 on 52 nd 1/4 street recording session, NalepastrasseBerlin, 2007
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WellingtonNew Zealand, 2007
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New PlymouthNew Zealand, 2007
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MelbourneAustralia, 2007
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At the Dead SeaIsrael, 2008
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Penman sports a knowing grin as his future wife, Jennifer Kessler snaps this picture. Massada, Israel, 2008
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Zurich 2009
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Pfandhaus, Cologne 2009
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Recording Listen to your woman at P4 Studio, NalepastrasseBerlin, 2010
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On tour2011
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QuasimodoBerlin, 2012
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at Schwarzes Cafe Berlin 2013 Photo by Ulla C. Binder 12 Root70 at Jazzfestival Berlin 2012 with Phil Donkin on Bass photo by Renata Chueire.jpg
The band with Phil Donkin on bass at JazzfestivalBerlin, 2012
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At Schwarzes CafeBerlin, 2013
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Berlin, 2013
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Recording Riomar at Deutschlandfunk,Cologne, 2013
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Root70 with Strings, UnterfahrtString section: Gerður Gunnarsdóttir, violin; Garreth Lubbe, viola; Adrian Brendel, celloMünchen, 2014
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Tinguely MuseumBasel, 2014
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Root70 with strings, Tinguely MuseumBasel, 2014
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AtraneBerlin, 2014
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Recording session Wise Men can be wrong, NalepastrasseBerlin, 2015
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At Nalepastrasse Berlin, 2015
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At the Luxury Habits recording session, NalepastrasseBerlin, 2016
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At Nalepastrasse Berlin, 2016
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Our beloved recording team: Chris von Rautenkranz and Oliver Bergner Berlin, 2016
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On a volcanoGuatemala, 2016
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Jochen and Hayden with our personal bodyguard, SuchitotoEl Salvador, 2016
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Luxury HabitsMexico, 2016
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Home advantageMännedorf, 2018
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WernigerodeHayden in front of the venueKalchreuth, 2018
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On tourZürich, 2020
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Wittlich Jazzfestival, guest book of the year 2000spottet in Wittlich, 2018
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first pagePhoto, taken 2003, spotted 2018at the Tangente, LichtensteinUnknown photographer
2000 The first picture of the bandPhoto by Petia Charkova
The band on a parking lotPhoto by Petia Charkova
The band in dressesPhoto by Petia Charkova
2002On stagePhoto by Friedrich von Hülsen
Workshop, Hannover Unknown photographer
Workshop concert, HannoverUnknown photographer
Matt and Jochen with Nils and his future wife CorinnePhoto by Friedrich von Hülsen
2003In a hotelPhoto by Petia Charkova
At the former German border Photos by Petia Chtarkova
Matt and Jochen in the tour bus Photo Photos by Petia Charkova
EindhovenPhotos by Cees van de Ven
2004 At a theatre in NovosibirskUnknown photographer
Hayden and Matt at ATrane Photo by Petia Charkova
2005Root70 with mustachesPhotos by the band members
2006At Avatar Studio, New York City, during the recording session to Fahrvergnügen Photo by Nils Wogram On a Steamboat in Russia Photo by Petia Charkova
2007Root70 on 52 nd 1/4 streetrecording session, Nalepastrasse, Berlin Photos by Oliver Bergner
Wellington, New Zealand Photo by Nils Wogram
Jochen and Matt at the Beach New Plymouth, New Zealand Photo by Nils Wogram
Tennis in MelbourneUnknown photographer
2008 At the Dead Sea, IsraelUnknown photographer
Root70 on Massada Israel Photo by Jennifer Kessler
2009The band in the garden of Nils former studio Atelier Blau, ZürichPhoto by Palma Fiacco
Pfandhaus Cologne Photo by Filip Henin
2010Recording session to Listen to your womanat P4 Studio, Nalepastrasse, BerlinPhoto by Nils Wogram
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2011On tourPhotos by Nils Wogram
Stellwerk HamburgPhoto by Nils Wogram
2012Quasimodo Berlin Photos by Jana Heinlein
The band with Phil Donkin on bass at Jazzfestival, Berlin Photo by Renata Chueire
2013at Schwarzes Cafe Berlin Photo by Ulla C. Binder
On a wall, BerlinPhoto by Ulla C. Binder
Root70 with Strings Recording Riomarat Deutschlandfunk, ColognePhoto by Jana Heinlein
2014Root70 with Strings, Unterfahrt, MünchenPhoto by Gustav Eckart
Tinguely Museum, BaselPhoto by Ulla C. Binder
Root70 with Strings, Tinguely Museum BaselPhoto by Ulla C Binder
Atrane, Berlin Photo by Ulla C. Binder
2015Recording session Wise Men can be wrong, Nalepastrasse, BerlinPhoto by Jana Heinlein
Root70 on the stairs at NalepastrassePhoto Martin von Mauschwitz
2016Luxury Habits recording session, Nalepastrasse, Berlin Photo by Ulla C. Binder
Matt and Jochen at Nalepastrasse Photo by Ulla C. Binder
Sitting on the floor at Nalepastrasse Photo by Ulla C. Binder
Chris von Rautenkranz and Oliver Bergner with Nilsat NalepastrassePhoto by Ulla C. Binder
Matt and Nils on a vulcano in Guatemala Unknown photographer
Jochen and Hayden with our body guard, Suchitoto, El Salvador 2016Photo by Nils Wogram
Luxury Habits, MexicoPhotos by the band members
2018Home advantage Unknown photographerWernigerodeUnknown photographer
Hayden in KalchreuthPhoto by Nils Wogram
Guest BookPhoto by Nils Wogram
2020On tour, ZürichUnknown photographer
last pageRoot70 with our mentor and poet Ahmet Shabo on tour in Guatemala, 2016Unknown photographer
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Luxury Habits, Mexico 2016Root70 with their mentor and poet Ahmet Shabo in Guatemala 2016
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