AAA Culture Blues Artists

Founded in 1979, City Blues Connection influenced the german Blues szene in the 1980s.

Among the big number of gigs in clubs during festivals important concerts have been monthy gigs at the most important german club "Onkel Pö" in Hamburg and the gig as top act at the  "Tanz auf dem Vulkan" festival with an audience of 8000 people.

After few concerts an drecording sessions in germany, switzerland, austria and spain in the last 20 years continuous gigs and recording sessions since 2016.

In October 2016 premiere of his new band, once again boosting the earlied powerful ensembles: 3 female and 2 male singers, 12 horns, piano/keyboard,2 guitars (solo guitar & slide guitar), blues harp drums, bass are offering a broad range of sound and styles of Bllues & Boogie.

In July 2017 the second edition of the 1985s LP "Louisiana Red & The City Blues Connection - World On Fire" will be  released.

Premiere of the program "Old Man On The Road Again", with presents from 2017 ongoing the new audio CD production "Ana Liza".

2019 AAA Culture published the City Blues Connection maxisingle 40 Years and the double album 40 Years. City Blues Connection 1979 - 2019 with 32 songs remastered reissues and new recording out of 40 Years of band history.

October 16 2019 remarkable 40th anniversary concert of City Blues Connection as opening of the Festival Jazz & The City, Salzburg.

Diskography (abstract):

Album (LP) "City Blues Connection" 1979

Album (LP) "Bluesin'n'Boogin'" 1980

Album (LP) "I Do Not Play No Rock'n'Roll" 1984

Album (LP) "Louisiana Red & City Blues Connection - World On Fire" 1985

Album (audio CD) "Louisiana Red & City Blues Connection - World On Fire" 2017

Album (audio CD) "City Blues Connection - Anna Liza" 2018

Double album (audio CD) "40 Years. City Blues Connection 1979 - 2019"  

For Details: www.citybluesconnection.com

Photographer: Susi Graf

Natural Blues - Elementary power: barnstorming, diversified, groovy, danceable

Natural Blues is the 1982 by Heiko Petcke and Norbert Egger (both City Blues Connection) in Hamburg founded Blues formation with flexible instrumentation. The ensemble is performng their barnstorming, diversified, grovvy and danceable elementary power since the 1980s appropriate to the dimensions of the events in various instrumentations. Primarily, the nucleus has been Blues harp, guitar and vocals. Since the harp player Heiko Petcke died in 2017 Claudia Chaloupka (vocals), Stefan Schubert (guitar & vocals), Hubert Hofherr (Blues harp) and Norbert Egger (guitar and vocals), are the core. In Juli 2018 Dominik Wallner (piano/keyboards and vocals), Peter Bachmayer (drums) and Raimund Steinbacher (bass) joined Natural Blues.

... more information, press text and audition

For details:

www.naturalblues.de

Photographer: Susi Graf

Musician, composer and writer, born in 1956.

Music & composition:

Norbert Egger & the City Blues Connection: With the LP "City Blues Connection" 1979  increasingly influence on the (at that time) wild Hamburg scene. Starting with the second LP "Bluesin'n'Boogin'" 1980, touring throughout germany with very successful performances, i.e. as top act on the "Tanz auf dem Vulkan" in 1982 with 8000 festival visotors.

An important milestone has been the third LP "I Do Not Play No Rock'n'Roll", which presents already in 1984 the very powerful sound of his electric slide guitar, as well as the band. By this and his touring throughout the important German Blues, Jazz & Rock clubs and the important Blues festivals he has been attributed as one of the best German slide guitarists.  

In 1985 LP #4, "Louisiana Red & City Blues Connection - World On Fire" has been published.

Norbert Egger had TV and radio apperances and many of his songs have been played in radio. From 1990 to 2015 sporadically performances in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Unreleased recordings "Watch Your Step" from 2002 to 2005 and Mallorca recordings in 2013. 

In October 2016 premiere of his new band, once again boosting the earlied powerful ensembles: The additional women singers Elia Antunez, "Anschi" Graf und Cladia Spitzer are opeing a new overall vocals experience and open new areas. The multiple power horn section, the incredible versatile piano/keybord play Livia Hollo, the outstanding guitarist Peter Baxrainer, the brilliant drummer Radu Buzac and the magnificent staedy bass player Tobias Czifra provide with Norbert Egger (vocals & slide guitar) a remarkable varied and with its power catching music.

Premiere of the program "Old Man On The Road Again", with presents from 2017 ongoing the new audio CD production "Ana Liza" .

Diskographie:

LP "City Blues Connection" 1979

LP "Bluesin'n'Boogin'" 1980

LP "I Do Not Play No Rock'n'Roll" 1984

LP "Louisiana Red & City Blues Connection - World On Fire" 1985

Photographer: Susi Graf

Auditions:

Leave You In The Morning (Watch You Step, unreleased)

Since the publishing of the debut album "Welcome To My Club" the Blues Rock collective round songwriter/guitarist Tim Funke made bid steps ahead.

Besides many crowded club gigs in whole germany (highlight: support act for the american Tex-Mex stars Tito & Tarantula), the LP impressed the press like the scene bible "Bluesnews" and the Osnabrueck city newspaper "Stadtblatt".

Live THE CLUB round Stratocast player Tim Funke presents a diversified mixture: Beside roots-oriented songs like "My Baby Is Gone" are also part of the show as modern Blues Rock songs, soulful ballads or reverences to the master guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Modern honest Blues Rock - Welcome to the club!

For more than 40 years, Wolfgang Kalb has been playing and singing country blues, as well as ragtime music, gospel songs and jazz ballads. He interprets the songs of the old masters in his unique way using the fingerpicking style or bottleneck method on his Dobro(resonator guitar), changing the music and lyrics and adapting them to his own personal situation. His repertoire includes the styles of his role models Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and other country blues artists from the 20’s and 30’s. The musical influences of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker are also clearly evident. His voice is honest, distinctive and authentic, but still sounds very much like the original. 

Already in the 1980s he shared the stage with regional artists such as Martin Philippi from Nuremberg and blues greats such as Champion Jack Dupree, Louisiana Red and Blind John Davis.

After taking a break from giving concerts that lasted several years, he started to tour again six years ago and has become firmly established in the German country blues scene.

As well as appearing at established blues festivals, he plays regular gigs at well-known jazz and blues clubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (New Orleans Jazz Festival in Wendelstein, Schmölzer Bluestage, Jazz Weekends, Bluesnight Meppen, Jazz T(w)oday, New Orleans Festival Fürth, Jazzclub Salzburg, Bühler Bluesclub in Switzerland, Summer Blues in Basel, Valle Maggia Blues Festival, Locarno, support for R & B Allstars/Spencer Davis Group, Blues'n'Jazz Festival in Rapperswil, featuring Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, etc.).

He is a welcome guest at previews of art exhibitions and as an opening act for bands. At church concerts he presents his special gospel blues show.

Wolfgang Kalb visited New York in May 2006, where he met blues veterans David HoneyboyEdwards and Robert Lockwood Jr., who has passed away in summer 2006.

At his concerts, the musical journey through the history of this music is accompanied by stories about the blues, the origin of the songs and his personal experiences. 

All of the songs were recorded live in the unique-musique studios in Bamberg, Germany, without overdubbing, re-recording, double-tracking, sampling or the like of it.

Photographer: Markus Rauch