De Phazz returns to Bucharest on November 15, at Sala Palatului, on tour to promote their new album, “Prankster Bride”, which will be released in October.
Born in Germany, the collective lounge project De Phazz has always been much more than just an electronic project open to collaborations. Behind the De Phazz name is producer Pit Baumgartner, and the members he works with on an ongoing basis include Karl Frierson, Pat Appleton, Barbara Lahr, Otto Engelhard, Roy Randolph and Charity D. Sanders. To date, the band has explored many genres, from club sound to orchestral arrangements to extended formula, trip hop and lounge jazz. Anything is possible on the 9 albums the band has released since 1997, from guitar rock to classical fiddle, reggae to dance hall. De Phazz is a household name in lounge jazz, but has also broken into mainstream pop with the catchy ‘The Mambo Craze‘. Refinement and tasteful blending of new and old has always been a priority for the band. Their live shows are pure visual and audio pleasure, combining enticing vocals with hand-crafted video cocktails. Although much of De Phazz’s music is original, the group sometimes bases their creations on samples from the long-gone days of the Golden Age of jazz clubs. The hits „Hell Alright„ „Jazz Music” and “No Jive” are landmarks of the chill out genre and have been covered on countless compilations.
“Prankster Bride”, De Phazz’s new album, is a mix of interesting vocal tones and complex instrumentation. The new record release is an explicit tribute to the female vocals in the band. Pat Appleton, who, along with Karl Frierson, is a staple live appearance, opens Pandora’s box with the album’s title track, “Prankster Bride,” an agonizing journey between midnight and dawn. After ‘Hangover Deluxe’, Pat finds herself in the role of female financial supporter of her partner in ‘Used’, a sensational track about the condition of the modern woman who abandons her traditional role to support her trophy husband. “Perfect World” wisely tells the story of an affair that can only survive in a child’s imagination. The track “I sing” combines the sound of a traditional German folk choir with dub-reggae, while the lyrics speak of new beginnings and break-ups, a song like an orthodox sermon for all the lonely souls in the universe. The one and only Barbara Lahr reappears on the album with two Neo Chansons, “Apple & Egg” and “Down Waterloo”. As musical variety is the band’s priority, the album ends with the single “Kraut 2016”, an homage to the Kraut Rock era of the 70s, featuring legendary German singer Jutta Glaser.
Tracklist “Prankster Bride”: 1. USED / 2. USED Reprise / 3. APPLE & EGG / 4. INVISIBLE TO MYSELF / 5. PRANKSTER BRIDE / 6. HANGOVER deLUXE / 7. BERLIN BAD / 8. SOULFLAKES / 9. DOWN WATERLOO / 10. PERFECT WORLD / 11. FIREBALL / 12. I SING / 13. FREAKY / 14. KRAUT 2016.
De Phazz will embark on their “Prankster Bride” tour immediately after the album’s release in October 2016. The formula for the European stages features soloists Karl Frierson and Pat Appleton, along with Oli Rubow (drums), Bernd Windisch (bass) and Markus Barlet (baritone, saxophone, flute).
Presale: until 15 August inclusive, tickets are available at 90 lei, 135 lei, 180 lei, 225 lei (VIP), depending on distance from the stage. From 16 August, tickets will cost 100 lei, 150 lei, 200 lei and 250 lei (VIP). They can be bought online at www.eventim.ro, or through the Eventim network (Germanos, Vodafone, Orange, Domo, Humanitas bookshops, Cărturești bookshops and OMV petrol stations). Tickets can also be purchased in two monthly instalments, only through CardAvantaj, at the Eventim office in Bucharest.
