Hеlеn Schnеidеr - Drеam A Little Drеam (2008)

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Hеlеn Schnеidеr - Drеam A Little Drеam (2008)

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Hеlеn Schnеidеr Drеam A Little Drеam We can only guess what fires our drеams. Sure enough, drеams do enrich our lives, making them all the more beautiful and sensuous. Especially when we live our drеams instead of drеaming our lives. Hеlеn Schnеidеr, once a "Rock'n'Roll Gypsy", then the Star of "Cabaret" alongside Hildegard Knef, is a passionate actress and singer with one of the most remarkable voices of our time. On her new album she presents herself as a drеamer and as an object of drеams at the same time. On "Drеam A Little Drеam", the 2006 DIVA-Award-winner and her producers Till Brönner and Christian von Kaphengst devote themselves to an intimate selection of classic standards of Jazz from the "Great American Songbook". Her "Whispering Album", as she smilingly calls it, is an enticing journey to the nightly world of amorous songs, it takes us to a drеamlike state, as well known as it is surprising. The fabulous singer - an excitingly innocent femme fatale - indulges in Cole Porter's unambiguous ambiguities, in Kurt Weill's deep desires and a lot more sensuality and sentiment in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald, The Platters or The Mamas and The Papas. Those who are familiar with these songs will explore a new world full of nuance and detail listening to Hеlеn's artistic and lively interpretations. If "Where Or When" or "In My Solitude" is new to you, you could not have a better initiation than here. This great artist's little album is but a drеam - a masterpiece in reality. "My last album ‘Like A Woman' has already been very autobiographical", says Hеlеn. "When Till Brönner suggested making an album that was modern as well as filled with nostalgia, I immediately agreed. This project allows me to open another, much more hidden chapter of my biography." In the early 1960s, the teenager from Brooklyn, New York, daughter to "a scientist and his very musical wife", was an aspiring concert pianist. Her mother's favorite songs, mainly jazz and musical hits from her days of youth, were Hеlеn's repertoire. After High School, a scholarship for the famous Juilliard School Of Music was offered. But instead of New York, it was the mountains of Massachusetts were she and her "freakish" friends turned to in their search of Hard Rock and Blues. "All I wanted at the age of fifteen was to be poor and black" she smirks. "Being poor was simple." The reality of playing four gigs a night, seven days a week in some joint for a mere 150 dollars a week that had to be divided by six to eight musicians was still not able to silence her mother's music sounding in her head. They stuck to her, amidst all success she had starring in musicals like "Cabaret", "Sunset Boulevard", her One-Woman-Show "A Voice And A Piano" or singing with the likes of Udo Lindenberg, Andrea Bocelli or Bob Brookmeyer. "These songs have been a part of my life since I was eleven or twelve years old", she admits. "During production, more material was brought up to me from all different sides. I love the idea of a project developing organically, when things just happen the way they're supposed to. And I strongly believe in teamwork." The people behind "Drеam A Little Drеam" truly form a drеam team. Till Brönner met Hеlеn only last year on a charity event in Berlin, her new found home. (Calling her an American in Europe would miss the point, since she is more a European from New York.) Brönner has not only a reputation for playing probably the best trumpet in the world, but also for producing iconic albums for outstanding artists such as Thomas Quasthoff, Hildegard Knef or Mark Murphy. He vividly recalls working on Hеlеn's album: "She has a unique sense of timing, accentuates like nobody else can. You are well advised to trust in her talent, since she always comes up with something as unique as wonderful." Executive Producer Christian von Kaphengst on the idea behind the album: "Hеlеn has performed songs by Cole Porter or the Gershwins before. This time we wanted to take it further into Jazz - not lounge music or avant-garde - but true Jazz." "Drеam A Little Drеam" is the amazing outcome of this venture - a sensuous blend of fabulous Swing and Bossa Nova rhythms, masterfully arranged horn sections by the producer, featuring an elegantly played piano by Frank Chastenier, Felix Wahnschaffe's soulful saxophone, Gregoire Peters' flute, Peter Lübke on drums, Rolo Rodriguez on percussion and Christian von Kaphengst on bass. And above all this, Hеlеn Schnеidеr's tenderly powerful voice sings sensuously and intimately like a drеam. You will be tempted to "Drеam A Little Drеam" joyfully for evermore.