New album "Not That Quiet" to be relased in May 2024
My next album - this time containing 10 songs in the style of famous rock bands of the 70s and 80s - will be released in May 2024. Stay curious :-)
New album "Pure" published today
My new album “Pure” has been published on BandCamp today and soon will be available on all streaming platforms.
New songs "Millionaire" and "Light of the Provence"
Two new songs are published in April and Mai 2023. Listen to them here.
Landscapes - the stories behind ...
This time I won’t bore you with lengthy stories about the things that happened during the year when this album took shape. Just a few annotations to the songs:
Breakthrough is about Andrea’s dream finally came true to sell her fashion in the hotels of one of the leading hotel chains in the world. By coincidence one of the hotels is our favorite holiday spot so now we have more than one reason to go there as often as we can.
The Traveller is trying to recall the times of that phantastic psychedelic rock bands of the 1970’s (in tamed shape) when organs and synthesizers first were used in rock music. The backing voice is played by the legendary Hammond tonewheel organ C3, the melody by a Hammond B2.
Sharing Our Way is the preparation for a wedding taking place in June 2023. The bridegrooms mother is playing the trumpet very well and I would be happy if she performs the solo during the wedding party.
Berg og Båre is a song by the Norwegian composer Lars Bremnes. I heard it sung by a duo on a stopover of a motorcycle trip to Nordkapp at the Midnatsolkonserter (nightly concert in Tromsø's Ice Sea Cathedral). The flugelhorn player (Oyvind Bakkeby Mo) was fantastic and I talked with him for a long time after the concert.
Federica reminded us on the fact that keeping friends has lots to do with discretion and the ability to keep secrets. After she sang Discrezione we called her Gianna ;-)
In summer we often visit a small nearby bistro where normally one of the owners is taking care of the cooking. One day we were sitting there and both of the owners where talking to guests at the next table. When the waitress surprisingly served our food I asked who is cooking. The answer was „Elsa cooks!“
Rebecca
Federica
Gabor
In summer Gabor visited Malaga and liked it very much for its relaxed atmosphere that he seriously thought of moving there and become El Hungaro En Malaga.
Since August we have a tiny pool in the garden. This is the music to listen to in a comfortable deckchair at the Poolside.
Fly: This year we often refused to watch the news on TV as there were so many cruel news. Thanks to Kevin who lets us forget most of this with his wonderful jazzy voice.
Toril Torstensen is a character in the Norwegian TV series Lykkeland. The tough young lady managed to arrange her life despite the rapidly changing conditions in her surrounding.
In No Quiero Seguir Discutiendo (I don’t wanna argue anymore) Toñi wonderfully describes that it is much more fun to get along with each other than to spend time with verbal struggling.
Toñi
Ccesco
Kevin
New album "Landscapes" released
I am happy to announce that my new album “Landscapes” was published on BandCamp today and will be available on all platforms by 3rd of January 2023.
Thank you so much to my friends Federica, Rebecca, Toñi, Francisco, Gabor and Kevin. Without you this would not have been possible.
Landscapes (2022)
The story behind "La Mezquita"
The Mezquita Cathedral in Cordoba
The Mezquita is one of the largest sacred buildings in the world and Cordoba's landmark. In its more than 1200-year history, it was both a mosque and a Christian church, which is visible in the magnificent Moorish mosaics and a Christian altar inside.
When we travelled to the Andalusian city in July 2016 on the occasion of the Cordoba Guitar Festival, we also visited the Mezquita and were fascinated by the enchanting atmosphere of the huge portico.
I have tried to capture a little of this atmosphere in "La Mezquita". The guitar part in the second half is a Bulerias, a very fast flamenco dance. The piece ends with some motifs from the beautiful composition "Cordoba" from the "Cantes de España" as a homage to Isaac Albéniz, one of the greatest composers of classical guitar music.
Key: E major
Measure: 4/4, 12/8
Tempo: 90 / 180
The story behind "Gracias Amigo"
Gabor Pogello Racz
Vicente Amigo is one of the greatest living guitarists and one of my great idols. Not only his breathtaking technique on the flamenco guitar but also his feeling for harmony and rhythm is unique. "Gracias Amigo" uses some elements of his style - but of course is miles away from the creativity and virtuosity of his recordings. The piece was supposed to be called "Gracias Vicente" - but I am so grateful to my friend Gabor for bringing Vicente to my attention in the first place and teaching me so much on the guitar that I have ambiguously named it "Gracias Amigo". Gabor's solo is absolutely great and I'm always amazed that he can play something like this off the cuff without any preparation.
Gabor appears on Youtube and his website
Guitar solo by Gabor Pogello Racz
Key: E major
Measure: 6/8
Tempo: 144
The story behind "Gitti's Waltz"
Tube radio with record player from the 1960s
Gitti's Waltz is dedicated to my mother. Her name was Brigitte, but everyone just called her "Gitti".
I grew up in a small village in northern Hesse. In the neighbouring village there was a man who equipped the jukeboxes of the restaurants in the area with records. At that time, they were still vinyl singles. When the records in the jukeboxes were replaced, the discarded records could be bought. So every few weeks we drove to the neighbouring village to rummage through large boxes of discarded records. Most of them were chart hits, but now and then there was also classical music - and if it was waltzes, we always took them for my mother. She loved waltzes. At home we played the records on a record player hidden under a flap on the top of the radio. And sometimes my mother danced a waltz with me in the living room.
She passed away in February 2016 just before her 90th birthday. I miss her very much.
Gitti’s Waltz
Key: Bb minor
Measure: 3/4
Tempo: 106
The story behind "A Kiss In The Neck"
The music of the ballroom bands of the 1920s has always appealed to me. I experimented with swing rhythms and big band sounds and finally the piece was supposed to be called "A Tiny Serenade". But when Andrea heard it for the first time, she said the title was too boring and needed to be more tingling - just like a kiss in the neck :-)
A Kiss In The Neck
Key: F major
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 110
The story behind "Bolero Para Marcelo"
In 2015, I signed up for jamplay.com - an online music school for guitarists. Marcelo Berestovoy's courses on flamenco and South American rhythms were excellent and he is online three evenings a week on the Jamplay chat for a Q&A session. Not only did I learn flamenco techniques from him, but he was also excellent at teaching music theory in a simple and entertaining way. Unfortunately, I never met Marcelo in person, but through the many evening sessions he is familiar to me like a good friend and I wanted to thank him with a song on the new album. Marcelo is Argentinian, a professional musician and is living in Dallas, Texas for many years. His mother tongue is Spanish. So what could be more obvious than to write him a Spanish song. A few years earlier, I had become acquainted with the Argentine bolero in one of his courses, and in the summer of 2021 I wrote "Bolero Para Marcelo" from a chord progression characteristic of this style. But who could sing to it?
The answer was found quickly. Our friend Sonja lives temporarily in Malaga and her friend Sandra is very active in the cultural scene there. Sandra put me in touch with Toñi, whose sister is a well-known and successful singer in Spain. I contacted Toñi via WhatsApp (thanks to the translator deepl.com ;-) and was very relieved that she was willing to write lyrics and sing despite her famous sister and her own music projects. I sent Toñi a backing track and in December 2021 she recorded the Bolero in a studio in Malaga.-
My friend Gabor was born in Hungary, is living in Germany for many years and is a virtuoso professional guitarist. A few days after Toñi's recording, I met Gabor in his studio in Wiesbaden. Although I had prepared the sheet music as a lead sheet, he simply wrote the chord progression on a piece of paper, put it on the floor in front of him and without any further preparation played that brilliant solo. The second take was already so perfect that I didn't have to adjust almost anything later during the mixing. At Christmas 2021, I finished the final version of the Bolero and sent an mp3 file to Marcelo. I think he enjoyed it.
Music connects people all over the world. And as Toñi so aptly wrote: "La música es algo maravilloso, conecta a personas de todo el mundo en el mismo idioma." (Music is a wonderful thing, it connects people from all over the world in the same language).
Lyrics and vocals by Antonia Rodriguez Carnero
Guitar solo by Gabor Pogello Racz
Key: A minor
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 100
Meet Toñi on YouTube
Gabor appears on YouTube and his website
Marcelo Berestovoy appears on YouTube and his website
Antonia Rodriguez Carnero (“Toñi”)
The story behind "August 15th"
On August 15th, 2021 we were sitting on the terrace of the restaurant "Manico" in Wiesbaden's Taunusstrasse. Diagonally across the street in the "Weinbar 38" a wedding party was taking place and in front of it on the street three musicians had set up their equipment. What was astonishing: the band consisted only of a pianist, a double bass player and a trumpet player. The trio played jazz standards so fantastically that even many non-wedding guests spontaneously stopped and listened. The trumpeter's solos were the most impressive and during a break I went across the street to ask for a business card. I learned that the soloist is employed as first trumpet with a radio orchestra in nearby Frankfurt and actually played gigs like this just for fun.
I was so impressed by the three of them that on the next day I started writing "August 15th" - a piece without any drums or percussion.
Key: C major
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 120
The story behind "Zoë's Dreams"
Zoë is remarkable. In 2017, at the age of 15, she won the One World Song Contest with "Laß' es regnen" and was invited to the award ceremony to meet the German President. When I asked her to write lyrics for "Zoë's Dreams", I expected her to write about her dreams on the topic of environmental protection and xenophobia. But I was wrong - she wrote about how dreams can help to deal with everyday problems.
"Dear dream
Help me through
Help me, help me
a night with you
I wanna sleep
I wanna see
Feel my dream
Just feel the life in me".
Zoë studies at the University of Mainz and also publishes her own songs.
Lyrics and vocals by Zoë Hoffard
Key: B minor
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 64
Meet Zoë at YouTube:
https://youtu.be/3u2rk7jVhqU
https://youtu.be/nqbDfLg5n7Y
Zoë Hoffard
The story behind „Uninvited“
If you get the feeling of „something is wrong“ when listening to this song this is absolutely intended. The dominant chords do not resolve to their according major chords which creates the permanent feeling of the lack of harmony. - If a mother is neither invited to the wedding of her eldest daughter nor to the christening of her grandchildren then there also is something completely wrong - but that is another story…
Key: C major
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 200
The story behind "Šibenik Nights"
Our friend Erna is a professional musician born in Croatia. In autumn 2021 she visited her parents in Zagreb and also had some gigs in a beach restaurant in Šibenik. When I asked her if she would like to write something about the atmosphere and the nightlife of Šibenik she immediately agreed and a few weeks later we recorded „Šibenik Nights“.
Shortly after the pre-publishing we were really proud of the revision by Andre Avanessian, a professional at RadioAirplay:
„Blending a number of styles together in marvelous fashion, "Sibenik Nights" is a fantastic fusion of genres that is steeped in melody and drenched in flair. Stephan Meinl has conjured up a stunningly arranged and harmonically adventurous piece of songwriting that combines superb performances with a great eye for melodic detail, resulting in a brilliantly smooth and suave fusion piece that is deftly produced and brimming with musical maturity. ….
… The blending of styles is simply excellent. The way elements of jazz, soul, R&B, and pop have been woven together makes for a deeply fascinating listen from start to finish, and of course, this is made even more impressive by the strikingly accomplished performances that fill the piece with both a great sense of dynamism and subtle nuance. The lead vocal work is superb, full of intricate tonal and dynamic detail, the vocals provide an abundance of interesting timbral layers to the track and have a wonderfully warm and velvety characteristic to them that contrasts perfectly with the sax's raspier and more strident tonal characteristics. Both melodically and harmonically, there is plenty of variation throughout for listeners to really sink their teeth into. The sophisticated harmonic movement that underlays the track provides ample opportunity for melodic exploration, which the sax takes great advantage of and provides a virtuosic display of breathtaking technique and fantastic melodic control.“
Lyrics and vocals by Erna Imamovic
Key: A minor
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 110
Erna appears on Facebook , Instagram (“erna_music_”) and YouTube
Erna Imamovic
The story behind "The Sheik Is Coming"
In November 2021 for some days we stayed at a hotel in Dubai. One evening while we were sitting in the pool bar rumours broke out among the employees and we heard whispers „…the sheik is coming!“ Everyone got nervous and half an hour later a helicopter arrived and four men in black suits and another dressed in the traditional Dubai robe left it and entered the hotel. Later we heard that a gala dinner took place in the hotel and the sheik was one of the honored guests.
When the helicopter was leaving about 2 hours later we already sat on the balcony of our hotel room and saw it vanishing towards Dubai city. By that time the first four bars of „The Sheik is Coming“ had already been written down ;-)
The arabic sounding instrument in the intro, outro and backing of the song is an Oud - a traditional arabian lute with 6-doubled strings.
Key: C major
Measure: 4/4
Tempo: 120
The story behind "Five Quarters"
As promised I will narrate about the background and motivation to write the songs on “Handmade”. This is the first part.
The story behind “Five Quarters”
You surely know Dave Brubeck’s famous jazz classic „Take Five“ which - like „Five Quarters“ is written in the measure of 5/4. No, I do not want to compete with Dave Brubeck - his song is ingenious - but as it is a real challenge (at least for the drummer) to keep that rhythm throughout a whole song I tried to write something in this somehow exotic rhythm.
My virtual drummer lately offered a template in 5/4, so the decision was easy to give it a try. And as it wonderfully matches with the mambo rhythm I combined those two and, voilá - this is the result :-)
Key: C major
Measure: 5/4
Tempo: 110
„Handmade“ available on Bandcamp.com
Since today „Handmade“ is available on Bandcamp.com and soon will be available on all major streaming platforms and as physical CD.
New album "Handmade" will be out soon
The next album full of acoustic gems will be out soon. Thank you very much Gabor for your wonderful solo on “Bolero Para Marcelo” and to Erna, Toñi and Zoë for their lyrics and beautiful voices.
New studio setup
After adding the new piano I had to rearrange my studio to have a little more space. Amazing result: I can reach the keyboards in seconds with a turn of the chair (which improves my home office activities by far :-))
New studio layout August 2021
Piano switch
Lately switched my Yamaha piano for a new Roland FP-90X
Roland FP-90X