With the „New Orleans Shakers“ Torsten Zwingenberger is showing once more that he is well at home in different styles of jazz. Together with Thomas l’Etienne and Kurt Tomm Torsten founded the band way back in 1977, three years before he started getting involved in other musical projects.
The repertoire of the group embraced tunes from the Golden Age of Jazz, tunes characterized by their catching simplicity and sincerity. Spontaneously the group decided to reunite in 2009. Fully aware of the luscious erotic connotations of early jazz Thomas l’Etienne knows that jazz is only authentic when it is played with a certain amount of dirtiness. Instead of endorsing an academic approach or trying to impress by velocity Thomas aims for melodious sensuality. There is a certain element of boldness prevailing when the band is mixing elements of the traditional New Orleans jazz with different Caribbean styles in a competent and entertaining crossover. Here again Torsten Zwingenberger is impressing the listener with his virtuoso drum technique “Drumming 5. 1” responsible for the bouncing swing feeling.
Thomas l'Etienne (clarinet/sax/voc)
Markus Pohle (p)
Kurt Tomm (bass)
TEASY/Torsten Zwingennberger (dr/perc)