After Ralf Illenberger and I made our CD, Beyond Words, a few performance opportunities came up. One is featured in the Japan Travelogue. Next, Ralf invited me to join him on his six-week tour of Germany in November-December of 2005. I went for about three weeks of the tour and had great fun. He toured with longtime performance collaborator (and truly extraordinary musician) Buedi Siebert. The songs the three of us did together were powerful, great energy, and proved to be crowd pleasers.
I had been to Germany before, of course, with Jewel. Each time it was four cities in four days, so this time, with Ralf, it was wonderful to travel the country by car, have some leisure, and get a real feel for the land and the people. I gained an appreciation for both ... I think Germans and Germany are awesome.
It was a treat to perform in Germany with Ralf because he is so well known and respected there. And I learned that German audiences are fantastic. They have very high standards and are musically far more educated than the average US concert goer. They are not as immediately enthusiastic and supportive as the wonderful American crowd, but if you earn their respect they are a terrific audience. We gigged in venues both large and small, in towns such as Goettingen, Schrozberg, Nagold, Bielefeld, Meppen and many more.
One of my favorite shows was a small last minute add to the tour just north of Kassel, set up by my friend and fellow musician, Andres Condon, in a small commune called Pramal where he lives with his lovely wife and, singer, Novino. I must say, though, that I loved every gig. It was a terrific time and so delicious to drop into an existing tour and perform with musicians of such caliber. They set an awfully high bar and it was fun to try to match it.
Then, in December of 2007, I joined Ralf again, with his new trio. This was an extraordinary combination of talent. Musicphiles will be familiar with drummer Bodo Schopf, and bass guitarist Sandro Gulino. Bodo Schopf from his work with Falco, MSG (Michael Shanker Group), and Sweet. Sandro Gulino has worked with Gypsy Kings, Platters, Eric Burden. And much more for both of them. They are well known, and in high demand. They melded with Ralf's music in a way that created the most exciting musical trio I've encountered. They will be doing more together – hopefully even dates in the U.S.--but here's a song I did with them in Stuttgart, and a photo or two.
