Duo Elegance (Dave Friedman and Peter Weniger)
In the course of their musical partnership, David Friedman and Peter Weniger have developed a kind of intuitive and interactive sense and a love for spontaneous music making. As a result they decided to go into the studio without any preparation or pre-conceived concepts. They used compositions drawn from the great american songbook as a kind of loose framework and turned these pieces into “on the spot”, intimate musical landscapes.
The results of this informal recording turned out to be so compelling, that they decided to release this material as a CD, entitled “Rétro”.
The press response has been nothing short of astounding. “Music of incredible depth and beauty”, said “Jazz Podium. “The best jazz release of 2010!” praised “Jazz Thing”. Rétro has already been nominated for a German Grammy.
Live, this duo is nothing short of spellbinding. Their combined sound has an orchestral quality, way beyond the seeming reality of only two musicians playing together. Their highest priority is, simply, the moment.
David Friedman, internationally renowned vibraphonist, marimbist, composer and jazz educator, has his own musical message, born of fascinatingly diverse musical influences. Few jazz musicians can claim as broad a spectrum of performing and recording experience, with such varied musical personalities as Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Berio, Bobby McFerrin, Wayne Shorter and Yoko Ono. The list doesn`t stop there. Friedman has been heard either live or on recordings with, among others, Joe Henderson, Horace Silver, Johnny Griffin, Jane Ira Bloom, Ron Carter and John Scofield. His compositions are featured on Chet Baker`s award winning Enja release, Peace, with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Joe Chambers. Friedman is also the featured soloist on this recording.
Since he finished his studies at the Cologne Conservatory of Music (with a grade of “summa cum laude”) Peter Weniger has been active as composer and band leader as well as teacher/ ”jazz educator” in many workshops at home and abroad.
He received numerous prizes and awards and toured extensively.
Since the beginning of the winter term 1999/2000 Peter Weniger has been professor at the Berlin University of Arts teaching at the Jazz Institute Berlin (JIB), a joint venture founded in 2005 by the University of Arts and the College Of Music “Hanns Eisler”.
