AL JAWALA
Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | Established. Jan 01, 2000 | INDIE
Music
Press
The concentrated energy of the two saxophones blows away all cultural barriers - Richard Schuberth
With two saxophones Al Jawala generates the fire of a whole gypsy brass band - Janeck Altshuler / La Bolschevita
Wonderful horn section, ethereal voices, the full range! - Intro
Pure Euphoria! - Oberhessische Presse
„Äl Jawala pleasantly stand out from the Balkan-dance-hype.“ - Stefan Franzen, Zeitung zum Sonntag
„An absolutely emotive band that surely will get any crowd going“ - Drums and Percussion
„...And with their adventurous approach they share out extremely danceable music, which finds its audience as well at Balkan-DJ Shantel´ s Bucovina Club in Frankfurt, as in Bucharest, since long ago Äl Jawala already has conquered a devoted fan base also in Romania. - Folker!
„Challenging, fiery, fascinating, cosmopolitan, technically exiting but still bluntly accessible“ - Drums and Percussion
„(Äl Jawala) amaze with dirty, straight forward Gypsy- and Klezmer-Grooves and 100% biological beats, which still feature Drum´n´Bass - and Ragga – effects. No wonder, they are a popular party-live-act. Dominating styles are Oros, Coceks and Zeybeks from South Serbia to Turkey. The combined power of the saxophones blows away any cultural border.“ - Concerto Musikmagazin, Richard Schuberth
„A real live band focused on getting to the point. From time to time the Balkan steps back in favour of an oriental-, blues-, jazz- or soul-feeling.
The urban beat-quality succeeds even without computer. A delightful album!“
- Folker!
“A small band with a powerful sound and great stage confidence. The rhythm section is folky at times and funky at others. The frontline proves that a horn section is no longer a men’ s world. And we really admire the way they express themselves so freely in their music.“ - Jury
„The quintet from Freiburg unrespectfully blends anything that pleases them, and hereby creates a distinctive new sound, which fascinated not only the jury but also the audience in Dortmund. - Folker!
„It absolutely is Worldmusic, but it’s too independent to come across as fashionable.“ - Landbote, Winterthur
Bio
Al Jawala started in summer 2000 as a busking band in South Germany. They hand-made their own CDs and sold them during their streets gigs in Germany, France and Switzerland. Balkan Big Beat Nights they called their concert- and party series, they created 2002 in Freiburg. Their sound was raw - a double duo - two Percussionists and two Saxophones. In 2004 Bassist Daniel Verdier from Marseille completed the band.
Soon Al Jawala shared stages with Shantel, Emir Kusturica and other pioneers of the Balkan-Beat movement. Since that time the quintet Al Jawala (Arab. the travellers) achieved a great reputation all over Europe as an awesome live band. Oriental Gypsy brass mixed with urban club-culture and shared it out to the audience with electrifying energy!
Al Jawala is a musical culture shock! A listener in Bucharest described their music as "German Quality, Balkan Soul"
Al Jawala are:
Steffi Schimmer - Alto Saxophone
Krischan Lukanow - Tenor Saxophone
Markus Schumacher - Percussion // Synths
Daniel Pellegrini - Drums // Didgeridoo
Daniel Verdier - Bass // Guitar
Band Members
Links