SWR Big Band

Eberhard Weber: Hommage à Eberhard Weber

by John Kelman
September 4, 2015

Despite being waylaid from playing the instrument that defined his approach to both performance and composition by a severe 2007 stroke, Eberhard Weber has managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of continuing to make recordings that revolve around his instantly recognizable, custom-made electro-acoustic instrument: 2013's Resumé and 2015's appropriately titled Encore, both on ECM Records, the label that's been home to the bassist, composer and occasional bandleader since Colours of Chloë (1974), his award-winning leader debut. Now, it's true ...

SWR Big Band: A Fresh Taste of Thad Jones and Frank Foster

by Jack Bowers
December 10, 2006

None of the music on Fresh Taste is actually fresh, having been recorded in 1994-96 when the SWR Big Band was still the SDR, and previously issued on CD--but that doesn't mean it need be any less rewarding to anyone who hasn't yet heard it. To the contrary, those whose antennae are attuned to the straight-ahead grooves espoused by Thad Jones, Frank Foster and the Count Basie Orchestra should find almost everything here immensely invigorating and agreeable.

While he commands ...

The SWR Big Band with Slide Hampton: Jazz Matinee

by Jack Bowers
April 12, 2002

Barbra Streisand sang that “people who need people” are the luckiest people in the world. To that list should be added big–band enthusiasts in and around Stuttgart, Germany, as the SWR Big Band’s Jazz Matinees there just keep getting better and better. The latest in the ensemble’s series of live recordings, showcasing the prodigious talents of American trombonist / composer / arranger Slide Hampton, is an unalloyed pleasure from end to end with Slide and the SWR in peak form ...

The SWR Big Band: Jazz in Concert Featuring Jens Winther

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2001

The SWR Big Band is in danger of becoming Germany’s answer to the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra — but without the string section. Like Metropole, SWR has produced a series of albums in which the orchestra backs well–known guest artists, most of them Americans, but mainly in concert performances rather than the studio settings preferred by Metropole. This album, featuring half a dozen pensive compositions by trumpeter Jens Winther, complements recent enterprises by SWR showcasing the talents of Bob Florence, Phil ...

The SWR Big Band: 50 Jahre

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2001

Germany’s world–class SWR Big Band, which began life in 1951 as Erwin Lehn’s Südfunk–Orchester, marked its golden anniversary this year by releasing not one but three consistently spectacular albums. The first, Goldener Meilenstein, features compositions and arrangements by one of America’s most prominent big–band leaders, Bob Florence, while 50 Jahre, a marvelous two–disc set, covers the years 1956–2000 with thirty–three well–chosen numbers played by the orchestra and a who’s who of Jazz luminaries from the U.S. and abroad. When Lehn ...

The SWR Big Band Live!: Plays the Music of Maria Schneider / Kurt Weill

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

Setting aside for the moment the question of her proficiency as a composer / arranger / conductor, one must concede that Maria Schneider is either a crackerjack (self)–promoter or has one of the best agents in the business. Ten photographs are included with this two–CD set, which was recorded in concert in May 2000 with Germany’s SWR Big Band, and Schneider appears in every one of them, while the liner notes warmly chronicle her musical development from the age of ...

The SWR Big Band with Clark Terry: Jazz Matinee

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

The irrepressible Clark Terry was a spry seventy–seven years old when this “Jazz Matinee” was recorded three years ago in Stuttgart, Germany. To hear him — on trumpet, flugelhorn or singing — is to summon forth images of a much younger man, so infectious is his boundless energy and unfailing good humor. About the latter, drummer Louie Bellson once said: “There has to be something wrong with anybody who can’t get along with Clark Terry.” As to his playing, Miles ...

Now Available: 'Invisible Piano' Featuring Grammy Winning Artists John Beasley And SWR Big Band (O-Tone Music)

Source: AMT Public Relations
May 8, 2026

Invisible Piano (Release Date: 05.08.26) is a bold, behind-the-scenes journey into the creative mind of GRAMMY-winning pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley. Commissioned by the SWR Big Band, Beasley was given a rare invitation: begin at the piano, improvise without boundaries, and transform those raw sparks into sweeping, orchestrated works. The first musical sketches emerged in an unexpected place: the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Museum. Moved by the visual art surrounding him, Beasley began quietly singing melodic ideas into his iPhone—capturing inspiration ...
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