Ole Frimer Band – Live in Eppingen
Format: CD – Digital
Label: Katti Records
Release: 2020
This concert in Eppingen was part of a European tour in October 2019 covering Salzburg, Austria in the south to Hamburg, Germany in the north. Nine shows in nine days, including the Eppingen Jazz Festival, Oct. 19. The concert took place at the Old University, a beautiful building from 1490 in the “old town” of Eppingen. With a tight band at the top of their game, Ole Frimer delivers a set that includes originals as well as interpretations of instrumentals and songs by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton a. o.
The singer and guitarist Ole Frimer, from Aarhus, Denmark, has been a prominent figure in the Scandinavian music landscape for decades. With his unique “flesh to string” technique, songwriting and vocal work, he has gained international recognition and received awards for it in his home country and abroad. In recent years Ole Frimer Band have expanded their concert activities considerably in Europe.
OLE FRIMER BAND:
Ole Frimer – guitar & vocal
Niels Ole Thorning – keyboard & organ
Jesper Bylling – bass & background vocal
Claus Daugaard – drums and background vocal
Extracts from an interview by Peter Widmer, Bluesnews Denmark August 30 2020. http://www.bluesnews.dk/rundt-om-live-in-eppingen-med-ole-frimer/ Translated from Danish.
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Ole Frimer Band is a productive quartet. Earlier this year, they released the studio album Faerd, which was the band’s first recording with the new keyboardist Niels Ole Thorning, who replaced Palle Hjorth.
In the autumn of last year, the Ole Frimer Band, which in addition to the above-mentioned new man consists of Claus Daugaard on drums, bassist Jesper Bylling and of course Ole Frimer on guitar and vocals, was on a nine-concert tour in Germany and Austria.
Here, the orchestra hit, among other several citys, the Eppingen Jazz Festival on October 19, and it was here that the band’s brand new live album – Live in Eppingen – was created. Eppingen is about an hour and a half drive from Frankfurt am Main.
The album has an interesting creation story, and as with so much else, the corona pandemic also played a role here. Ole Frimer says:
– During the corona period, when Denmark was shut down, it was a tough time on everybody. Luckily, I had our new live CD to puzzle with.
Everything has taken place long distance – per phone and mail. This applies to the production of the cover, the mixing of the disc, the promotional plans and their geographical reach.
German record company
This time you have collaborated with a record company in Germany. Why?
– We are moving more and more abroad. In fact, we played 60% of our concerts outside Denmark in 2019. When we got the opportunity to publish from a central place in Europe – Weingarten / Baden in Germany – it naturally fell into the development of our concert business.
– The record company is called Katti Records and does it primarily in blues and jazz. They are very keen to work closely with their artists on all levels.
– In addition, via Beatonal Tonstudios they have some excellent recording facilities and hyperprofessional technicians etc.
– We have enjoyed it all and are very satisfied with the result.
How was the collaboration with Katti Records established?
– We were going on a tour in Germany-Austria in October last year and play nine concerts. The record company Katti Records, which knows our German promoter, called me and asked if we were interested in making a live album at the Eppingen Jazz Festival, where we were to play on October 19th. We said yes to that.
The course of the recording
Can you tell us more about the album’s creation process?
– The day before the concert in Eppingen, we had a meeting with a record company and promoter and agreed on the process.
– A mobile studio was set up at the venue, and then we just fired a concert, as we usually do.
– Later we received an audio file with all the music and selected songs from there. Processing, mixing and mastering took place in Beatonal Tonstudios by the studio’s owner Kurt Eisfeld and a few employees.
– Here I and Claus Daugaard assisted – long distance.
Production and versions
Who produced the album?
– The record company and studio manager Kurt Eisfeld in collaboration with Ole Frimer Band.
How did the production actually take place?
– Suggestions for numbers, order and mix were sent back and forth. Mixing in particular took time and cost many mails and audio files. It requires a lot of data discipline, but it worked really well and we are really satisfied with the result.
Will there be both a CD and a vinyl version?
– Initially, it will be released on CD and digitally. If the fans demand it, we will consider publishing on LP as well.
Download and streaming come out on many media (Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). Physical CDs are sold from Amazon, Müller Markt, MediaMarkt and music shops in Germany, Denmark and other countries.
– An agreement has been made between Katti Records and our Danish label Pladekisten, and Pladekisten will be responsible for the distribution of our new CD in Scandinavia.
How did you prepare the album?
– It was not big preparations. However, we were careful to include tracks in the repertoire that we have not previously recorded.
Where is the album recorded more accurately?
– At Alte University in Eppingen’s old town.
You’ve told me that Live in Eppingen is coming out “over large parts of the the Western world.”
– What I mean is, that the album is being sent for review and to radios in large parts of the western world.
– This was also the case with the previous album Live at Blues Baltica, which was played relatively frequently in Europe, England and the USA in various radio programs dealing with blues.
Are you going on any kind of promotional tour in connection with the release of the album?
– We are corona-affected, but we are doing four or five release concerts in Denmark this autumn 2020. A European tour is being prepared for August-September 2021. Activities in the spring of 2021 will depend on the corona condition, Ole Frimer concludes.