reviewes
.Pressestimmen
Leipziger Volkszeitung 25.04.2009
Review zu CD arrival
Spannender Dialog...
„...Arrival ist ein Klangdialog, der technisch auf hohem Niveau und dennoch wohltuend frei ist von angestrengt ausgestellter Virtuosität. Was Weißenfels am Piano und Smith an Schlagwerk und Electronics bieten, ist eine atmosphärische Erkundung. ... Das ist lyrisch, ruppig, erotisch, vertrackt, aggressiv und besänftigend ...“
Magazine Rotcod Zzaj
mspiano:
"My ears are in love... this "mspiano" has (almost) inspired me to drag out my Kurzweill PC 88 and lay down some improvised music (oh, wait, my Kurzweill is still on the ocean - be here soon).
Only half kidding, though, because the kind of experimental music she plays here is just exactly what inspires creative people to create...
just listen to "Duo mspiano & Bert Stephan 2010"
- Bert's brass is a perfect complement to a gentle yet mysterious tune that sets the stage for far more to come
(since she's from Deutschland, I'd love to hear her improvise with one of my favorite improvisers, Jeffrey Morgan, since he's based in Koln)!
The wind/synth intro on "extremental" is absolutely fantastic, and her wandering keyboard behind, under & through it made it my favorite piece on the album. I am surely hoping she will produce more in the way of CD's, because this is exactly the kind of music (improvisational wonderment) that inspired me to start writing this magazine so many years ago. If you're looking for a tune that's a little more "piano-centric", you'll find "Absacker" very memorable, too. This music is the best improvised piano I've heard (yet) this year... totally engaging and full of the muse..."
I give it a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as well as making it the "PICK" of this issue for "best improvised piano work".
Get more information at www.reverbnation.com/mspiano Rotcod Zzaj
Kanadisches Label Sea of Tranquility 2008
zu CD arrival:
It's not often the stars align themselves in a way that they allow for such a unique musical collaboration as the one between German pianist Simone Weissenfels and American multi-instrumentalist Adam Smith. Yet this is exactly what transpired when these two kindred spirits got together this past fall to weave their magic during a small performance tour of select US cities. In addition to these performances, where they were joined onstage by special guest musicians in each locale, they also managed to capture their flood of creativity over the course of four days together in the studio. The results of some of these live-in the studio improvisations can be heard on this splendid new four song offering entitled Arrival. The performances on Arrival reveal not only the obvious, which is two musicians who are extremely adept on their respective instruments, but also more importantly these compositions highlight the magical possibilities that can be conjured up when two likeminded individuals, who are as well versed and epitomize the art of musical dialogue, get together. Weissenfels (acoustic piano) and Smith (drums & electronics) converse and feed off each other with a remarkable amount of fluidity, pouring their heart and soul into almost sixty minutes of intensely demanding & intriguing, improvised music. …
Leipziger Volkszeitung, 3.1.2001
zu Schostakowitsch-Solo-Programm
„... ungewöhnliche Klangfarben, dramatische Wechsel der Tempi bis zu rasender Schnelligkeit bannten Zuhörer wie Pianistin bis zum effektvollen Schlussakkord. S.W. hat eine besondere Ambition zu kreativer Musik, zu Zeitgenössischem wie auch zum Jazz. Für das, was sie hier ... geleistet hat, ist jede Bezeichnung der Superlative zu eindimensional."
Freie Presse Freiberg, April 2001
zu Freiberger Jazz-Festival
„...Ein weiterer Höhepunkt war das Konzert der Simone Weißenfels am Sonnabend... Freie Improvisationen, die jedoch nie den Boden des Jazz verließen, erfüllten die Räumlichkeiten. Mal kräftig, mal leise flüsternd, verzauberte das Spiel das Publikum. Das Konzert wurde von vielen als eines der schönsten in der Reihe der Sonderkonzerte der vergangenen Jahre gewertet."
Leipziger Volkszeitung 24.3.2003
„… Tief grummelt das Cello, erzeugt Erwartung. Später bringt es klagende, klopfend-rhythmische oder auch hektische Klänge hervor, verbunden mit der beschwörenden Stimme der Cellistin Gesine Conrad. Simone Weißenfels erzeugt derweil eine eigene Welt am Flügel mit allen Nuancen weiblichen Temperaments. Beide Frauen improvisieren, sind dabei völlig aufeinander eingestimmt und äußerst diszipliniert."