Waldenfels, Titus from München

Music: Traditional / Swing

Address

80339 München



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Live, Recording, Composition

Guitar, Violin, Steel Guitar, Banjo, Bass Harmonica, Bass Synthesizer

Titus Waldenfels was born in Munich in 1969 and grew up in Schwabing. He learned classical violin in school and at the same time, at the age of seven, began teaching himself to play the guitar while listening to outstanding guitarists such as Nick Woodland, Roykey Wydh, William Powell, and the then English-singing Spider Murphy Gang in the lively Munich Live Music Scene.

At the age of 22, he studied guitar with Roman Bunka and Geoff Goodman and spent many years studying the swing of the 1930s with a focus on rhythm guitarist Freddie Green.

In 1993, he started playing blues gigs with musicians like Rainer Wöffler and Christian Willisohn.

From September '94 to September '95, Titus Waldenfels was the guitarist for the group Embryo, with whom he toured in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. This led to joint concerts with Mal Waldron, the Karnataka Ensemble Of Percussion, and Chris Karrer of the band Amon Düül.

Through Embryo, Titus Waldenfels met Monty Waters, with whom he played in duos and large ensembles until Waters' death in 2008, traveling through Germany, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary (participation in the CD 'Moonlight in Slovakia', Honeyland Records 1999).

The duo also performed at the Mediterranean Jazz Cruise in 2003, sharing the stage with musicians such as Paul Kuhn, Charlie Antolini, and the Mojo Blues Band from Vienna.

In 1997, Titus Waldenfels passed his Magister examination in musicology and German studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

From 1998 to 1999, he taught guitar at the Freies Musikzentrum in Munich.

Since ending his teaching career in 2002, T.W. has worked exclusively as a musician, performing around 250 concerts annually in various regions and countries.

In the year 2000, the project 'Titus Waldenfels' Eurofälscher' began. It originated from the 'desire to add material from European chansons to the standard jazz repertoire. This results in instrumental jazz in various line-ups, drawing from all imaginable sources: swing, blues, Latin American music, waltzes, and polkas, while also arranging a repertoire of Berlin songs, for example by Friedrich Holländer, Kurt Weill, Rio Reiser, and evergreens up to ABBA, with humor and spontaneity'.

Also in 2000, Titus Waldenfels became a member of the Storyville Shakers, a family band from Freising near Munich dedicated to New Orleans jazz for 30 years, where he learned to play tenor banjo. This led to annual tours in southern Germany and Switzerland with guest stars such as Leroy Jones, Charlie Gabriels, Herbert Hardesty, Lillian Boutté, Gerald French, and Bunchy Johnson (participation in the CD productions 'Going to New Orleans', Self-published 2001, and 'It's only a paper moon', House Master Records 2003).

In this context, there were also joint sessions with Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Bobby Durham, Brian Auger, and Abi Wallenstein.

At the same time, Titus Waldenfels began playing in Irish pubs: blues & rock 'n' roll with southern Germany's best country-punk singer, Fred Emmert, and Chuck Berry's & Bob Dylan's masterpieces with Robert Richter. He added the steel guitar, and temporarily the mandolin and Bajo Sexto, to his repertoire here.

In the following years, T.W. embarked on more musical journeys to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and particularly Slovakia, where he played with Peter Lipa, the late Dodo Šošoka, and the group Slniečko (participation in the CD 'Odpočúúúvaj v pokoji', Pavian Records 2006).

During this time, Titus Waldenfels played multiple times with Christian Rannenberg in Berlin and with Peter Strutzenberger and others in Vienna. He participated in CD productions by Alessandro de Santis ('roma termini', Fine Music 2004) and Dieter Landuris ('Göttliche Affären', Universal Music 2006). There were joint concerts with Inge Brandenburg, Nick McCarthy (before founding Franz Ferdinand), Bardo Henning, Dave Donohoe, Christina Mazza, Dr. Will (participation in the CD 'Speak of the devil', Zyx Music 2010), and others.

In 2006, Titus Waldenfels initiated the project 'Liedgold' with singer Anja Morell: 'Distinctive melodies, meaningful lyrics, spontaneous play. Or also gold pieces from the world-spanning song repertoire and jazz. We listen to American and English songs from the wonderful world of swing, country, pop & rock music, French chansons, German street hits from Berlin, and Spanish hits.'

Vocals and songs in various languages (German, English, Czech, Slovak, Russian, French, Spanish) have since been at the center of Titus Waldenfels' projects. Over the following years until today, he has formed several ensembles with different female singers such as Lucie Cerveny (Bamberg) and Julia Flach (Kaiserslautern).

In 2007, Titus Waldenfels and drummer Michael Reiserer established Unkraut Rekords to distribute their own recordings: 'Our program covers the entire range from technically perfect studio productions to field recordings with their unique atmosphere. We have chosen burned CDs as a medium because this way we can produce small editions and give the recordings an appealing appearance with digital printing.'

Also in 2007, Titus Waldenfels began developing his most significant innovation in his playing to date, which sometimes results in sound collages reminiscent of Pascal Comelade, the virtuoso David Lindley, and the one-man-band pioneer Jesse Fuller: the use of a bass pedal and self-constructed percussion elements to accompany the string instruments with his feet simultaneously. This has expanded the range of fascinating instruments that Titus Waldenfels uses in his performances: guitar, straw violin, lap steel guitar, tenor banjo, E-Pochete, ukulele, organ guitar, bass harmonica, Dylamonica, bass synthesizer, and electric foot.

However, all of this is solely aimed at the sonic design of the songs, striving to develop a unique and distinctive repertoire.

Live, Recording, Composition
Guitar, Violin, Steel guitar, Banjo, Ukulele, Bass harmonica, Dylamonica, Bass synthesizer, Electric Foot

Titus Waldenfels was born in Munich in 1969 and grew up in Schwabing. He learned classical violin at school, while also teaching himself to play the guitar at the age of seven. He listened to outstanding guitarists such as Nick Woodland, Roykey Wydh, William Powell, and the then English-singing Spider Murphy Gang in the vibrant Munich live music scene.

At the age of 22, he studied guitar with Roman Bunka and Geoff Goodman and spent years studying the swing style of the 30s with a special focus on rhythm guitarist Freddie Green.

In 1993, he started playing blues gigs with musicians like Rainer Wöffler and Christian Willisohn.

From September '94 to September '95, Titus Waldenfels was the guitarist for the group Embryo, with whom he toured Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. This led to joint concerts with Mal Waldron, the Karnataka Ensemble of Percussion, and Chris Karrer from the Amon Düül group.

Through Embryo, Titus Waldenfels met Monty Waters with whom he played in duos and large ensembles until Waters' death in 2008, touring Germany, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary (contribution to the CD 'Moonlight in Slovakia', Honeyland Records 1999).

The duo also performed at the Mediterranean Jazz Cruise 2003, with appearances by musicians like Paul Kuhn, Charlie Antolini, and the Mojo Blues Band from Vienna.

In 1997, Titus Waldenfels passed the Magister exam in musicology and German studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

In 1998/99, he taught guitar at the Free Music Center in Munich.

Since ending his teaching activities in 2002, T.W. has been working exclusively as a musician, performing around 250 shows a year in various regions and countries.

In 2000, Titus Waldenfels started the project Titus Waldenfels' Eurofälscher with the aim of adding European chanson material to the standard jazz repertoire. In various ensembles, they create instrumental jazz drawing from various sources such as swing, blues, Latin music, waltz, and polka. The repertoire includes Berlin songs by Friedrich Holländer, Kurt Weill, Rio Reiser, and evergreens up to ABBA, treated with humor and spontaneity.

Also in 2000, Titus Waldenfels joined the Storyville Shakers, a family band from Freising near Munich dedicated to New Orleans jazz for 30 years, where he learned the tenor banjo. This was followed by annual tours in southern Germany and Switzerland with guest stars like Leroy Jones, Charlie Gabriels, Herbert Hardesty, Lillian Boutté, Gerald French, Bunchy Johnson (participation in the CD productions 'Going to New Orleans', self-published 2001, and 'It's only a paper moon', House Master Records 2003).

During this period, he also began playing in Irish pubs with the best country-punk singer from southern Germany, Fred Emmert, performing Blues & Rock’n Roll, as well as Chuck Berry's & Bob Dylan's masterpieces with Robert Richter. He added the steel guitar, mandolin, and Bajo Sexto to his repertoire.

In the following years, T.W. embarked on musical travels to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and particularly Slovakia, where he played with Peter Lipa, the late Dodo Šošoka, and the group Slniečko (participation in the CD 'Odpočúúúvaj v pokoji', Pavian Records 2006).

During the same period, Titus Waldenfels played multiple times with Christian Rannenberg in Berlin and with Peter Strutzenberger and others in Vienna. He also participated in CD productions by Alessandro de Santis ('roma termini', Fine Music 2004) and Dieter Landuris ('Göttliche Affären', Universal Music 2006). He performed concerts with Inge Brandenburg, Nick McCarthy (before the formation of Franz Ferdinand), Bardo Henning, Dave Donohoe, Christina Mazza, Dr. Will (participation in the CD 'Speak of the devil', Zyx Music 2010), among others.

In 2006, Titus Waldenfels started the project Liedgold with singer Anja Morell: 'Distinctive melodies, meaningful lyrics, spontaneous play. Or also gems from the global song repertoire and jazz. We hear American and English songs from the world of swing, country, pop & rock music, French chansons, German hits from Berlin, and Spanish hits.'

Singing and songs in various languages (German, English, Czech, Slovak, Russian, French, Spanish) have since been the focus of Titus Waldenfels' projects. Over the following years until today, he has formed several ensembles with different female singers like Lucie Cerveny (Bamberg) and Julia Flach (Kaiserslautern).

In 2007, Titus Waldenfels and drummer Michael Reiserer founded Unkraut Rekords to distribute their own records: 'Our program includes the full range from technically perfect studio productions to field recordings with their distinctive atmosphere. We chose burned CDs as the medium, as it allows us to produce small editions and create an appealing design using digital printing.'

Also in 2007, Titus Waldenfels began developing his most important innovation in playing, at times reminiscent of the sound collages of Pascal Comelade, the virtuosity of David Lindley, and the one-man-band pioneer Jesse Fuller: the use of a bass pedal and self-constructed percussion elements to accompany string instruments with his feet simultaneously. This expanded the range of fascinating instruments Titus Waldenfels applies in his performances: guitar, straw violin, lap steel guitar, tenor banjo, E-Pochete, ukulele, organ guitar, bass harmonica, Dylamonica, bass synthesizer, and Electric Foot.

However, all of this serves solely for the sonorous shaping of songs, in the endeavor to develop a unique and distinctive repertoire.


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