"hartkamp" is a new act from Germany with the singer Anne Hartkamp - vocals,piano, Bernd Kaftan - keyboards, piano, André Nendza - Kontrabass, Bass Fritz Wittek - drums, percussion.
The music genre is: singer/songwriter ( German singing) with excellent lyrics
Released September 2005
hartkamp
Her much-admired great-aunt lived through nearly an entire century, during which she and her husband established a puppet theatre that remains legendary to this day. Perhaps story-telling is in Anne Hartkamp’s blood: Addicted even as a child to the magic of words and music, Hartkamp devoured all the books she could get her hands on, and when she was not reading or acting out wild plots, she was singing. She learned to play the violin, the piano and the guitar, began to sing classical songs, then turned to jazz, Brazilian music and the songs of Joni Mitchell, Jacques Brel and Kurt Weill. This versatile musician composed pieces for her own groups, sang as a studio musician for pop, radio and film productions, wrote arrangements for her a cappella quartet and performed on stage with well-known jazz musicians or sometimes alone.
The voice and focal point of her hartkamp group, Anne Hartkamp writes the kind of songs you love more every time you hear them. With her clear, intense voice and direct, poetic gaze she creates images of strangely everyday phenomena, a relentless stocktaking of the world inside and out; she poses questions, dreams, jeers and dares to touch things; she gets the German language to flow and fly, vibrate and gyrate.
The music of hartkamp is as variegated as the lyrics and defies attribution to any particular genre, its many facets revealing ever new colours, taking on ever new forms. It combines the influence of songwriter pop, jazz and chanson, creating a style of its own that stands comparison with the unaffected, wilful style of Hartkamp’s Anglo-American singer/songwriter colleagues.
Yet these heights could hardly be reached without the support of exceptional fellow musicians – Anne Hartkamp has found them in the pianist and keyboard player Bernd Kaftan, the bassist André Nendza and the drummer Fritz Wittek. Far more than mere accompanists, each of them contributes to the special magic of hartkamp with a distinctive musicality and personality of his own.
The members of hartkamp are:
Anne Hartkamp, songs, compositions and texts;
Bernd Kaftan, keyboards;
André Nendza, bass;
Fritz Wittek, drums
Anne Hartkamp's songs are sound takes of the times, recorded from the perspective of a cool distance, recited with an undertone of irony. "Nimm dich, wie du bist" - Take yourself as you are - she sings, and almost in the same breath she puts the longing to be different into words: "Schön, sensitiv, sexy und klug" - Beautiful, sensitive, sexy and clever. Instruments gallop, feet stamp on the floor. "Nur cool sein, cool sein, cool sein musst du selber" - Be cool, be cool, be cool, that you've got to do on your own. The world of appearances spins around like a merry-go-round. With words as piercing as a scalpel she dissects the frigidity of human emotions. "Sinne stumpf, zu schwach und zu dumpf" - Senses dull, too weak and too numb. The drums rumble, the keyboard hammers metallically. Impressive, the versatility of Hartkamp's voice: Sometimes, to the intense pleasure of her audience, she lets her inner schweinehund howl, growl, yap and snort. Then, oh so fragilely, the voice of an angel breathes into the microphone: "Ich bin von einem anderen Stern" - I'm from a different star. She seats herself at the piano and dreams of flying. "Hoch hinaus" - Up and away. Her voice grows wings, takes off, floats through space on feathery pinions, accompanied by the soft tones of Bernd Kaftan's melodica. Anne Hartkamp masters the art of singing about feelings without stumbling into the trap of sentimentality.
And she treats herself and her listeners to plenty of time for repose. Dreams of the island where there is nothing to do but grin at the sun. Head raised in a pensive upward gaze, mouth spreading into a broad smile. Cut. Hard drumbeats bring the singer and audience back to the harshness of reality with days and hours "angefüllt bis zum Platzen" - filled to bursting. One of the many images that etches itself into our minds in the course of the evening.
Anne Hartkamp’s descriptions of the stars and time, of love and existence are irrepressibly, playfully, beguilingly full of life. Her lyrics and compositions are modern German songs, an entirely new blend bearing the unmistakable influences of chanson, jazz, cacophony and pop.
A cornucopia for the ear: outstanding musicians, great songs, a wonderful, richly faceted voice. - A cornucopia for the mind: tight-knit, fresh language. - A cornucopia for the heart: wit and warmth, flight and return landings.
Discography
Glücklich (2005) JARO 4254-2 / Hartkamp Mehr Sex (Single) (2005) JARO 4266-2 / Hartkamp
