It is a thunderbolt, a hymn to life, a bow to role models, a devotion to family, friends and the music. Dedication shows a matured musician with a strong personality and a precise vision, which enthrals her fellow musicians Martin Wind (b) and Jonas Burgwinkel (dr) as well as the guests Tim Hagans (tp) and Ardie Walz (narrator). "I dedicated this CD to everyone who was and is important in my life, from the immediate environment with family and friends to personalities who impressed and influenced me."
New is the skilful addition of texts, the exciting setting of the famous speech by Martin Luther King and the musical inclusion of the poem "Invictus", which means a lot to Nelson Mandela. Mandela also introduces Helfrich to her very personal past as she grew up in Namibia, where her parents became involved in an anti-apartheid organization and took her to the black townships as a child. "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley gave Mandela strength during his long imprisonment, creating a dialogue between word and melody in my music, the ostinato bass may sound threatening, but the melody becomes more and more confident and allows pauses for the most important message: I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul! '"
The opener "Invictus" goes congenially into "Chan's Song" by Herbie Hancock. "I love the movie Round Midnight by Bertrand Tavernier with Dexter Gordon, and especially the scene on the ocean where the composition is set in. The movie with Gordon and my other role models Hancock and Shorter was a great inspiration. To become a jazz musician. " Thelonious Monk, the quirky pianist who became Anke Helfrich's star in her musical life, also receives a dedication. "Never straightforward, but always coming to where he wanted to go, so in that sense, dedication is a retrospective look at what was and an outlook on the future."
The heart of the CD is a twelve-minute setting of Martin Luther King's famous speech "I Have a Dream". Anke Helfrich has accurately transcribed the speech melody of the epochal speech, which harmonizes suddenly clearly audible melody line and thus underlies Luther King's speech. The touching speech is thus adapted to the rousing gospel song, congenial to the mood. Martin Luther King's dreams, shared by the black civil rights activist in 1963 with 250,000 people in Washington, is sometimes translated literally by the trio. In "Let Freedom Ring", the band releases all lines, resumes the groovy opening theme, before taking a general break before the final set "Free At Last". "I started to set the speech in 2013. I've been collecting the ideas for a while.
The band agrees when asked about their favorite piece: "Sagrada Familia", not dedicated to the famous church in Barcelona, but dedicated to the pianist's family. "My family is my support, she is always there for me, but we are not always holy," she smiles. The members of their musical family on dedication call the ballad one of the most beautiful pieces they were allowed to play. That Tim Hagans guest on the CD, have simply surrendered, says Anke Helfrich. "I knew it had to be trumpet again, Tim Hagans, I heard a CD from him years ago, and I found it interesting what he does because he likes to play out, but also very imaginative and energetic irritated, he can play very openly.
Maybe it's really not important to release a new CD every two years - if followed by such an incredibly coherent and gripping CD as Dedication, the wait was more than worth it. Anke Helfrich deserves a lot of praise for an album with humor, surprising sound components and unbelievable depth, which leaves one untouched.
