“How did this fraulein get so funky?”

Organ
tornado sweeps over Budapest

At the
beginning she was dubbed the “organ tornado from Munich” – Barbara Dennerlein,
who began her career around 20 years ago in a small jazz club in Munich, is now
regarded as one of the world’s most brilliant players of the Hammond B3 organ.
Barbara Dennerlein will perform at 7.30pm at the Palace of Arts
on Thursday 31 January.

For decades
the Hammond
organ was dismissed as anachronistic. The instrument has only experienced a
renaissance in the last 15 years. Barbara Dennerlein’s interest, however, was
awakened considerably earlier: She had her first encounter with the organ at
the age of eleven, when she received a one-manual electronic organ for
Christmas.

The
instrument immediately appealed to her and she began organ lessons straight
away. In the process she discovered a two manual and pedal Hammond organ and asked her parents to buy a
larger organ.

Playing clubs at 15

Her enthusiasm
didn’t wane: by the age of 15 she had already got her first gig in a jazz club.

Dennerlein
soon established herself on the Munich jazz
scene, becoming known as the “organ tornado” from Munich. Her first albums were released in the
‘80s, partly under her own label “Bebab”. Her international performances
inspired audiences worldwide and in the ‘90s she cemented her reputation with
three albums recorded under international jazz label Verve. “How did this
fraulein get so funky?” asked the American magazine Harper’s Bazaar. Now there
is no longer any surprise at the success of the 42-year-old organ virtuoso, who
is lauded for her pedal playing and improvisations.

Palace of Arts

District, IX. Komor Marcell utca 1

Tel.: 555 3001

www.mupa.hu