Wolfgang Becker and his two comrades-in-arms of the trio Schwarzbrenner, based in Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, are seasoned blues men. Especially idols like Cream or Rory Gallagher have taken a liking to the formation around the 65-year-old mastermind. At the same time, the singer and guitarist is a "fine spirit", as he describes himself, "a passionate follower of the classical romanticism of Novalis or Hölderlin".
But on the band's current twelfth album after two and a half decades of existence, entitled "Zauberworte" ("Magic Words"), there are now lyrical settings by rather more unknown Romantics such as Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) and Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) as well as by the "house poet" Georg Heym, who worked a century later. Lyrically, one is transported to an enchanted magic garden, entirely in the tradition of "Des Knaben Wunderhorn".
"We started with English-language blues rock à la Taste," Becker recalls. "But one day I had the vision that I wanted to unite this gritty music with tender poetry in our mother tongue. It took a bit until I could convince my two comrades-in-arms of this unusual combination. But in the meantime they think the thing is pretty awesome." ...
