It was the 21st of august 1988. I remember it as it was just a few weeks ago. My parents and I went down to Talavera/Mainwiese in my hometown Würzburg where Michael Jackson was performing during his "Bad" tour. I was 10 years old and for some months already proud owner of this masterpiece of Quincy Jones. Oh man, did they rock this show!! Amongst others in the band: Jennifer Batten on guitar, Ricky Lawson on drums and Sheryl Crow on backing vocals. I even found some videos and photos of this performance. Actually we didn't go down to the concert area, but we went up to the vinyards, where half of the Franconian population was sitting. That had to do with the fact that there was a minimum age to enter the concert. But then I wouldn't have been able to see the stage, the view from the vineyards was much better. It was one of the first shows with big screens so we saw everything and actually didn't miss a note. It was breathtaking.
During the concert night fell. So atmospheric..
The album "Bad": After a short Beatles phase with my friend Isabell, "Bad" was the record I got addicted to. I had in on cassette. It was still in my pre-english period. The song "Bad" itself was so catchy that I had to listen to it again and again. Play, rewind, play, rewind... Phonetic English days. I made up my own meaning of the lyrics. The music is so good that even without the lyrics, it's hypnotizing. Jimmy Smith is playing Hammond B3 on it, Greg Phillinganes plays a synth solo. Other songs I loved were "Just good friends" with Stevie Wonder, "Liberian Girl", "Another part of me" and "I just can't stop loving you". A few years ago I was asked to play a piece of music I normally don't play with my band. I chose "I just can't stop loving you", here it is. A Michael Jackson song in a Susanne Alt Quartet acoustic jazz version:
So the first time we played the music from Royalty For Real wasn't in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, but in Bengaluru and Mumbai, all the way in India in 2023!Here you'll see me play Au Privave, Classy Cats and Royalty For Real, together with Timothy Banchet (piano), Marius Beets (bass) and Sven Rozier (drums).Au Privave is a well-known blues by Charlie Parker which I often like to start with, almost like a soundcheck tune. Although most of the time a soundcheck is done I found out it's a good idea to play a tune everybody of the band knows very well so we all can get used to the sound of the stage, the presence of the audience and it also gives the sound engineer the chance to adjust microphones last minute. During the soundcheck, the sound of the room is significantly different because of the lack of audience. All that flesh and clothes work a little bit like a totally empty room versus a room with furniture and carpets, if you know what I mean :-)Acoustics are so interesting and full of surprises.. Anyways.. hope you like it! - It was the 21st of august 1988. I remember it as it was just a few weeks ago. My parents and I went down to Talavera/Mainwiese in my hometown Würzburg where Michael Jackson was performing during his Bad tour. I was 10 years old and for some months already proud owner of this masterpiece of Quincy Jones. Oh man, did they rock this show!! Amongst others in the band: Jennifer Batten on guitar, Ricky Lawson on drums and Sheryl Crow on backing vocals. I even found some videos and photos of this performance. Actually we didn't go down to the concert area, but we went up to the vinyards, where half of the Franconian population was sitting. That had to do with the fact that there was a minimum age to enter the concert. But then I wouldn't have been able to see the stage, the view from the vineyards was much better. It was one of the first shows with big screens so we saw everything and actually didn't miss a note. It was breathtaking.During the concert night fell. So atmospheric..The album Bad: After a short Beatles phase with my friend Isabell, Bad was the record I got addicted to. I had in on cassette. It was still in my pre-english period. The song Bad itself was so catchy that I had to listen to it again and again. Play, rewind, play, rewind... Phonetic English days. I made up my own meaning of the lyrics. The music is so good that even without the lyrics, it's hypnotizing.Jimmy Smith is playing Hammond B3 on it, Greg Phillinganes plays a synth solo. Other songs I loved were Just good friends with Stevie Wonder, Liberian Girl, Another part of me and I just can't stop loving you. A few years ago I was asked to play a piece of music I normally don't play with my band. I chose I just can't stop loving you, here it is. A Michael Jackson song in a Susanne Alt Quartet acoustic jazz version:
