For fans of De-Phazz! Fola Dada, the Afro-German jazz and soul singer living in Stuttgart, frontwoman of Hattler and regular guest of the SWR Big Band has taken four years to write songs for her new album "Earth". Now finally, these are her own words, there is a new way, a new chapter ahead of her. She has grown up, knows herself better than ever before and can present her new, own music with a mature voice. She remains true to her musical roots, but no longer separates them from each other: jazz is in, soul cannot be avoided, hand-made club music comes from the heart, lyrics about the self, you, the others. The conceptual demand on the album also continues the idea of earth in terms of sound: warm, smoky, deep, full, velvety gliding along, weighty, impulsive. The band on this album found themselves in the Stuttgart jazz club "Bix". There Fola Dada has a concert series called "Groove Is In The Heart". In June 2016 Ulf Kleiner (keyboards: e.g. Jeff Cascaro, De- Phazz), Tommy Baldu (drums: e.g. Ringswandl, Vereinsheim), Krischan Frehse (bass: e.g. Heavytones, Xaver-Fischer-Trio) and Joo Kraus (trumpet & flugelhorn: e.g. JooJazz, Tab Two) met each other. The interplay was so harmonious, so heart filling, just right and for Fola the answer to the question "Which band should play my songs?". Most of the basic tracks were recorded live with rare, old radio equipment and then carefully put together, supplemented and mixed in Ulf Kleiner's "SommerResidenzstudio". Besides Tommy Baldus' old "Slingerland-Set" and Krischan Frehses Jazzbass, an old Fender Rhodes can be heard prominently, as well as Hammond organ and piano, different tape delays and effects. Sometimes the sound is carefully extended electronically as with "Earth" or "Bittersweet". Autotune or Melodyne are not found on "Earth", everything is played live and there is always plenty of room for the full, soft voice of Fola Dada. For example with "Water", which begins spherically to end in a trippy recapitulation with a choir building up. Or the dubbly-spaced version of the Marley classic "Waiting In Vain". The renowned guests Joo Kraus on trumpet and Daniel Stelter on acoustic guitar can be heard on three songs.
