Swinging at New Year’s Eve in Leverkusen

Chris Hopkins and the Three Blind Mice at Morsebroich Castle

In a mix of elegance, high spirits, humor and joie de vivre, New Year’s Eve Party features jazz classics by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and many more. Multi-award winning saxophonist, pianist and conductor Chris Hopkins brought “Three Blind Mice” from France for this. Behind the seemingly unassuming name are three young lions, the talent and shooting stars of a new generation of musicians. (Jérôme Etcheberry), guitar (Félix Hunot), double bass (Sébastien Girardot) and vocals (Hunot), create a powerfully swinging indie sound in the tradition of famous jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington or Fats Waller. A perfect soloist, sparkling in an infectious lion-pack rhythm, capped off by Chris Hopkins’ brilliant keyboard art and many moments of special surprise… This is how Chris Hopkins and friends play their way into a special jazz evening while having fun and swinging as hard as they can.

Because of the great demand as a double concert! Attention! The concert at 5pm was already sold out; There may still be return tickets for this at the on-site box office. There are still a few tickets left for the 2pm concert.

Chris Hopkins…

Internationally active jazz pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor, workshop and university lecturer – born in 1972 in Princeton (New Jersey). Equally adept at the piano and saxophone, he is one of the busiest artists on the world jazz scene. With irresistible passion, he has been delivering live, energetic jazz translated into contemporary form in a powerfully personal musical language for several decades, which combines technical quality with refined entertainment and inspires critics and audiences alike. Last but not least, he gained notoriety as the leader of the group “Echoes of Swing”, which has been successful for more than 20 years with the same group and has gained international acclaim for its innovative approach to the jazz tradition. “They don’t echo, they renew,” said Dan Morgenstern, dean of American jazz critics, with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s name. that Hamburg Evening Newspaper He wrote: “Music for Happiness for Attentive Listeners… Hard to believe, but this music, artfully arranged, and played elegantly, casually and with soul, has what it takes to make the jazz-lovers of yesterday as happy as the jazz-lovers of.” morning.”

Over 4,000 concerts alongside many jazz stars – including Clark Terry, Harry “Sweet” Edison, Louie Bilson, Scott Hamilton, Butch Miles, Paul Kuhn, Hazy Osterwald, Til Brunner, Jackie Williams, Bucky Pizzarelli, The Beans Peanut Hoku, Marty Grosz, Jack Hannah, Greetje Kauffeld, Joe Wilder, Bob Wilber, Warren Vaché, Kenny Davern, Gene “Mighty Flea” Connors, Bill Ramsey, Dan Barrett, Nicki Parrott or well-known European bandleaders such as Frank Roberscheuten and Engelbert Wrobel, Antti Sarpila and many more. – Take it all over Europe, the USA and Japan, AustriaExotic and New Zealand.

In addition to more than 40 records released to date, Chris Hopkins released a solo album, “Daybreak” on the American label “Arbours Records”, which was named one of the 10 best releases of the year by the French. Jazz Classic magazine. His piano duet album with legendary American pianist Dick Hyman (b. 1927, film score composer for Woody Allen) “Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands” earned 4 stars in US Downbeat magazine (“Best Contender for Best Piano Album of the Year.”). The CD “Message from Mars” by the quartet “Echoes of Swing” was awarded the “German Record Critics’ Award” and was awarded the “Prix de L’Académie du Jazz” in Paris. “Echoes of Swing”, which has been contracted to the world-famous and active record company “ACT Music” since 2013, has released the successful five albums “Blue Pepper”, “Dancing”, “Bix – A Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke”, “Travelin ‘ – Celebrating 20 Years of Touring’ and ‘Winter Days at Schloss Elmau’.

A highlight of Chris Hopkins’ career is his regular invitations to the USA, for example as a soloist at the “International Jazz March” in Clearwater, Florida – the largest and most important festival of its kind in the world. It was here in the late 1990’s that he had the opportunity to meet the last jazz stars of the great jazz era such as Buddy DiFranco, Flip Phillips, Robbie Braff, Joe Pushkin, Benny Waters, Jerry Jerome, George Massow, Peter Appleyard, Milt Hinton, Jack Lisberg and Ralph Sutton. Other invitations to world famous jazz festivals, such as the Jazz at Chautaqua Lake in western New York, the Swing Jazz Party in Blackpool or the Kobe Jazz Festival in Japan, follow regularly. Other stops include countless chamber music halls and jazz clubs or performance venues such as Kaufmann Concert Hall (New York City), Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt (Berlin), Toppan Hall (Tokyo), KKL Luzern, Prinzregenteatre and Herkulessaal in Munich, and Waiheke Island of Jazz Festival (New Zealand), Dortmund Concert Hall, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Rheingau Music Festival, Elmau Castle, Hamburg Music Hall, Elb Philharmonic, Ascona Jazz Festival on Lake Maggiore, Bochum Centennial Hall and many more.

After Chris Hopkins was honored as the “Keeper of the Flame” in 2013 for his services to classical jazz in Europe, he received the Essener Award Grillo Theatre The coveted Jazz-Pott Award as “Best Progressive Artist,” which honors innovative jazz musicians of the past 20 years, including artists as diverse as Paul Kuhn or Nils Wogram.

Chris Hopkins regularly presents new, exciting and often international projects, currently for example his new album “Chris Hopkins Meets Jazz Kangaroos – Live! Vol.1”, which was awarded the “Couleur Jazz Hit” award in Paris upon its release and has received many rave reviews .

In addition to his busy concert schedule, Chris Hopkins has been teaching jazz at the Cologne University of Music and Dance since 2005.

More information: https://hopkinsjazz.com

The three blind mice: https://threeblindmice.fr/

When is Chris Hopkins & The Three Blind Mice playing?

Sunday, January 1, 2023, 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM

Where does Chris Hopkins and the Three Blind Mice play?

Mersebroich Castle, Hall of Mirrors, Gustav Heinemann Str. 80, 51377 Leverkusen (Alkenrath)

Where can I buy Chris Hopkins & The Three Blind Mice tickets in Leverkusen and how much do they cost?

€ 21.00, reduced € 12.30 Ticket links: https://kulturstadtlev.reservix.de/p/reservix/event/2024061 (14:00) https://kulturstadtlev.reservix.de/p/reservix/event/1941352 (5 p.m., currently sold out; there may be tickets left on site)

Streets from the article: Gustav Heinemann StrAnd the Austria

Topics from the article: Hamburg Evening NewspaperAnd the Grillo Theatre

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