The Hamburg Blues Band
Over 40 years of St. Pauli Blues! For four decades, five guys have been touring through packed clubs, belonging to the best that the European blues scene has to offer. The Hamburg Blues Band stands for intense, cleverly arranged, and live stunning roots blues that regularly shakes purists mentally. The band, led by the often Joe Cocker-compared singer Gert Lange, mixes hard-hitting guitar blues rock with soul, psychedelic, rhythm & blues, boogie, and even ventures into jazz territories—joyfully and traditionally. In 1982, Hamburg singer Gert Lange and English saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith spontaneously founded the Hamburg Blues Band in the legendary Hamburg "Onkel Pö" after a midnight session. "Dick Heckstall-Smith was our key to the British blues scene, our Brit-blues connection." "He was for us what Alexis Korner was for the Stones and many others," Lange says today. So it is no surprise that over the years, the band has toured with the stars of the scene: Jack Bruce, Chris Farlowe, Mike Harrison, Arthur Brown, and guitar heroes like Clem Clempson and Miller Anderson becoming band members. "Moreover, we were fortunate that Dick Heckstall-Smith introduced us to the lyricist legend Pete Brown (Cream), who wrote our lyrics until his passing in 2023 and was also a welcome guest on our tours."
Hamburg's renowned blues/rock shouter Gert Lange, voice of various commercials (including Carlsberg beer) as well as the title song of the road movie "Burning Life," which won the German Film Award in Gold, and the fabulous rhythm section, bassist Reggie Worthy (Ike & Tina Turner, Eric Burdon, Stoppok), drummer Eddie Filipp (Inga Rumpf, Sweet, Clem Clempson Band), and the exceptional guitarist Krissy Matthews, who is only 32 years old, form a tight-knit group that works with consistent punch, complemented by their ability to control dynamics on demand and season with perfect harmony singing.
Names like Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher, or Pete Townsend come up when talking about the young exceptional guitarist Krissy Matthews, who is only 32 years old. They are all said to have influenced the guitar style of this young guitarist, and indeed, Matthews' playing is anything but one-dimensional. Sometimes he sounds fresh and raw, then again quirky and wild. He first stepped on stage at the age of three, got his first guitar at eight, and was caught by the blues at eleven. A year later, he met John Mayall at a performance in Norway, and the godfather of white blues did not hesitate long to take the twelve-year-old on stage. Fellow musicians, critics, and the press have praised him; "This guy is the real deal" (Beth Hart), "Oh boy, this kid can play" (Hubert Sumlin).
Vanja Sky is Croatia's answer to Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones. An artistic career could hardly develop faster. Five years after learning to play the guitar, Vanja recorded her debut album with renowned artists from the international blues scene. The highlights of her lightning career include close collaboration with greats like Bernard Allison and Mike Zito, as well as her debut album "Bad Penny," recorded in the Bessie Blues Studios in Stantonville, Tennessee, the workshop of Grammy-winning producer Jim Gaines. Followed by the second, significantly rockier album "Woman Named Trouble," which was chosen by ROCKS MAGAZIN as one of the best albums released in 2020 alongside those of AC/DC, Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen!
Even after 40 years, the Hamburg Blues Band is always good for surprises & presents its unique sound far from any clichés. On the "Friends For A LIVEtime VOL. II“ tour, the audience can expect a musical fireworks display with real characters and originals.
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
