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Eberhard Weber
His music, often in a melancholic tone, follows simple ground patterns (frequently ostinatos), yet is highly organized in its colouring and attention to dramatic detail.
Weber was a notable early proponent of the solid-body electric double bass, which he has played regularly since the beginning of the 1970s.
From the early 1960s to the early 1970s, his closest musical association was with pianist Wolfgang Dauner. Their many mutual projects were very diverse, from mainstream jazz to jazz-rock fusion to avant-garde sound experiments. During this period he also played and recorded with (among many others) pianists Hampton Hawes and Mal Waldron, guitarists Baden Powell de Aquino and Joe Pass, and violinist Stephane Grappelli.
In 1973 he made his first record as a leader, The Colours of Chloë, for ECM Records. Since then he has released 10 more records under his own name, all on ECM. The ECM association also led to collaborations with other ECM recording artists such as Gary Burton (Ring, 1974; Passengers, 1976), Ralph Towner (Solstice, 1974; Sound and Shadows, 1977), Pat Metheny (Watercolors, 1977), and Jan Garbarek (nine recordings between 1978 and 1998).
In the mid-1970s he formed his own group, Colours, with Charlie Mariano (soprano saxophone, flutes), Rainer Brüninghaus (piano, synthesizer), and Jon Christensen (drums). After their first recording, Yellow Fields (1975), Christensen left and was replaced by John Marshall. The group toured extensively and recorded two further records, Silent Feet (1977) and Little Movements (1980), before disbanding.
Since the early 1980s, Weber has regularly collaborated with the British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, playing on four out of her last five studio albums (The Dreaming, 1982; Hounds of Love, 1985; The Sensual World, 1989; Aerial, 2005).
Since the early 1990s his performing and recording activity has decreased considerably — he has had only two new recordings under his own name since 1990. Nevertheless his 2001 release Endless Days is perhaps the most elemental fusion of jazz and classical yet realized, the true epitome of chamber jazz. His main touring activity during this period has been as a regular member of the Jan Garbarek Group. His next release will be "Stages of a long journey", a collection of live recordings made in March 2005 on the occasion of his 65th birthday, including collaborations with Burton, Dauner, Garbarek and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.
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Eberhard Weber: A German Jazz Story
by Andrew Hunter
Eberhard Weber: A German Jazz Story Eberhard Weber translated by Heidi Kirk 182 Pages ISBN: 978 1 80050 082 2 Equinox Publishing Ltd 2021 There are many musicians whose playing we can recognise in an instant; something about their phrasing, note choice and tone combine to give an unmistakable flavor to their playing which means we know them immediately. Horn players in particular are often described as having a unique sound and the ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber: Once Upon A Time - Live in Avignon
by Mario Calvitti
Sono trascorsi quasi 15 anni da quel giorno del 2007 in cui il contrabbassista Eberhard Weber fu vittima di un ictus, le cui conseguenze lo lasciarono incapacitato a proseguire l'attività concertistica. La semiparalisi al lato sinistro di cui soffre da allora gli impedisce di riprendere in mano lo strumento e dedicarsi alla musica. Non è comunque rimasto del tutto inattivo: tra il 2012 e il 2015 ha curato la pubblicazione di due album, Résumé e Encore, contenenti una selezione di ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber: Once Upon A Time - Live in Avignon
by Karl Ackermann
Once Upon A Time-Live in Avignon is the fourth release of ECM-sourced material from the celebrated German bassist Eberhard Weber whose 2007 stroke left him unable to play. Résumé (2012) consisted of bass solos extracted and re-engineered from Weber's work with Jan Garbarek. Encore (2015) followed a similar formula with seventeen years of bass solos mixed and edited. Weber also contributed keyboards, and Dutch trumpeter Ack Van Rooyen added flugelhorn. Hommage à Eberhard Weber released later in 2015 was recorded ...
Continue ReadingBassrageous!
by Patrick Burnette
Mike thinks “basserageous" is the stupidest title for the podcast yet, but is it, really? There's a lot of competition. Anyway, this fortnight's gem looks at ECM albums where the bass is large and in charge, which provides opportunities to talk about ECM's aesthetics, how technological changes in the seventies allowed bass players new prominence, and Pat Metheny's hair. Mostly Pat Metheny's hair. Playlist Discussion of Gary Burton's album Easy as Pie (ECM) 6:10 Discussion of Pat Metheny's ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber: The Jubilee Concert
by Mark Sullivan
Eberhard Weber Eberhard Weber: The Jubilee Concert Naxos 2015 German bassist Eberhard Weber's 75th birthday celebration has already been documented in audio form on Hommage à Eberhard Weber (ECM, 2015). This video document more fully captures the celebratory tone of the event, includes a bit of bonus material, and perhaps most importantly, presents Pat Metheny's composition “Hommage" as the multi-media event it was created to be. Weber was both the honoree ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber: Hommage à Eberhard Weber
by Mark Sullivan
Hommage celebrates the 75th birthday of bassist/composer Eberhard Weber. His distinctive custom-built, five-string electro-acoustic upright bass sound has been the foundation of many ECM recordings, almost right from the beginning: as leader of his own groups; longtime sideman for saxophonist Jan Garbarek; and other ECM recording artists including Ralph Towner, Gary Burton, Wolfgang Dauner, Pat Metheny and the Frankfurt Jazz Ensemble. He has been unable to perform since a 2007 stroke, but the first two selections in this live concert ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber: Hommage à Eberhard Weber
by John Kelman
Despite being waylaid from playing the instrument that defined his approach to both performance and composition by a severe 2007 stroke, Eberhard Weber has managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of continuing to make recordings that revolve around his instantly recognizable, custom-made electro-acoustic instrument: 2013's Resumé and 2015's appropriately titled Encore, both on ECM Records, the label that's been home to the bassist, composer and occasional bandleader since Colours of Chloë (1974), his award-winning leader debut. Now, it's true ...
Continue ReadingEberhard Weber - Colours (2010 Reissue)
Source:
Something Else!
By Pico When I lived in a college dormitory, a guy down the hall from me turned me on to this ECM record Silent Feet by Eberhard Weber. The two long tracks and the one even longer track were entrancing to me, like going on this audial odyssey. Even though the record had already been out for about ten years, it sounded just as fresh as yesterday. I made a cassette copy of it and played the crap out of ...
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Bassist/Composer Eberhard Weber Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
It's impossible to tell the story of European jazz without mentioning bassist/composer Eberhard Weber. One of the true virtuosos of the bass, the German-born Weber has an immediately recognizable, singing tone--even when he's not performing on his trademark, self-designed electrobass. Like his American counterpart Jaco Pastorius, Weber wasn't shy about making his instrument heard--his round, supple lines didn't tend to disappear into the background, nor was their role exclusively rhythmic or supportive.
Weber's 1974 debut, The Colours of Chlo, remains ...
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The Jazz Session #26: Eberhard Weber!
Source:
All About Jazz
On the new episode of The Jazz Session, Jason Crane interviews bassist Eberhard Weber. Weber's name is synonymous with the “ECM sound," because he's been the bassist of choice on classic ECM recordings dating back to the label's founding three decades ago. Since the early 1980s, Weber has played in saxophonist Jan Garbarek's band. To celebrate his 65th birthday, the city of Stuttgart, Germany, threw Weber a two-night concert party. He was joined on stage by an orchestra, Garbarek, vibraphonist ...
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