Barbara Dennerlein - Best Of Blues: Through The Years (2019)

As the title of the new CD "Best Of Blues: Through The Years" by Barbara Dennerlein already reveals, it is all about "Blues" in the widest sense. Thus, the CD assembles a fine selection of blues titles, which Barbara has composed during her career and recorded solo as well as accompanied with different instrumentations. This new CD, therefore, is Barbara’s answer to her concert audience’s frequently expressed desire, to dedicate an entire album specifically to her "Blüser".

"Blues," says Barbara, "is incredibly diverse and can be played in so many different ways. Ever since I first sat down at the organ, the Blues has been, and to this day remains, my companion. No matter what I play, the Blues feeling is perceptible in every moment in my music. The Blues is a source of inspiration and expression of my deepest feelings."

In listening to Barbara perform, it is obvious that she has the blues in her blood. She masterfully coaxes Blue Notes from her beloved Hammond-B3, whether in wonderfully sensitive slow blues or in uptempo bebop blues. Her intense blues feeling and her versatility come to the fore in this compilation, where she celebrates the most different kinds of blues. Barbara, embraces blues styles, from traditional down-to-earth blues, boogie, swing, bebop and funky blues, to the experimental processing of the blues, as in the intro of "Frog Dance", where she conjures fascinating, ethereal sounds as she plays with the drawbars of her Hammond organ.

And then there’s Barbara’s virtuoso pedal technique, a technique so impressive that all recordings on this CD, many having complex bass passages, feature only Barbara’s pedal bass. She creates a kind of rhythmic triptych, playing melody, accompaniment and bass, completely independently to create her own groove. Under Barbara’s magic fingers, the legendary Hammond B3 comes alive.

This CD contains nine recordings from the period 1985 to 2014 in different instrumentations from solo to quintet. The album contains both studio and live recordings.