SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - The Rescue (2019)

San2 belongs to the next generation of entertainers and passionately authentic musicians, and builds a bridge between Rhythm & Blues and pop. What Jamie Cullum achieved over the past years in Jazz, is what San2 wants to prove possible with Blues, and even though he's a newcomer on the scene, his fan-base is growing at a fast pace. The press describes him as "fantastic new Soul voice" and his live show is "pure dynamite"! His harmonica playing gets praise with words like "San2 has very unique, powerful tone - both acoustic and amplified". In 2012 he was affiliated by HOHNER to their group of best European harmonica players.

At the age of 17, San2 attended the Blues to Bop Festival in Lugarno, met George Hicks, and in turn, taught himself how to play the harmonica. Shortly after, the chance came along for San2 to join soul legend Wilson Pickett on stage and sing. Quite an influential experience! In his early twenties, he went to San Francisco, where he lived and worked as a musician in the Bay Area. The role of lead-singer thereafter, was set aside for that of the Blues harp player and Emcee, for well known blues acts like Bird Leg, Mz Dee, and the Steve Gannon Band to name a few.

Upon returning back to Germany, San2 decided to make music professionally, and formed his SOUL PATROL. His Blues harp skills have fully ripened. Not only with a mentor like Bird Leg, but also especially listening to uncountable records from Junior Wells and James Cotton, helped form San2's Blues harp sound. "My Harp playing is very rhythmic. Not too many notes played quickly after one another, instead just a few, well-placed notes make this instrument so powerful. It's all about dynamic, at least in Rhythm & Blues!" San2 carries influences from other Instrumentalists as well in his Harp playing such as Maceo Parker or Richard Tee.

In 2011 San2 released his debut album REBIRTH OF SOUL & RECYCLING THE BLUES. Television and radio appearances brought him closer to a larger audience, which helped broaden the tour map for him and his SOUL PATROL. Meanwhile they are not only touring Germany, but also playing in Holland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. He lives alternately in Munich and in Amsterdam.

2015 San2 started to collaborate with British producer Geoff Gascoyne. Gascoyne, former MD and bassplayer of Jamie Cullum, also worked together with numerous big names like Van Morrison, Gregory Porter and Georgie Fame. At first Gascoyne and San2 wrote songs together and worked on excisting material as well. The outcome was the brilliant, from the critics highly recommended album HOLD ON which was released in April 2016. It contains 14 + 2 bonus tracks.

In 2018 San2 & His Soul Patrol took a break from touring and wrote more than 30 fresh tunes. In May they went back in the studio, this time with Geoff Gascoyne producing and playing bass on most of the 13 chosen tracks. Another influence on the album is Loomis Green, guitar player of Jan Delay who wrote 2 songs. The album is called THE RESCUE and will be released on Jan 25th 2019.

"The new album from San2 & His Soul Patrol comes at you like a muscle car of music history. Blues and Bebop detailing on a classic Soul chassis and with a lot of Rhythm & Blues under the hood. The 11 tracks are more polished and tight and yet less polite compared to the last record. San2 writes songs that he likes to hear himself having a great time at a party and he obviously doesn't care about musical stereotypes. He seems to combine old and new material completely freely and effortlessly using retro sounds that are in the moment of 2018. It is astonishing, as with all the joy of experimenting, that it was possible to create such a coherent and striking album, (or probably for that very reason.) Classic brass sections are replaced with a stylish Juno-80 synthesizer, harmonica and guitar. There are energetic unison riffs on wicked boogie rhythms and in between you'll find well crafted, dedicated ballads full of Soul. And above all that, the voice of San2 shines, immersed in a little slap delay and full of saturation. Full of life, love and passion. This is as good as it gets. Songwriting, sound aesthetics, lyrics - everything is right here."

Capriola, Sony Music 2018
Tracklist:
01. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Rescue Me
02. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Big Old Mountain
03. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Got My Mind Made Up
04. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Dynamite
05. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Born on the Southside
06. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - The Day When We Began
07. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - I'm Movin' Up
08. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Sheer Bliss
09. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Stronger
10. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Trust in Me
11. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - 2022 Boogie
12. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - All That I've Got
13. SAN2 & his Soul Patrol - Tell Me a Secret