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All Music Guide:
Barbara Dennerlein differs from most organists by not sounding all that much like Jimmy Smith. She utilizes MIDI with her organ in order to get a different sound and her baselines (which she operates through her foot pedals) really do sound like a bass. Dennerlein began playing organ at 11 and four years later was already gigging in local clubs. She recorded on her own Bebap label and since 1988 has also made albums for Enja that have created a bit of a stir in the U.S., using such sidemen as Ray Anderson and Mitch Watkins.
Wikipedia:
Barbara Dennerlein (born 25 September 1964 in Munich, Germany), is a hard bop and post-bop Hammond B3 organist.
Career
Early years
At age 11, Dennerlein began playing electronic organ. After starting organ lessons, she learned to play the two manual organ with a bass pedalboard. After one and a half years of lessons she continued to study without formal instruction. At age 15, she played in a jazz club for the first time. When leading her own bands, Dennerlein was often the youngest musician in the group, and she learned to cooperate with more experienced musicians. Her local reputation as the "Organ tornado from Munich" spread after her first TV appearances in 1982.
Recordings
When her third LP Bebab was issued, Dennerlein established her own record label in 1985. She received two German Record Critics' awards for self-produced albums.. Later, she made three recordings for Enja Records and three for Verve Records. On these recordings she worked with Ray Anderson, Randy Brecker, Dennis Chambers, Roy Hargrove, Mitch Watkins, and Jeff 'Tain' Watts.
Performance set-up
Dennerlein's performances on the Hammond organ include solo performances as well as quintets (e.g. her "Bebab" band). She has MIDI interfaces and triggers built into pedals and manuals of her Hammond B-3 organ, which allows her to add synthesizers and samplers to her sound.
After a variety of projects and after playing with renowned unconventional musicians, such as Friedrich Gulda, Dennerlein started playing the pipe organ in 1994. In 2002, she recorded the first of her two (to date) jazz albums on church organ. Since 2003 she has also developed jazz projects with symphonic orchestras.
Compositions
Dennerlein's first album included four of her own titles. Her compositions vary from traditional blues schemes, romantic, melancholic ballads to tempo driven compositions with elements of swing, bebop, funk and Latin rhythms. The fast tempos and rhythmic figures she uses in her interpretations of well-known standards, and in many of her own compositions, requires fast bass pedalboard foot work . Dennerlein often uses changing meter (e.g., 3/4 to 4/4), as well as unconventional harmonic changes to add expression to her compositions.
