Jazzfest Berlin

We’ll be playing Jazzfest Berlin on the 3rd of November and we’re looking forward to this big concert. It will be a double gig with John Scofields Überjam, here you find more information, see you!

Tour Diary Pt. 2

No, this is not us at Abbey Road Studios… this is the village square of Bezau, a lovely little town in Austria! There we played our mild summer nights slot at Bezau Beatz Festival, incorporating the village fountain and church bells to great success: Matthias Schriefl bubbled a refreshing underwater trumpet solo and Hannes Billich went all duet during his piano solo with the church tower clock striking the hour – unfortunately we had to leave both the clock tower and the fountain in Bezau. Saying our goodbyes was hard, we hope to be returning some day! Thanks for everything Alfred, it was amazing!

Lott festival was another highlight!:) Sunshine, camping tents in every colour, right next to the small village of Raversbeuren and bands from all over the world! We seized the chance and made friends with “Yes Sir Boss” (Hello to Bristol!), “Corebeaux” (Salut to France!) and many greetings to Dan of “Skindred” (Cheers to Newport!)!

And since there are almost no pics of our live sound engineer to be found, here’s a pretty series of him and our bass player, trying to out-grimace each other… and failing to do so at the same time.

We went on to Hafensommer Festival in Wurzburg, the last gig of our summer tour. We couldn’t have expected more! You can find some impressions right here (© Foto: Ulf Cronenberg, Würzburg, www.flytotherainbow.de).

So maybe we’ll see each other on September 26 when we are playing at Bluval Festival in Straubing, the next day when we are playing at Kulturhof Langenzenn or on November 3 at the Jazzfest Berlin where it is an incredible honor for us to share the stage with the legend himself, John Scofield! We can’t wait!

Cheers!
Monika and Bigband

Tour Diary Pt. 1

Our first time in the capital… it was a blast! Just what are the odds of letting 18 musicians loose in Berlin and have them walk into each other eventually? And why do Berliners jump off this house at Alexanderplatz? Or are these just disappointed tourists? Thanks to our catering team and our bus drivers (a job that is seemingly best suited to our brass section:)

Back in Munich: playing the Milla was once again amazing. It is quite possible that we play there more regularly from autumn on… we would be thrilled to do so!
We were headed back north just after that to play Fusion Festival… and what a festival it was! The most lovingly put together works of art, visual installations, optical illusions, just mindblowing. Our piece „Irrlicht“ would have felt right at home in an art forest full of lights and colors. Alice in Wonderland was ever present somehow and our visual artist Sascha Bank could run riot to her hearts content with the 3D artists of Urban Screen.

The journey continued.
Our next stop was Alto Adige Jazz Festival in Italy. We had to supply ourselves with 18 reflective vests (it’s the law) in order to use the motorway. So why not turn this utter useless stuff into shiny stage outfits? No sooner said than done:) We play castle Sigmundskron in Bozen and the dome square in Brixed. The atmosphere was sensational! Oh you delicious „Schlutzkrapfen“, we already miss you!

Right now, we are rehearsing new music and hope to see you in Bezau, Austria on July 30, at Lott Festival on August 3 or at the Hafensommer Festival in Würzburg on August 9. Can’t wait! See you soon!

Buona Giornata!
Moni and Bigband

Television debut @ BR Puls

We made our television debut! BR Puls named us Band of the Week along with an invitation to their studio to do an interview and to shoot two live performances (and let us drink impressive amounts of coffee)!
By the way, we easily set a new record by cramming 18 musicians and visual artist Sascha Bank into the recording studio and beat German rap veterans Blumentopf by
doing so…
You can watch the results on the BR Puls site or on Youtube. Have fun!

see you soon,
Monika und Bigband

June Tour!

June is packed!
On Saturday we kicked off our summer tour with an open air concert at Munich Marienplatz, heart and center of the city. But already on Friday we are heading to Berlin, our first time in the capital, to play a double gig (June 22 and 23) at the B-Flat!
For our last summer gig in Munich we will be returning to the wonderful Milla Club, that already hosted us in May. We immediately felt at home there and the acoustics were fantastic, so we are really looking forward to playing there again on June 23!
Once again we are headed north, playing Fusion Festival on June 26! How great is that? Sadly we cannot stay to see some other acts, but Alto Adige Jazz Festival in Italy is waiting, a truly one-of-a-kind festival with loads of fresh and exciting bands doing insane stuff. I already had the chance to visit Bolzano last week, one of our two festival-stops there, and it is such a gorgeous city!
We can’t wait to play all these concerts and hope to see you there!
Cheers
Monika and Bigband

CD-Review in “Le Monde”!

We are happy to present to you our first CD review from France! It’s “Le Monde”!!!
Bisous,
Monika et Bigband

“Chanteuse et guitariste allemande, Monika Roscher, 29 ans, est à la tête d’un formidable orchestre, à la fois classiquement dans l’instrumentation du big band et groupe de rock par l’apport de sonorités électrico- électro et une manière de pousser la rythmique vers le binaire. L’écriture de Monika Roscher est aussi pour une part nettement inscrite dans la culture pop-rock. Son chant sera parfois évocateur de celui, voilé, de l’Islandaise Björk. Avec un grand plus de chaleur et de naturel en faveur de Monika Roscher. Cet orchestre, issu d’un projet de fin d’études de la jeune femme au conservatoire de Munich, et sa musique sont une superbe découverte. Une grande claque même. Avec dans les parties chansons (Future3, Human Machines…) de quoi en remontrer à des groupes pop bien plus en vue, et dans les parties instrumentales, une inventivité constante pour une musique de pleine expressivité.” Sylvain Siclier

Editors Pick at the Downbeat Magazine

Our CD ” Failure in Wonderland” was chosen for the editors pick in the
US Jazzmagazine “Downbeat” in April. You can find the whole editors pick here under  “reviews”.
Cheers, Monika und Bigband

Hafensommer Wuerzburg 09.08.

We are going to play at ” Hafensommer Wuerzburg” on August 9th. It will be a double show with Nik Bärtsch’s RONIN. Bring your goggles, fins and swimming trunks, because it’s a floating stage…we already prepare for a stagedive during our song “die Parade” which is about a collective jump off a cliff!:)

Thank you, Initiative Musik!

We are happy to announce that the national artist support program “Initiative Musik” is supporting our 2013 tour!
Thank you very much, you’re great!

White Noise /Black Silence Festival in Munich

It was wonderful in Munich at the White Noise/Black Silence Festival!
Our live-video of that show will be coming out soon, cheers!

Tourstart in Nuremberg

Thanks to all of you who where at the soldout MUZ
in Nuremberg, we had such a great time with you! Thanks a lot!:)
We are looking  forward to play in Munich on Sunday at the White Noise and Black Silence Festival at Gasteig,

See you soon!
Monika and Bigband

Interview with Bushwah!

This news is a little belated, but definitely worth a post! Wilhelm Wisenheimer from bushwah.com did this wonderful interview which you can read below. Be sure to check out his blog, too!

Interview with Bushwah

Concerts in March: Nuremberg and Munich

On March 27th we are playing at Musikzentrale in Nuremberg, doors open at 8pm.
On March 31st, Easter Sunday, we are playing the White Noise/ Black Silence Festival at Gasteig, Munich. We are happy to be sharing the stage with Moop Mama. So when you have finished (or frustratedly called off) your Easter Egg hunt, head over to the Gasteig!
Here’s the trailer for the festival!

White Noise / Black Silence-Festival Trailer 2013 from Open Video Medien Labor on Vimeo.

New concerts confirmed and US-release!

We are happy to play Bezau Beatz, Austria, Lott-Festival near Koblenz, Bluval Festival in Straubing and we are looking forward to returning to Langenzenn in September, home sweet home!:) For more details check out “gigs”.

You can still order our new record here on our site, (“shop”) and support us directly as a band.
The US-release month is March, but if you want to be faster, send us an e-mail.

Cheers,
Monika Roscher

Prize at the BuJazzO competition 2013

We’ve been awarded the third prize for “Schnee aus Venedig” (Snow of Venice) at the Federal Jazz Orchestra of Germany (BuJazzO) Composition Contest 2013! I’m looking forward to the rehearsal in march and am curious how this great band’s interpretation of our piece will sound like. See you soon!