Till Brönner pays tribute to CTI and Freddie Hubbard on his new CD, released today

Till Brönner, the brilliant German jazz trumpeter who remains ignored by U.S. audiences and press despite a hugely successful career in Europe, has a new self-titled album coming out today in Europe. The project, inspired by Creed Taylor's legendary CTI label, including some lush string orchestrations a la Claus Ogerman/Don Sebesky by the brilliant LA-based arranger Nan Schwartz, is also a heartfelt tribute to Till's idol Freddie Hubbard, who reached the apex of his career at CTI. Curiously, since Till Brönner records for Verve Germany, the album cover includes the logo of that famous label, another company that Taylor popularized (during the '60s, before the CTI era).

The repertoire includes Brönner's "F.F.H. (For Freddie Hubbard)" and renditions of such Hubbard's tunes as "Little Sunflower" (which the late trumpeter recorded for CTI as a sideman on Milt Jackson's masterpiece, "Sunflower") and "Gibraltar" (originally recorded by tenor sax master Stanley Turrentine on "Salt Song," and later revisited by Hubbard himself on some live dates). There's also a hauting take on the gorgeous ballad "Lazy Afternoon," recorded for CTI by Jackie & Roy on "Time & Love", but covered by Hubbard, some years later, for the best album of his Columbia years, "The Love Connection."

"Till Brönner" is available in three different issues: CD, vinyl LP, and in a recommended 2-set limited deluxe CD edition, with the following tracklist:
CD 1:
01:Will Of Nature (5:17)
02:F.F.H. (6:45)
03:Return To The Fold (6:18)
04:Gibraltar (4:01)
05:Pegasus (4:11)
06:Red Street (4:45)
07:Three Days of the Condor (6:13)
08:Lazy Afternoon (7:07)
09:Wacky Wes (5:27)
10:The Gate (6:13)
11:Half Story (5:51)
12:Once Upon A Summertime (5:33)
(all tracks by Till Brönner, except  #4 by Freddie Hubbard, #5 by Larry Goldings, #7 by Dave Grusin, #8 by Jerome Moross/John Latouche, #12 by Michel Legrand/Eddie Barclay/Eddy Marnay/Johnny Mercer) CD 2:
01:Till's Blues [Brönner](4:01)
02:Body & Soul [Green/Eyton/Heyman/Sour] (1:59)
03:Little Sunflower (Live) [Hubbard] (14:39)

Featuring:
CD 1
Till Brönner (trumpet & flugelhorn, brass and woodwind arrangements)
Magnus Lindgren (tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, brass and woodwind arrangements)
Roberto Di Gioia (Fender Rhodes, analog synthesizers)
Jasper Soffers (Fender Rhodes - #8,12)
Bruno Müller (guitars - #7,9)
Albert Johnson (electric bass)
Christian von Kaphengst (electric bass - #8,12)
Matteo Scrimali (drums)
Wolfgang Haffner (drums - #8,12)
Roland Peil (percussion)
Liam Mario (percussion - #11)
Tilmann Dehnhard (flutes - #9-12)
Nan Schwartz (string arrangement, conductor - #2,3, 9-12)
Stefan Pintev (violin)
Rodrigo Reichel (violin)
Boris Bachmann (violin)
Rukandra Klein (violin)
Juliane Merse (violin)
Alexandra Psareva (violin)
Maja Hunziker (violin)
Veronika Passin (violin)
Alexander Affanasiev (violin)
Erik Wenbo Ku (viola)
Thomas Depen (viola)
Alexander Bagrintsev (cello)
Sebastian Gaede (cello)
CD 2
Till Brönner (all instruments - #1, flugelhorn -#2, trumpet - #3)
Jasper Soffers (keyboards - #3)
Johan Leijonhufvud (guitar - #3)
Dieter Ilg (bass - #3)
Martijn Vink (drums - #3)

For more details, please visit http://tillbroenner.com/neues-album-von-till-bronner-am-30-november/

And there's also a nice interview on http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/till-broenner-spricht-ueber-sein-neues-album-plus-prelistening-stream-a-868771.html