May News
May arrived, and with it the start of our Anniversary Tour of Rainbirds _ through the web of time.
The Rainbirds‘ 40th anniversary tour began on the 9th at Jazzfest Rottweil, a city tucked into the southwestern countryside with such a gentleness, and an audience to match. There was something fitting about starting there: a jazz festival, me as a modern jazz pianist, and a pop band that was never quite only pop. The crowd held us warmly from the first note. Rottweil will stay with me.
From there: Leipzig, Berlin, Munich. Each city had its own temperature, its own quality of listening.
Berlin and Munich were something else entirely. Three guests joined us on those nights – and each brought a world with them. Lina Maly, for whom I had written a cover version of a Rainbirds song earlier this year, sang it live for the first time. To hear your arrangement sung by the voice it was written for, in front of an audience – that is a particular kind of joy. Willow Parlo brought a grace and an electricity to the stage with her own cover version of another Rainbirds song. And FM Einheit, my old partner in so many improbable and wonderful musical adventures, appeared as if no time had passed at all. Some collaborations never really end. They just wait.
On both nights, the Rainbirds showed what this band has always been capable of: music that is tender and large at the same time. Songs that ask something of you, and give back more than you expected.
Photos: Zippo Zimmermann designladen
The tour continues. More cities, more rooms, more people who have been waiting a long time and some who are hearing this for the first time. It is a really special time in our lifespan.
The SZ writes about the concert in München „…On this evening at the Kammerspiel, Rodrigo Gonzáles once again shines as the Rainbirds’ guitarist. In addition, composer Ulrike Haage accompanies the concert on the grand piano and the organ. After the original lineup disbanded, Franck had led the band as a duo with her for a time. At the same time, they were playing with FM Einheit in the group Stein. One of their performances was the very first pop concert ever held at the Muffathalle, Munich. And that was long before the official opening. During their joint performance now at the Kammerspiele, their interpretation of “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” from the David Lynch film Eraserhead also leads to a brief Stein-inspired digression. In the process, a passion for sound play comes to the fore – a passion that underlies the entire music of the Rainbirds anyway. Accordingly, the concert opens with a play on sounds, as drummer Wolfgang Glum complements Haage’s gentle keyboard playing on a triangle. Then the singer begins, her vocals in this theater evolving into an auditory spectacle. It is as if she has not only sophisticatedly arranged her songs for this evening, but also excitingly staged them. And if one considers the participating musicians as a whole – including bassist Michael Beckmann, guitarist Werner Neumann, and second drummer Dominique “Gaga” Ehlert – then Franck’s journey through Rainbirds history actually spans several eras. That makes this – arguably the best Rainbirds concert – a wonderfully varied evening.“
Here you may read the lovely review of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung by Dirk Wagner.