Press text Frank Chastenier

"For You" | Emarcy / Universal

Anybody who has listened to jazz from Germany in the last ten years has most probably also listened to Frank Chastenier. Chastenier is a "musician's musician", when his name is mentioned, colleagues shout out "he's the best!". But Frank Chastenier is also a "best kept secret", as he so far displayed his talent only as a most requested sideman and member of several bands and orchestras. He is the pianist of the WDR Radio Big Band in Cologne, Germany, since 1991. Due to the input of trumpeter Till Brönner, his friend, musical partner and co-producer of his first solo album, Frank Chastenier has now finally arrived in the league of important album soloists.

The first kiss is always the best. Afterwards you feel both excited and relaxed. The first step has been made, the longing overcome, a promise fulfilled. Bewitched, bothered and bewildered, the kissers seem to exist only this moment. The past once was. Let the future be. We are here and all is well. "For You", the solo debut by Frank Chastenier, is the musical equivalent to this sensual sensation. Unapologetically romantic, subtle and self-assured. Without superfluous acrobatics or false modesty the music aims straight at the heart of the listener. The dramatic effect builds from the sound of a classic piano trio, via some subtly orchestrated songs with strings, to a piano-trumpet duo with Chastenier's friend and producer Till Brönner. The songs of this album, ranging from original compositions to new arrangements of standards and German pop repertoire of singers Hildegard Knef and Herbert Grönemeyer, flow homogenously over the course of this album. This fact itself is as remarkable, as it is significant and wonderful. Like the first kiss. Only this experience, in all its intimacy and peace, can be repeated at will and without end, by simply pushing the repeat button.

"I am very sensitive when it comes to my music," admits Frank Chastenier. "I couldn't just go into any studio and record an album with just anybody. That's why the circumstances for this recording were so perfect. My friends are playing with me in this trio, and then there's Till, of course, who's always been like a brother for me. He also produced the album in his studio in Berlin, where there's a perfect grand piano. I think and hope that this very special atmosphere comes across on the album. There's no compromising here. This is my album. And my music, one hundred percent."

As with many great jazz dates, all recordings on "For You" come from a single session. And all are, with one exception (due to a technical problem), first takes. "There's a certain freshness to a first take," emphasises Chastenier. "On the second take you are mentally still listening to the first and may repeat yourself unconsciously, or try to save some of the atmosphere from the first take." The emphasis on atmosphere is also well reflected in the material of the album. An obvious choice for the self-proclaimed fan of the city of Berlin (who also happens to be happily married to a "Berlin girl") was, for instance, "Berlin, Dein Gesicht hat Sommersprossen" (Berlin, your face is freckled), originally a hit for the late singer and actress Hildegard Knef in the Fifties.

"Mensch" (Man), Chastenier's overwhelming new interpretation of the most successful German pop ballad of 2003, was created just as involved and spontaneously in the studio. "This version reflects my musical ideas," explains Chastenier. "The most important thing about this song may be the lyrics of the original version, which touch you on a deep emotional level. To me it is one of the most interesting challenges to try recreating these intense feelings instrumentally. Because I most certainly am a musician who always tries to 'sing' with his instrument. If I can touch people with my instrumental version of 'Mensch', I have achieved my goal."

"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a childhood memory, as a ten year old Frank once won the German Yamaha competition with his organ interpretation of this Gilbert O'Sullivan pop hit from the Seventies. Chastenier composed the melodic ballad "For You" ten years ago for his wife. And the arrangement of "Bei Dir war es immer so schön" (With you it was always beautiful), a popular song from the 1920s by film and cabaret composer Theo Mackeben, Chastenier wrote during the week after his mother passed away as a memorable dedication to her. "Mackeben, who composed many well-known songs for Marlene Dietrich, is one of my favourite composers of his genre, if only for the incredible harmonic ideas he continuously had. This song just keeps touching me again and again."

"Someday My Prince Will Come", once rescued from Walt Disney's "Snow White" movie by the Miles Davis Sextet in 1961, receives a new interpretative direction. "This song is representative for the work of my trio. I often take the structure of a standard for which I just might have, for instance, a version by Wynton Kelly or the Oscar Peterson trio in mind. On a gig I often use the introduction 'What you will hear now is less of an arrangement, than a derangement.' Without destroying the structure, I try to create something new." Different harmony opens up new possibilities and directions. In order to do this not only has the structure to be solid, but the artistic communication of all the players also has to work solidly.

"We didn't even go through "I'll Never Smile Again" before we recorded it," remembers Chastenier. "And Till accompanied us live, from the control room. Such a thing can only be done with people you can absolutely rely on. And these people are getting fewer and fewer the older one gets. For me and my work, the 'Ultimate Four' have by now found each other. The same thing I said about Till also holds true for bass player John Goldsby, with whom I play together every single day in the WDR Radio Big Band, and also for Hans Dekker on drums. In this band everyone can always lean on everybody else."