Thomas Wallisch & Oli Bott Duo

UNKNOWN BEAUTY
Grooving Soundscapes

Thomas Wallisch (A): Guitar & Loops
Oli Bott (D): Vibraphone & Voice Percussion


Infotext:

'Unknown Beauty' is the debut CD of Thomas Wallisch and Oli Bott, with it they have created a surprising sound world of elegant clarity. Their compositions combine guitar, vibraphone, loops and voicepercussion into a music between Jazz, Groove and Art-Pop.

Very melodically and with impressive virtuosity the prize-winning Berklee-graduates create musical pictures of peculiar attraction. Intimate and forceful, intelligent and relaxed. In full flow and rich of emotions the musicians present chamber jazz changing between groove, gentle warmth and thrilling, communicative improvisation.

A guitar, excellently played and accentuated with creatively used effects by Thomas Wallisch meets a vibraphone on which Oli Bott finds sounds from soft to excessive. The combination of technical brilliance guarantees that this duo offers an impressive sound experience.


Biographies:

Thomas Wallisch, born 1973 in Klagenfurt/Austria into a family of musicians, began playing the guitar at the age of six. He studied jazz and classical guitar at the state conservatory in Klagenfurt, received scholarships for Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated 'summa cum laude'.
Since then he gave concerts world-wide, produced four own CDs, composed for classical ensembles and won several prizes such as Promotion Prize of the State of Kärnten and the Jimi Hendrix Award, USA. Since December 2003 he teaches jazzguitar at the State Conservatory Kärnten. www.thomaswallisch.com

Oli Bott studied vibraphone and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston with teachers such as Gary Burton and Bob Brookmeyer and graduated 'summa cum laude'.
Since then he works as freelancing vibraphonist and composer in Berlin. He received several scholarships by the city of Berlin and composition commissions for his own jazz orchestra. Many of his concerts throughout Europe were recorded by TV and radio. He received prizes at various international competitions such as NDR-Musicprize for bigband-conductors, 1st prize Improvisation-Competition Leipzig, Europ Jazz Contest and Wayne Shorter Award, USA. www.olibott.com


Pressquotes:

"Two instruments are enough to fill a room with warmth and to finally heat it up with sparkling grooves." Bert Noglik, Leipziger Volkszeitung

"Oli Bott and Thomas Wallisch find the resources to seemingly effortless play their audience into a comfortable dizziness. A dizziness so good that one perceived a loud 'Yeah!' at times from the public - and that was justified." Mainzeitung

"...melodical, rhythmical, original and exciting." Die Brücke

"Thanks to sensible and economical used technique the duo achieves voluminous sound. Scat-like singing of Oli Bott started grooving independently and guitarist Thomas Wallisch was able to add his frame guitar sounding either purely acoustic or Santana-like with one or two rhythm-guitars below. Exciting and intelligent music which caused enthusiastic applause."
Augsburger Allgemeine

"'Unknown beauty' is the name of their recent production and the title is pure truth. Counterpoints which, however abstract, always fit together, exact timing, chambermusic-like intimate dialog, music to relax - even if it at some times attacks with high-speed lines. Thomas Wallisch and Oli Bott compose all of their music. There is nothing ambiguous in their compositions, they bring every topic to the point. And that is beautiful." Burghauser Anzeiger

"An atmospheric duo-music between the worlds of Pop and Jazz." Jazzthing

"Their music describes sad and thoughtful as well as happy and playful contents. Despite of those extremes one locates the overall picture in the field of pure jazz music. 'Unknown Beauty' asks for an attend public, which likes to be carried away into the world of intimate personal communication. All respect for so much concerted action." Jazzpodium

"The duo appeared in front of crowded rows of seats and conjured with guitar and vibraphone sonorous grounds and diabolic riffs, meditative melodies and stirred emotional outbreaks out of two loudspeakers not bigger then your portable radio! What is that for a kind of music? Chamber jazz, groove, noble-pop, cross-over-world-music? In any case their compositions are rich of intelligence and compository mastery always combined with an unrestrained thrilling lust of making music and pleasure in the common work which one could read in their concentrated but relaxed faces." Traunreuter Anzeiger

"Intimate, forceful and simply beautiful duo pieces far from egocentric self-presentation." 
Crescendo

"Oli Bott and Thomas Wallisch proof with their production 'Unknown Beauty' that it is possible to create a hard groove with supposingly soft instruments." Musicoutlook