Hervé Jeanne, Hans Malte Witte, Eike Wulfmeier, Stephan Emig - Stories Of Friendship (2022)

The search for the musical "I" often occupies artists throughout their lives. But there are always biographical key moments on the way to musical self-discovery that can inspire and accelerate this process. For Hervé Jeanne, this was a longer stay in France and the exchange with the local music scene.

Hervé Jeanne was born and raised in Luxembourg. After graduating from high school, he moved to Hanover to study jazz double bass. With his spirited, melodic bass playing, he quickly established himself on the North German scene. An important milestone in his career was his collaboration with Roger Cicero, for whom Hervé Jeanne laid the bass foundation for twelve years. At the same time, there were other sideman activities, including with the New York Voices, The Manhattan Transfer, Bill Ramsey and many others.

The sudden death of Roger Cicero was the trigger for Hervé Jeanne to rethink and change things. “I moved to the south of France in 2018 for half a year. The French way of life and the reactions to my playing have inspired and encouraged me to write my own pieces and create personal projects. For the choice of my fellow musicians, it felt natural to ask colleagues with whom I am on the same wavelength. This is how the Friendship idea came about.”

A good friend of Hervé Jeanne is the saxophonist Hans Malte Witte. "I've known him for many years, but we had never worked together on a project before Stories Of Friendship." In pianist Eike Wulfmeier and drummer Stephan Emig, Hervé Jeanne found other musical companions who fit perfectly into his album concept: "Eike's piano playing is always full of creative and very tasteful surprises. Stephan brings his own interpretation of jazz music by incorporating percussion instruments. Add to that Hans Malte's versatile playing and my approach as the 'interface' between traditional and modern jazz - it was very exciting to find a common denominator."

The album Stories Of Friendship is now available, and the first listen shows that the different musical biographies and individual temperaments of the four musicians are extremely invigorating for the work. Stories Of Friendship shows a wide range from relaxed, lyrical moments, soulful and pop-like touches to modern jazz and exciting passages.

For Hervé Jeanne it was not intended to be a pure “bassist album”. "I wanted to give each band member space to develop." The colleagues were also involved in the composition. This variety has its share in the fact that there are so many colorful facets to discover on Stories Of Friendship.

"I already have clear ideas about my music," says Hervé Jeanne, "but my aim is to use music to entertain oneself and not to lead a monologue." And that is also where the special appeal of Stories Of Friendship lies: four friends come to the musical exchange of ideas and invite listeners to participate in their ideas, memories, fantasies and visions.

Hans Malte Witte studied jazz saxophone in Hilversum with Ferdinand Povel and in New York with Dick Oatts, Rich Perry and Seamus Blake.

Hans-Malte feels at home in a wide variety of styles: modern jazz, swing, soul, latin jazz. He worked together with Ack van Rooyen, Giorgio Crobu, Götz Alsmann, Helmut Zerlett, Gottfried Böttger, Reinhard Mey and many others.

From 2000 to 2019 he was a lecturer and big band leader at the University of Lüneburg. As a lecturer, he regularly gives jazz workshops in northern Germany for the State Music Council.

The jazz pianist and composer Eike Wulfmeier has long been more than an insider tip on the German jazz scene. He has received many awards, including second place in the 'New German Jazz Prize' and the 'Jazzpodiums Prize'. He runs a trio and septet and composes and arranges for a number of other formations such as the Big Band Fette Hupe and others. Eike Wulfmeier gives workshops and Master classes and has been teaching jazz piano and combo at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media since 2008.

In his playing, Stephan Emig combines conventional drums with the sound possibilities of percussion instruments to create an independent, creative style.

His references include: triosence, Hamid Baroudi, Klaus Lage, Gregor Meyle, The Voice of Germany in Concert, Stefanie Heinzmann, Luke Mockridge, Jazzkantine, Marquess, NuHussel Orchestra and many more.

He studied at the Los Angeles College of Music, is now a sought-after lecturer himself and has a teaching position at the Institute for Music at the University of Osnabrück. He is the author of the book "5 ways to more musicality".