"Fat sound from forceful
saxophones."
Lübecker Nachrichten
"...this evening is going to
be fun!"
Die Norddeutsche
Presskit:
Photos and press releases (below the photos) for promotion (other promotion material, posters etc. on request)
Press release 2:
The Toughest Tenors is a jazz quintet from Berlin, led by tenor saxophone players
Bernd Suchland and Patrick Braun. This band gets right to the point: they’re fresh,
agile, and adroit. They play in a raw, direct style that’s fueled by the enduring
energy of authentic jazz.
They’re serious about the sound that’s become timeless since it was first played
in the 1950s and 60s. They’re jazz scholars, whose set list features genuine
discoveries from the music’s unlimited archives: long forgotten songs in the
legendary two-tenor tradition come to life again onstage.
The Toughest Tenors have been doing it for 20 years through more than 350 concerts.
Audiences love their direct approach and their relaxed and inspiring grooves.
The kind of jazz that used to be an everyday part of our culture lives through the
Toughest Tenors. Their music goes straight to the heart, the only place where it
deserves to be heard.
The Toughest Tenors are:
Bernd Suchland tenor saxophone
Patrick Braun tenor saxophone
Dan-Robin Matthies piano
Lars Gühlcke double bass
Ralf Ruh drums
Press release 3:
The Toughest Tenors. This band will knock you out.
The ubiquity of would-be Hip-Hop tough guys that rough it out in angry poetry scuffles
can merely conjure up a tired smile in the Toughest Tenors. The five heavy jazz dudes,
steeled and trained in the Berlin and New York club-scene, don’t pull punches. They put
the “hard” back into hard-bop, give the real fighting weight of the blues, and show the
real lineage of the battling rappers, direct descendants from the noble spirit of rivalry
cultivated by the geniuses of 50’s and 60’s tenor-playing, legends like Dexter Gordon,
Wardell Gray, Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis.
The Toughest Tenors have made it their cause to bring back to life the long tradition of
the saxophone battle. Using the original arrangements yet devoid of any phoney
nostalgia. Contemporary but without trend-doping. With concentrated energy, an
uninhibited spirit of playfulness, quick-witted humour, and the heart of a boxer.
The band lead by tenor characters Bernd Suchland and Max Hacker has already won
countless live contests for the audience appreciation. Now the “Toughest Tenors” launch
their debut-CD “What’s Happening”. An assertive eavesdropping attack, a fair contest, a
bulls-eye right into the soul of the listener.
The Toughest Tenors are:
Bernd Suchland tenor saxophone
Patrick Braun tenor saxophone
Dan-Robin Matthies piano
Lars Gühlcke double bass
Ralf Ruh drums
Press release (short version):
The Toughest Tenors have made it their cause to bring back to life the long tradition of the
saxophone battle. Using the original arrangements yet devoid of any phoney nostalgia.
Contemporary but without trend-doping. With concentrated energy, an uninhibited spirit of
playfulness, quick-witted humour, and the heart of a boxer.
Press release 3 and short version: Josef Engels
Click for download
Press releases click for download:
for experimental photos: click here
Photo: Horst Kløver
Foto: Horst Kløver
Photo: Dieter Schachtschneider
Photo: Dieter Schachtschneider
Photo: Kay Röhlen/Suchland
Photo: Kay Röhlen
Photo: Kay Röhlen
Photo: Sabine Durchholz
Photo: Christiane Eckert
Photo: Christiane Eckert
Photo: Kay Röhlen
Photo: Horst Kløver
Photo: Carnevalino/Röhlen/Suchland
Photo: Kay Röhlen
Photo: Roland Fuchs/Suchland
Photo: Roland Fuchs/Suchland
Press release 1:
The Toughest Tenors, who have been in action for two decades now, operate covertly in the last
few remaining Jazz Cellars in this world, where they live out their own personal American
Dream. The five undercover agents from Berlin (Bernd Suchland - Tenor Sax; Patrick Braun -
Tenor Sax; Dan-Robin Matthies - Piano; Lars Gühlke - Bass; and Ralf Ruh – Drums) divulge
some of the arcane musical knowledge they’ve managed to smuggle out of the Land of
Opportunity (where Jazz developed as a unique cultural treasure).
They’re an insider’s tip; they exist outside the spectrum of social media, cultural sponsorship, and
European jazz fashion. They use their sensitive antennae to receive and decode original Jazz data
that had long been given up for lost and they revive and represent it in the face of modern
Crossover. They’re cool, they’re incorruptible, and they know their business. They plug into a
time where Jazz still had an earthy style, swung hard, was packed with blues and soul, and
reached a public that turned up the radio, swung along, and couldn’t stay in its seats.
Photo: Stefan Steinheimer/Suchland
Photo: Kay Röhlen