Johannes Enders

One For Three (live) Johannes Enders

It has been a tradition of the JazzBaltica Festival for 20 years now to open the weekend in Salzau with a resident ensemble, the JazzBaltica Ensemble.. Many well-known musicians, like Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Bengt Arne Wallin, Tim Hagans, Steven Bernstein, Lars Danielsson or Wolfgang Haffner have conducted the ensemble, contributing to the success of this 'Small Big Band' festival, unique in Europe. When Johannes Enders, a member of this ensemble for many years, took over the organisation, many posts in the ensemble were newly filled, creating a welcome element of surprise. But the biggest surprise for the audience turned out to be a suite written by Johannes Enders which outshone all the former performances of the ensemble. It spurred the ensemble on to deliver top performances and turned the concert into an incomparable experience. ONE FOR THREE, which is what the Suite was called, was dedicated to the three great brothers of modern jazz history: Elvin, Thad and Hank Jones. Enders, who has always emphasized that his overriding commitment was to the 'overall' sound, had delivered his masterpiece. Returning to his influences, he translated his hommage to that great arranger of modern jazz, Thad Jones, into his own contemporary musical language and, while paying tribute to Elvin Jones, the musical companion of John Coltrane, he also honours the master of the modern tenor saxophone. What really moved musicians and audience alike at this great Salzau concert was the second movement, dedicated to the living piano legend, Hank Jones. Before the start of that final part of the concert, Hank Jones came onstage in person and bowed to Enders and the Ensemble's moving performance with a rendition of his own composition 'We're All Together', as arranged by Enders for the Ensemble. The audience was treated to one of those magic moments in Jazz that remain legendary for generations to come. I am delighted that this great concert can now be made available to a larger public, a concert which adds another great author and musician to the spectrum of German jazz.