Many artists included Bert Kaempfert compositions in their repertoire.
Here is a selection of available CDs.
The Music Of Bert Kaempfert – conducted by Jiggs Whigham
Silver Spot Records
Catalog no.: 1036007SSR
EAN: 426026036007 8
Release: 04. Juni 2021
Download: Amazon and Apple Music
The Concert Event of 2008
The Berlin Jazz Orchestra, Frankfurt Strings and Berlin Voices, conducted by Jiggs Whigham, revived the world-famous songs in this live performance.
Against the backdrop of a series of concerts from the years 2006 and 2008 the recording on 12 February 2008 in Frankfurt a. M. in the main concert hall of the “Alte Oper” is now available in a digital version for downloading and streaming.
Soloists Ack van Rooyen (flugelhorn/trumpet), Herb Geller (saxophone/flute), Jiggs Whigham (trombone), Ladi Geisler (bass guitar) and jazz singer Sylvia Vrethammar – who had all worked with Bert Kaempfert in the past – as well as special guests Marc Secara and pianist Joja Wendt provided a refreshingly new presentation of Bert Kaempfert’s timeless music. Jörg Achim Keller wrote the arrangements for these top-class artists. An impressive homage of the very first order!
Tracks:
1. INTRO: STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
2. WONDERLAND BY NIGHT
3. MEDLEY:
AFRIKAAN BEAT
A SWINGIN‘ SAFARI
RED ROSES FOR A BLUE LADY
THREE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING
4.FOR BERT
Sylvia Vrethammar – Vocal
5. THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE
Joja Wendt – Piano
6. THE WORLD WE KNEW
Berlin Voices – Vocal
7. SPANISH EYES (MOON OVER NAPLES)
Berlin Voices – Vocal / Ladi Geisler – Guitar
8. L.O.V.E.
Sylvia Vrethammar – Vocal
9. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
Sylvia Vrethammar / Marc Secara – Vocal
10. LONELY IS THE NAME
Marc Secara – Vocal / Herb Geller – Saxophone
11. BYE BYE BLUES
12. I LOVE YOU SO
Jiggs Whigham – Trombone
13. A SONG FOR SATCH
Ack van Rooyen – Flugelhorn
14. STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
Sylvia Vrethammar / Marc Secara – Vocal
15. YOU TURNED MY WORLD AROUND
Sylvia Vrethammar / Marc Secara – Vocal
16. MY WAY OF LIFE
Marc Secara – Vocal
17. THE TIMES WILL CHANGE
Sylvia Vrethammar – Vocal
18. DANKE SCHOEN
All Soloists, Choir and Orchestra
Strangers In Dub – Bert Kaempfert meets De-Phazz
An extraordinary tribute album has been produced on the occasion of Bert Kaempfert’s 95th birthday: “Strangers In Dub” brings the easy listening maestro’s music into the present. The album is the work of Heidelberg producer Pit Baumgartner with his band De-Phazz, which has been a pioneer in the field of well-tempered downbeat sounds since the 90s.
Silver Spot Records
# 1036005SSR
Release: 16. November 2018
The album is based on the album “SOOTHING THE TIGER. THE GENTLE SOUND OF HERBERT REHBEIN & HIS ORCHESTRA.” From this repertoire Baumgartner has chosen songs in which he found hooks and cool themes to compress, for example “STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT”, “MOON MAID”, “LADY”, “MALAYSIAN MELODY”, “LOVE AFTER MIDNIGHT” and “MY WAY OF LIFE”. The fiery De-Phazz singer Pat Appleton with her soul-inspired voice and Sandie Wollasch, who contributes the smooth elements, provide the nuances. Rapper Gee Pierce, who comes from the Wu-Tang Clan scene, adds the required bite on “SPANISH EYES”.
In “MALAYSIAN MELODY” on the one hand he transports us back to the atmosphere of the 60s, turning the song “into a number that could well have been heard playing on a jukebox in an ice-cream parlour.” On the other hand Sandy Wollasch brings us back to this century with her euphoric singing style.
Different versions of the global hit “STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT” have been sung countless times, by the American crooner Frank Sinatra and Germany’s iconic Udo Lindenberg, among many others. As this song is so famous the world over and is recognised after about two seconds, Baumgartner started with the middle section, which seems to drift over to us from another planet. “With this song I always used to have images from the 60s in my head, black-and-white TV, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Peter Frankenfeld.” Pit Baumgartner blasts these associations away with a pastiche of voices that sound as if they come from another planet. In this way its unique melody suddenly appears in a completely different context, allowing the listener to appreciate its beauty with new ears.
TRACKS:
1. DRY EYES
2. STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
3. THE LADY SMILES
4. LOVE AFTER MIDNIGHT
5. I LOVE YOU SO
6. DON`T TALK TO ME
7. THE TIMES WILL CHANGE
8. LADY
9. SPANISH EYES (MOON OVER NAPLES)
10. MOON MAID
11. MALAYSIAN MELODY
12. HOLD BACK THE DAWN
13. MY WAY OF LIFE
14. LONELY IS THE NAME
Tom Gaebel – Perfect Day
Tomofon
# 42510 0490016 2
Release: September 28, 2018
PERFECT DAY is the eighth studio album by seven-time Jazz Award winner Tom Gaebel. For this production the singer also recorded “Why Can’t You And I Add Up”, composed by Bert Kaempfert, and himself penned a text for it. The result is a wonderful piece of easy listening in a duet with Natalia Avalon.
Diana Krall – Turn Up The Quiet
Verve Forecast/Universal
# 06025 5735217 7
Release: Mai 5, 2017
Diana Krall is by far the best known female jazz singer of our times. She is the proud holder of five Grammys, eight Juno Awards as well as nine Gold, three Platinum and seven Multi-Platinum albums worldwide. In Germany she has garnered three Gold Discs and three ECHO Jazz awards.
The 11 jazz classics and immortal songs from the American Songbook on the album also include the Bert Kaempfert classic “L.O.V.E.”. An inspired meeting between Diana Krall and Bert Kaempfert.
Remember When… –
Paul Kuhn Meets Bert Kaempfert
Silver Spot Records
# 1036004SSR
Release Date: April 10, 2015
Order now
Paul Kuhn and Bert Kaempfert are without doubt two of the leading lights in the music business. Both had their biggest successes at the same time although in fact they never met in person.
In 2001 they come together notionally in a studio: Bert Kaempfert provides his great compositions while Paul Kuhn acts as arranger, bandleader and interpreter.
For this production Paul Kuhn has put together a first-class orchestra formation with violinists and extraordinary instrumental soloists and singers.
And so we meet two companions of Bert Kaempfert’s again: the trombone player Jiggs Whigham and the trumpeter Ack van Rooyen. We encounter Paul Kuhn as a pianist as well as a singer. His special version of Strangers In The Night deliberately has nothing to do with the famous Sinatra interpretation. He does not arrange this hit of the century for a big orchestra, but returns to his well-known trio formation. With the compositional homage For Bert, written by Anita Kerr, Greetje Kauffeld commemorates Bert Kaempfert with an incredible swing! The lyrics of Remember When inspire Paul Kuhn to perform a duet with the unique singer. The vocalists Georgie Fame, Carry Sass and Peter Douglas respect the original hit versions by Nat “King” Cole, Shirley Bassey and Vic Damone, without copying them. Bertold Marschat and Markus Wienstroer demonstrate that improvisation of a composition can lend it new color.
TRACKS:
1. Remember When
2. Welcome To My Heart
3. L.O.V.E.
4. The World We Knew (Over And Over)
5. For Bert
6. You Turned My World Around
7. Moon Over Naples (Spanish Eyes)
8. My Way Of Life
9. Don’t Talk To Me
10. Strangers In The Night
11. Love After Midnight
12. It Makes No Difference
13. A Swingin’ Safari
14. I Can’t Help Remembering You
15. Danke Schoen
THE MUSICIANS:
Saxophones/Flutes/Bass-Clarinet: Marcus Bartelt, Elmar Frey, Frank Jacobi, Stefan Pfeifer, Heiner Wiberny
Trumpets: Rüdiger Baldauf, Jörg Brohm, Martin Reuthner, Thomas Vogel
Trombones: Günter Bollmann, Richard Hellenthal, Uli Launhardt, Ludwig Nuss, Uli Plettendorff
Piano, Vocal: Paul Kuhn
Keyboard, Harmonica: Bertold Matschat
Guitars: Marcus Wienstroer, Tom Wohlert
Bass: Jens Foltynowic, Gary Todd, Paul G. Ulrich
Drums: Willy Ketzer
Percussion: Wolfgang Haas
String section: led by Mischa Salevic
Choir: The Ute-Mann-Singers
Ulla Arnz, Magdalena Burghardt, Gaby Goldberg, Ute Mann-Kuhn, Catrin Pröpper, Peter Bauchwitz, Roland Bublitz, Markus Gahlen
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Flugelhorn: Ack van Rooyen
Trombone: Jiggs Whigham
Vocal: Greetje Kauffeld, Georgie Fame, Carry Sass, Peter Douglas
Soothing the Tiger – The Gentle Sound
of Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra
Release: 22. November 2013
Silver Spot Records # 1036003SSR
Order now: www.amazon.de
“In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they’re only made of clay, but our love is here to stay.” Thus runs the central stanza of George and Ira Gershwin’s sentimental ballad “Love Is Here To Stay”. It was the last song George Gershwin ever wrote, and if there were a reason to omit his brother Ira’s inspired lyrics, then it is Rehbein’s instrumental version.
Herbert Rehbein was a close friend and long-standing musical partner of Bert Kaempfert’s, with whom he wrote a number of songs for, amongst others, Frank Sinatra. His musical twin he was not.
On the three LPs that Rehbein released in the ‘60s there is no “Knack-Bass” (that distinctive percussive bass sound) – at least not on the first two records – there are no exotic lead instruments such as piccolos, nor blaring-brass cascades. Instead, strings dominate, strings with which one not only could soothe tigers but their symphonic richness of tone was savoured with such sophistication by Rehbein that they invited immediate consumption.
The three albums “MUSIC TO SOOTHE THAT TIGER” (1964) “LOVE AFTER MIDNIGHT” (1967) “…AND SO TO BED” (1969) are now combined on this double CD “Soothing The Tiger”. From the outset the sound created by Herbert Rehbein and his orchestra was musical escapism of the very best sort, yet it is astonishing how fresh it sounds even today. The Rocky Mountains still stand proud and Herbert Rehbein’s music has outlasted its time, too.
Tracks CD1:
1. When I Fall In Love
2. Don’t Talk To Me
3. East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon)
4. Chances Are
5. The Lady Smiles
6. Prisoner Of Love
7. I Love You So
8. Love Is Here To Stay
9. If I Had You
10. Moon Maid
11. Speak Low
12. Dry Eyes
13. Love After Midnight
14. Lil’ Darlin’
15. Yesterday
16. Lady
17. September Song
18. A Gypsy In Manhattan
Tracks CD 2:
1. Hold Back The Dawn!
2. It Was A Very Good Year
3. Strangers In The Night
4. My Yiddishe Momme
5. It’s Only Love (Es Ist Nur Die Liebe)
6. Ebb Tide
7. Lonely Is The Name
8. Moon Over Naples (Spanish Eyes)
9. Malaysian Melody
10. Welcome To My Heart
11. The Times Will Change
12. The World We Knew (Over And Over)
13. Manhattan After Dark
14. I Can’t Help Remembering You
15. (You Are) My Way Of Life
16. On My Lonely Way
17. Our Street Of Love
More Information: www.silverspot-records.com
Strangers in the Night –
The Music of Bert Kaempfert
The Berlin Jazz Orchestra & Special Guests
Release: September 21, 2012
DVD-Video (2), PAL 16:9
Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS 5.1/
PCM-Stereo
Playing Time: 65 Min.
# 370 739-8 – Universal
Order Now: www.amazon.de
A live recording from Frankfurt’s Alte Oper on 12 February 2008. Augmented by the Frankfurt Strings and the Berlin Voices, the Berlin Jazz Orchestra performed under the direction of Jiggs Whigham. Soloists included Ack van Rooyen (flugelhorn, trumpet), Herb Geller (saxophone, flute), Jiggs Whigham (trombone) and Ladi Geisler (bass) together with several of Bert Kaempfert’s fellow musicians. This concert was rounded off by, as special guests, jazz singer Sylvia Vrethammar, singer Marc Secara as well as pianist and entertainer Joja Wendt.
Tracks:
Intro: Strangers In The Night
Wonderland by Night
Medley
Afrikaan Beat
A Swingin’ Safari
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Three O’Clock In The Morning
For Bert
The Sunny Side Of Life
The World We Knew
Spanish Eyes (Moon Over Naples)
L.O.V.E.
It Makes No Difference
Lonely Is The Name
Bye Bye Blues
I Love You So
A Song For Satch
Strangers In The Night
You Turned My World Around
(You Are) My Way Of Life
The Times Will Change
Danke Schoen
Now and Forever – Secara meets Kaempfert
Release: 24. Juni 2011
Order Number: 1036001SSR
Order Now: www.amazon.de
oder iTunes
As a connoisseur of Bert Kaempfert’s musical world, Marc Secara has chosen not to sing any of the maestro’s hits. Instead, this CD features songs from Kaempfert’s repertoire that are less well-known or to date have been heard “only” as instrumental versions.
The music has been so arranged as to lend it a rich and luxurious quality. Accompanied by a large band Secara swings and croons his way through twelve Kaempfert’s songs, songs that will rapidly become new evergreens.
The big band is made up of some of the best jazz musicians Europe has to offer – such as Ack van Rooyen, Lutz Büchner, Fiete Felsch, Ludwig Nuss, Frank Chastenier, Christian von Kaphengst and Lutz Häfner – and backed up by the Babelsberg film orchestra.
This album was produced by Robert Matt, with the arrangements written by Jörg Achim Keller, Wolf Kerschek and Michael Gibbs.
“Now And Forever” is the first production on Silver Spot Records, a brand-new label established by Bert Kaempfert’s youngest daughter Doris, a label that will be issuing exclusive productions of music ranging from jazz to pop.
Tracks:
Gray Eyes Make Me Blue
Don’t Stay
Now And Forever
I’m Gonna Walk Out
My Way Of Life
Don’t Talk To Me
I Go On Loving You
You’re Fooling No One But Yourself
Lonely Is The Name
Night Dreams
Take Me
I Can’t Help Remembering You
For further details: www.now-and-forever.info
The Anita Kerr Singers –
Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On
Collector’S Choice Music
#WWCCM08132
Release: June 6, 2007
1968 saw the release of the album “Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On”. The well-known American musician Anita Kerr arranged a selection of Kaempfert hits specially for her group of singers, as well as composing the song For Bert by way of homage. This outstanding production has now been put out on CD by Collectors’ Choice in the USA and is also available here in Germany.
Tracks:
L.O.V.E.
Two Can Live On Love Alone
Remember When (We Made These Memories)
Strangers In The Night
A Swingin’ Safari
The World We Knew (Over And Over)
I Can’t Help Remembering You
Spanish Eyes
Danke Schoen
Wonderland By Night
Lady
For Bert
Christopher Dell – The World We Knew
Celebrating Bert Kaempfert with Ladi Geisler
# ACT 9449-2
Release: January 26, 2007
Well known in the jazz world as, i.a., a leading vibraphone player and winner of many an award over the years, Christopher Dell has collaborated with Siegfried Loch to produce this CD featuring an extremely fine line-up: Christof Lauer (saxophone), Carsten Daerr (piano), Oliver Potratz (bass), Eric Schäfer (drums) together with Ladi Geisler as guitarist, renowned from Bert Kaempfert’s orchestra for his “Knackbass”. Here Dell not only plays vibraphone but has arranged Kaempfert’s songs in a style all of his own.
Tracks:
Don’t Talk To Me
Danke Schoen
A Swingin’ Safari
Strangers In The Night
Afrikaan Beat II
Wiedersehn
It Makes No Difference
Spanish Eyes
Afrikaan Beat I
Geh nicht vorbei (I Can’t Help Remembering You)
The World We Knew (Over And Over)
Love After Midnight (90 Minuten nach Mitternacht)
Strangers in the Night –
The Music of Bert Kaempfert
Hessischer Rundfunk’s big band directed
by Jiggs Whigham & Special Guests
# 06 025 171 389 7 – Polydor
Release: November 17, 2006
Following the highly successful staging of a superlative concert, it was soon clear to everyone that this exceptional meeting of top-notch musicians just had to be preserved as a souvenir for all time. Hence the present CD, containing, as it does, a cross-section of this concert programme. Not only is Jiggs Whigham one of the world’s leading trombonists but also a much sought-after bandleader and professor of music, an artist who time and again is called upon to direct international big bands and orchestras of high repute. Here, as musical director, having taken great care in the choice of those with whom he wished to collaborate, Jiggs has succeeded in creating a dialogue with Bert Kaempfert that is quite without parallel.
Officially chief conductor of Hessischer Rundfunk’s big band, Jörg Achim Keller handed over the musical direction of this unique project and, in his capacity as one of the best arrangers, took up the challenge, performing the task in masterly fashion: without losing sight of the “Kaempfert touch”, his arrangements have lent a new dimension to the music.
The top-class musicians of the Hessischer Rundfunk’s big band were augmented with an equally top-class string ensemble and thus transformed into an orchestral formation. Also imperative for Bert Kaempfert: the choir! Here the Berlin Voices were able to demonstrate their undoubted abilities, and this not just as a backing group. And, the crème de la crème in this line-up, the virtuoso instrumentalists who also performed as soloists with Bert Kaempfert in his day: Ack van Rooyen (flugelhorn / trumpet), Herb Geller (saxophone / flute) and Ladi Geisler (bass guitar).
Sylvia Vrethammar, the eminently likeable and superb jazz singer from Sweden, was invited by Bert Kaempfert to appear as guest star at his concerts as from 1979, since she performed his compositions in precisely the way he had imagined. And it was not difficult to persuade Sylvia to join as vocalist again: after all, the soft spot she has for Bert’s songs remains with her to the present day.
And last but no means least, young artists such as the much-loved pianist and entertainer Joja Wendt, Marc Secara und the Berlin Voices prove once again that Bert Kaempfert’s music is not only timeless but cuts across all and every generation, too.
Remember When… –
Paul Kuhn Meets Bert Kaempfert
Content / Edel Records
# 0151582CTT
Release: October 20, 2003
available until March 2015
This meticulous album has a special origin story. Doris Kaempfert had long envisioned to have Paul Kuhn interpret her fathers compositional work. The King of German Swing took the opportunity to create his personal portrait of the unforgettable composer who boosted stars like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Caterina Valente to glory.
With his special touch, Kuhn assembled a small but exquisite jazz band together. He arranged Kaempfert’s classics as Strangers In The Night, Wonderland By Night, L.O.V.E., My Way Of Life and Danke Schoen in his unique minimalist swing style.
This Album has been rereleased in April 2015. For more information, click here
Moon Over Naples / Spanish Eyes – Various Artist
Bear Family Records # 16674
Release: Oktober 16, 2003
One of the most successful songs by German musician Bert Kaempfert was – and still is – Spanish Eyes. Its journey towards becoming an evergreen was by no means predictable. Instead, its triumphal march around the world proved to be long and laborious.
Kaempfert’s Spanish Eyes went round the world and was released in over 500 different versions: including those sung and played by world famous interpreters and orchestra leaders such as Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Billy Vaughn and Ray Conniff. That must be a record. There are also various printed editions, ranging from concertina arrangements to ones for a Russian balalaika ensemble complete with domra and bayan. Spanish Eyes received numerous awards and today, along with Kaempfert’s most popular song Strangers In The Night, it is among the hundred most successful hits of the 20th century.
In October 2003, Bear Family Records had released a CD with 24 remarkable versions of Moon Over Naples (Spanish Eyes). The exciting story of the complicated launch of this evergreen has been documented in a comprehensive booklet.
The Bert Kaempfert Story – A Musical Biography
2CD # 583 784-2 Polydor
Doppel-LP # 583 784-1 (Vinyl)
Release: April 29, 2003
In honor of the great composer and band leader Bert Kaempfert “The Bert Kaempfert Story – A Musical Biography” was released under the Polydor Label, his record company since 1955. It included two CDs, compilations of a selection of his greatest hits and unforgettable melodies. A musical biography, sung by international stars and played by Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra. These CDs also include nine Kaempfert cover versions, released on CD for the first time.
Click here for more information.
Bobby Hackett – Collectables Jazz Classics
Collectables # COL-CD-7411
Release: February 19, 2002
In 1963 Bobby Hackett played a complete album with 12 Kaempfert compositions. The album “Bobby Hackett Plays The Music Of Bert Kaempfert” has now been re-released in the United States under the Sony Records label in the “Collectable Jazz Classics” series, along with the album “Bobby Hackett Plays The Music Of Henry Mancini” on a “2 on 1” CD. It is an interesting compilation with the following 12 songs: Danke Schoen / Wonderland By Night / A Swingin’ Safari / The Bass Walks / Mexican Market Day / Now And Forever / Bert’s Tune / Afrikaan Beat / Sunday In Madrid / Only Those In Love / Take Me / The Happy Trumpeter.
Danke Schön, Helmut Zacharias – Die Retrospektive
# 537610 – EMI
Release Date: March 22, 2002
EMI has released an extravagant 4-CD luxury set entitled “Danke Schön, Helmut Zacharias – Die Retrospektive” in honor of this great artist, compiled of 100 songs ranging from swing to waltz, folk song and film hits, chanson and opera from the 60s and 70s. Bert Kaempfert’s hit, Danke Schoen is also included, not only since the song title is fitting for this edition, but also as a symbol of the cooperation and friendship between these two musicians.
Dean Martin on Reprise
Collector’S Choice Music
Release: 2001 – 2002
In a series called “Collectors’ Choice Music”, EMI-Capitol Music released numerous CDs under the title of “Dean Martin on Reprise”, each combining 2 original albums by this great entertainer on one CD.
The three Kaempfert songs that Dean Martin used in his repertoire are also included on these “2 on 1” CDs with the following order numbers: Welcome To My Heart (# CCM-260-2), I Can’t Help Remembering You (# CCM-259-2), Take Me (# CCM 253-2).
Ten Of The Best – Brass Dreams
# 9033/3 – EWOTON
Release: November 27, 1999
Ten Of The Best is the name of an international line-up – comprising ten of the world’s finest trumpet players with rhythm-section backing. In addition to the incomparably high quality of their musicianship, a further strong point lies in this ensemble’s choice of repertoire which ranges from classical works to hits from the world of pop and entertainment. Alongside compositions by Bach, Purcell, Gershwin and Stevie Wonder, they also feature Bert Kaempfert’s Spanish Eyes and Strangers in the Night.
Order now: www.spaeth-schmidt.de
All CDs are available over the Internet (for example, from AMAZON or JPC).
Click here for the links.