Gramophoniacs – swing & blues
Back on everybody’s demand: The Gramophoniacs from Saarbrücken and Mannheim with the swing and blues of the 20s to 40s. With their retro sound, they have played their way into the hearts of their audiences at countless concerts in recent years and are a real insider tip, especially among Lindy Hop dancers.
The infinite chocolate jar – Swing & blues
The Infinite Chocolate Jar play Swing, Jazz and Blues for dancers. Inspired by the originators and innovators of the different Jazz eras, they also bring their own ideas and experiences into their arrangements. Their musical repertoire focuses on the Swing grooves of the 30s-50s, but also dares to explore other genres within the continuum of African-American and Afro Diasporic music.
But it’s not just about the music for them. Music is culture, and through music they want to inspire a culture of belonging and exchange while highlighting the diversity within both the music and the community. This is also what the name represents: Life is like an infinite jar of chocolates – and each bite comes with a sweet surprise…
Talking about surprises, you’d be dazed by the many talents in the band: The seven band members live in Berlin, but come from five different corners of the world (Belgium, Germany, Tenerife, USA, Venezuela), play at least ten different instruments and probably own twice as many. Next to being passionate musicians, they also have plenty of other skills that they put to work in- and outside of the Swing community. Which ones? Ask them yourself!
But before that, rest assured that they will bring their coolest riffs for your dancing passion and pour fire and driving rhythms into your swinging hearts!
Check out the band’s instagram for videos and music
Michael van mervyk – blues
When the 2 metre tall man takes to the stage, plays his old resonator guitar with a slide and sings his songs and stories about the ups and downs of life, coffee, delicious food and love in his warm, rich voice, genre boundaries don’t matter. MvM is a ‘songster’ who travels from city to city to play his songs as the soundtrack to a night out in clubs, bars, pubs, festivals and living rooms.
Songsters like Mississipi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy or Lead Belly played for every audience and had the right sound for every situation. Michael van Merwyk follows in their tradition: he plays to blues audiences, at singer/songwriter festivals and in pubs and varies his repertoire as he pleases. Nothing is styled and optimised here. It’s all about the music – and bringing it to the people.
Dr John or Johnny Cash singing songs by Judas Priest and The Clash, with John Lee Hooker or Blind Willie Johnson on guitar: that’s how it could sound – a bit weird, but fun. Michael van Merwyk developed his style where songsters usually are: on the road. ‘My school was pubs, clubs and parties. I’ve been singing songs and telling stories for more than 35 years. I mostly play my own compositions, but also my own versions of other musicians’ songs. A good song is a good song.’
He regularly tours throughout Europe – from Norway to the Mediterranean coast, from the Atlantic coast to Moscow. Michael van Merwyk has been touring internationally successfully since 1984. He has received several awards, including ‘Best Blues Singer’ and ‘Best Blues Guitarist’ at the ‘German Blues Awards’, won the ‘German Blues Challenge’ and took second place with his band First European at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis/USA, where the quartet prevailed with their independent Euro style in a field of 124 acts from 16 countries. In 2023, MvM was once again honoured with the Blues Award for Best Solo Artist.
Check out MvM’s music: Youtube / Instagram / Facebook
Photograph of MvM by Cora Stern