Christian Winninghoff: Cloud Sounds
The Cologne trumpeter and composer Christian Winninghoff spent the pandemic years crafting this 4th album, where a very soulful delivery of both originals and interpretations takes help from many esteemed musicians.
“Two Of Us” starts the listen with warm brass, as Sam Leigh Brown’s stunning pipes guide the stirring, poetic climate, and “Wonderful Life” follows with Kirill Vorwold’s graceful piano and Kai Schonburg’s precise drumming illuminating Winninghoff’s absorbing trumpet.
Further on, Nora Becker’s dreamy pipes enter alongside Stephan Emig’s playful percussion on the pretty “Playing With The Clouds”, while “Flow Circus” has Winninghoff on vocals for the hand clapping fun, lush textures and flowing dynamics.
Closer to the end, the soothing version of “Surf’s Up” makes for a unique presence that mixes winds from the Hi Hornz, and “The Fool On The Hill” exits with Nico Brandenburg’s skilled bass lines amid Martin Schulte’s meticulous guitar in a very mesmerizing finish.
Winninghoff is also a member of the Jazzkantine and the Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, and he brings a wealth of talent and experience to these jazz, soul and funk songs that, amazingly, were recorded live over just a weekend.
JazzBluesNews.com
Cologne trumpeter Christian Winninghoff and his band are joined by the Hi Hornz section and 4 special guest vocalists in this originals jazz album drenched in groove and soul.
The pandemic years were a challenging time for many creatives, and Cologne trumpeter, composer and arranger Christian Winninghoff, a member of the Jazzkantine and the Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, was no exception.
Known for performances more suitable for the atmosphere of a densely packed club than for a ventilated concert hall with a masked audience, he spent the forced downtime working on the essentials: his sound, expression and soul.
Diving into songwriting and reinterpreting the great classics, the resulting album has his stamp on both trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as in his arrangements and compositions.
Cloud Sounds makes use of some of the illustrious voices of Cologne’s jazz and soul scenes; alongside singers Nora Becker, Sam Leigh Brown, Inga Lühning and Albert N’sanda, Cloud Sounds features other friends including the lead trombonist of the WDR Big Band Ludwig Nuss and the HI HORNZ SECTION, contributing a powerful funk spirit.