The HAMBURG BLUES BAND - feat. Krissy Matthews & Vanja Sky
This time with Vanja Sky as a special guest - she is Croatia's answer to Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones. An artistic career could hardly develop any faster. Five years after she learned to play guitar, Vanja recorded her debut album with renowned artists from the international blues scene. The highlights of her lightning career so far include close collaborations with greats like Bernard Allison and Mike Zito, as well as her debut album "Bad Penny," recorded in the Bessie Blues Studios in Stantonville/Tennessee, the workshop of Grammy-winning producer Jim Gaines. Followed by the second, significantly rockier album "Woman Named Trouble," which was selected by ROCKS MAGAZINE as one of the best records released in 2020 alongside releases from AC/DC, Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen!
Over 40 years of St. Pauli Blues! For four decades, five guys have been touring through crowded clubs, which belong to the best that the European blues scene has to offer. The Hamburg Blues Band stands for intense, cleverly arranged, and live breathtaking roots blues that regularly shakes purists to their core. Because the group, led by the often Joe Cocker-comparable singer Gert Lange, blends hard-hitting guitar blues rock with soul, psychedelic, rhythm & blues, boogie, and even ventures into jazz territories with playful enthusiasm and a strong sense of tradition. In 1982, Hamburg singer and English saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith spontaneously founded the Hamburg Blues Band after a midnight session in the legendary Hamburg "Onkel Pö." "Dick Heckstall-Smith was our key to the British blues scene, our Brit-Blues-Connection." "He was for us what Alexis Korner was for the Stones & many others," Lange reflects today. Therefore, it is not surprising that over the years, the band toured with some of the stars of the scene: Jack Bruce, Chris Farlowe, Mike Harrison, Arthur Brown, and guitar heroes like Clem Clempson & Miller Anderson became band members. "Moreover, we were very fortunate that Dick Heckstall-Smith introduced us to the legendary lyricist Pete Brown (Cream), who wrote our lyrics until his death in 2023 & was also a welcome guest on our tours."
Hamburg's renowned blues/rock shouter Gert Lange, the voice of various commercials (including Carlsberg beer) as well as the title song of the road movie "Burning Life," which won the German Film Award in gold, and the fabulous rhythm section consisting of bassist Reggie Worthy (Ike & Tina Turner, Eric Burdon, Stoppok), drummer Eddie Filipp (Inga Rumpf, Sweet, Clem Clempson Band), and the exceptional guitarist Krissy Matthews, who is only 32 years old, form a sworn band that works with consistent impact, complemented by their ability to control dynamics on demand and spice up their performance with perfect harmony singing. Names like Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher, and Pete Townsend are mentioned when talking about the young, exceptional guitarist Krissy Matthews, who is only 32 years old. They are said to have influenced the guitar style of this young virtuoso, and indeed, Matthews' playing is anything but one-dimensional. Sometimes he sounds fresh and raw, then again quirky and wild. He first stood on stage at the age of three, received his first guitar at eight, and was captured by the blues at eleven. A year later, he met John Mayall at a performance in Norway, and the godfather of white blues didn't hesitate long and took the twelve-year-old on stage. Fellow musicians, critics, and the press are full of praise; "This guy is the real deal" (Beth Hart), "Oh boy, this kid can play" (Hubert Sumlin).
Even after 40 years, the Hamburg Blues Band continues to deliver surprises and presents its own sound far removed from any clichés. On the "Friends For A LIVEtime VOL. II“ tour, the audience can expect a musical fireworks display with real characters and originals.
Doors open at 7 PM.
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
