Hans Theessink Band 'Bridges ' 2004, Blue Groove SACD BG-1520, produced by Hans The essink BRIDGES is a hybrid SACD - sounds great on good equipment! I recorded this CD with my new band in a church in Tuscany. The church Monte Antico has beautiful acoustics and we did not use any digital reverbs and effects on this recording. It was a great experience to live and work together for a couple of weeks. I still sense that special vibe when listening back to the Bridges album. Enjoy, Hans Theessink A VINTAGE WINE IMPROVES WITH TIME! An, admittedly, unusual comparison with Hans Theessink, but nevertheless absolutely appropriate. As Austria's no. 1 blues export, in fact one of the most important Blues and Roots musicians worldwide, he has amazed audiences and his fans for years by delivering ever greater quality and listening pleasure on CD as well as in concert. After all, during his career of 35 years he has played, as he says himself, 'something between 6,000 and 7,000 concerts in all settings possible'. His CDs are guaranteed award winners. The tribute project to Derroll Adams, 'Banjoman', with Arlo Guthrie and Donovan among others, was just nominated for a Grammy in the US! His songs, the majority of which were written by himself, as well as the diversity of his sidemen emphasize the creativity of this great musical personality. Only recently he formed a new band with very experienced musicians whose first concert took place in August of 2001 in Waidhofen a.d. Ybbs. Many widely acclaimed concerts followed. The band waited to release their first CD as they wanted to 'work things out with each other' first. THE HANS THEESSINK BAND With the beautiful surroundings of Tuscany, near Monte Antico, and inspired by good red wines, Hans The essink and his new band retreated last summer to the acoustically outstanding premises of an old church, set up as a cultural center. For Hans this proved a 'real source of strength' to record the new album. Thomas Löffler, The essink's technician and recording manager, arrived with a truckload of technical equipment and turned the church into a huge recording studio. Hans' new band started to settle in. Harry Stampfer, who still plays the drums in Wolfgang Ambros' band, took along his drums and several percussion instruments. Roland Guggenbichler, frequently on the road with Willi Resetarits (a.k.a. Kurt Ostbahn) brought not only a piano, a Wurlitzer Electric Piano and an accordion, but also a classical Hammond B3 organ. Erich Buchebner, travelling in the past with the well-known Austrian group STS and also a member of the Ostbahn-combo who on the side runs a highly esteemed recording studio, added his electric and upright bass to the mix. Hans The essink himself showed up with a vast amount of guitars, banjos, mandolines, mandocellos and several mouthorgans. Also in Tuscany were the three members of the Zimbabwean choir Insingizi. Hans met the vocal group in 1997 at the event 'Let's spend the night together' at the Orpheum in Graz. Since then both parties have enjoyed working together time and again. With 'Zambezi', one of the titles on the new CD, he dedicated a song to them. Hans Theessink: 'I love their 'earthy' way of singing and their wonderful choreography.