Joachim Raffel Quintett
featuring Maria de Fatima
Thinkin´ Of Trane
(Acoustic Music Records, 1994)

Maria de Fatima – voc
Volker Winck – ss, ts
Robert Kretzschmar – as, ts
Joachim Raffel – p
Gerold Donker – b
Andreas Griefingholt - dr

1. Off
2. Thinkin´ Of Trane
3. Rouge avec Bleu
4. Ninety Four
5. Martina´s Waltz
6. Questions
7. Autumn

’Rarely has a debut-album offered such a stylistically homogeneous and at the same time versatile mixture of nature compositions.’
Lübecker Nachrichten of 11.12.1994

 

 

 

 

Joachim Raffel Quintett
Circlesongs
(Acoustic Music Records, 1996)

Volker Winck – ss, ts
Robert Kretzschmar – as, ts
Joachim Raffel – p
Gerold Donker – b
Andreas Griefingholt - dr

1. First Circlesong
2. Second Circlesong
3. Bearfoot
4. Third Circlesong (Thought)
5. Interlude
6. 2 No. 1
7. Valse Mélancolique
8. Lumière
9. Calling The Summer

’Variety is Raffels Strength. This articulates itself in his variable play, which at times flows deceitfully cool and classical, at times aggressively dissolving the soloists lines of melody into the absurd through his accompaniments. (…) His feeling for subtly sounding differentiations settles itself finally in his arrangements for two saxophones, rather unusually so for a Quintet.’
Generalanzeiger Bonn of 02.12.1997

 

 

 

 

Joachim Raffel
Quintet & Large Ensemble
Another Blue
(Acoustic Music Records, 1998)

Volker Winck – ss, ts, cl
Robert Kretzschmar – as, ts, fl
Jan Klare – as, fl
Uwe Friedrich – bs, bcl
Stephan Struck – tpt, flgh; Uwe Nolopp – tpt, flgh
Jörn Anders - tpt; Uwe Granitza – tb
Markus Preckwinckel – tb; Stephan Schulze – btb
Joachim Raffel – p; Gerold Donker – b
Andreas Griefingholt – dr
Christian Schoenefeldt – cond, congas

1. Another Blue
2. Song For Maria (Cancao para a Maria)
3. Mc City
4. Hello to “Faraway”
5. Nightsong
6. Southern Rails
7. The Way
   (Reflections On A Theme For Jazz Orchestra)
8. Drifted (Circlesong # 4)

’With his third album the pianist an composer Joachim Raffel establishes that he is to be rightfully ranked among the most creative talents of the more recent German jazz generation.’
United Jazz Society, May/June 1998

 

 

 

 

Joachim Raffel Trio & Sextet
… In Motion
(Jazz4Ever Records, 2000)

Stephan Struck – tpt
Jan Klare – as
Robert Kretzschmar – ts
Joachim Raffel – p, rhodes
Alex Morsey – b
Christian Schoenefeldt – dr

1. Move!
2. Better Not Now
3. This Is
4. Definitions
5. Circlesong # 5
6. Blues For Eric (Dolphy)
7. Nothing Of All
8. Split
9. There And Now
10. Blue Motion

’In three Trio-recordings and seven Sextet performances the musicians develop a pleasingly moving Kaleidoscope of varied an rich sounds. (…) ‘Better Not Now’ sounds like a ludicrous mixture of the 70´s Return to Forever, with collective tinkering in the Coleman-universe between Ornette and Steve and little free outbreaks of suggested tayloresk piano-clusters. (…) ‘In Motion’ is a varied piece, which seduces to want to hear the group live.’
Die Tageszeitung (taz) of 18.08.2000

 

 

 

 

Joachim Raffel Trio &
Christiane Hagedorn
Béguine The Begin
(NRW Jazz, 2003)

Joachim Raffel – p, harm
Alex Morsey – b
Christian Schoenefeldt – dr
Christiane Hagedorn – voc

1. Now Let Me Know
2. Rush Hour
3. Moments Of Memories
4. Interlude
5. Honestly
6. Béguine Francaise
7. Circulus Circulorum
8. Years Before
9. Difference
10. Lullaby

’Raffels strength and brand name in the strongly cyclic character of his compositions. The excellent pianist loves tiny topics and saucily circling Ostinati (…), exploring its forms with high energy and through manifold means, until they finally develop a tremendous force.'
Weserkurier Bremen of 21.10.2003

 

 

 

 

Joachim Raffel Sextett
live bei Radio Bremen
Nir Bwana
(Artists Own Label,
mv-nrw Vertrieb, 2005)

Stephan Struck – tpt
Jan Klare – as
Robert Kretzschmar – ts
Joachim Raffel – p, rhodes, tambourine
Alex Morsey – b, tuba
Christian Schoenefeldt - dr

1. Kura Kura
2. Nir Bwana
3. Honestly
4. This Is
5. Better Not Now
6. Move!
7. Always Trust The Blues
8. Rush Hour

’A great throw of the ‚Big Band’ in a small way. The curve of tension reaches far beyond any calculation, if there at all, and presents an iridescent collection of harmony and individuality.’
Concerto (Austria), June/July 2006

 

 

 

 

LoLou, Weillness
(NRW Records, 2007)

 

Christiane Hagedorn – voc
Alex Morsey – b, tuba, voc
Robert Kretzschmar – as, ts, fl, acc, p
Joachim Raffel –p, harm, acc, perc, electronics

1. Denn wie man sich bettet, so liegt man
2. I´m A Stranger Here Myself
3. September Song
4. Zweites Dreigroschenfinale
5. Ballade von der sexuellen Hörigkeit
6. Alabama Song
7. Lonely House
8. Der Mensch lebt durch den Kopf
9. Seeräuberjenny
10. Kanonensong
11. Ballade von Mackie Messer
12. My Ship

’Arranged with joyful experiments and technically excellent, this CD presents itself in a light and white robe. (...) Somewhere between swing, new music and chanson the altogether successful pieces are found.’
Neue Musikzeitung, May 2008