Barbara Dennerlein

Born in Munich in 1964, Barbara Dennerlein fell in love with the sound of the Hammond organ at a young age. At eleven, she received her first home organ. Later she acquainted herself with other organs including an original Hammond B3. Parallel to her studies and examinations of standard classical repertoire, Barbara also made time to compose. With 15 regular appearances in various clubs, she was hailed as the "organ-tornado from Munich" in the early 80s. In 1984, Barbara began producing for her own label, Bebab Records. The name "Bebab" a combination of Barbara and bebop implies an original genre, for which there is no established term.

Their first church organ concert at the Bach Festival in Würzburg in 1994 encouraged the her to deal in depth with the church organ. Through mastery of using the pedals, Barbara Dennerlein, the ‘Queen of Instruments,’ began to conquer the immense sound possibilities of the organ. She began to make slow church organ music swing. A memorable highlight of her career includes her performances with Friedrich Gulda which were held in several prestigious European concert halls. Like Barbara Dennerlein,Gulda, is also dedicated to the musical genre of crossover music; striving to achieve a symbiosis of classical and jazz music.
In addition to her live performances and the publication of numerous CDs Barbara also began to make appearances as a presenter. She presented for example the 2000 and 2001 New Year’s 24-hour broadcast of jazz on 3sat. In 2002, saw the long awaited by their fans celebrated the release of her long awaited album, "Spiritual Movement No. 1". On the recording of this album Barbara Dennerlein features exclusive use of the pipe organ. It is with this album she established definitive jazz on the church organ. In 2003, Barbara met with a symphony orchestra to perform a long standing wish. In 2004, she took over as editor and presenter of the program "key - Big Band & Blues" at Deutschlanderadio Kultur and released her third solo album, "In A Silent Mood" with eight atmospheric ballads, intoned sensitively on the Hammond B3 organ.
Her albums have been awarded with Jazz Awards and the German Record Critics Award. Her CD, "Take Off" (1995) reached # 1 on the jazz charts and was hailed as the best-selling jazz album. Barbara Dennerlein belongs to the circle of few German artists with international prestige. She presents herself in publications and in concerts as a competent representative of a new generation of jazz musicians. She is a protagonist of her instrument, the legendary Hammond B3. It is a fascinating experience to hear her live performances. She is the most important and successful German jazz musicians. She appears at international festival stages as well as smaller clubs. For years, she has occupied first place in the American Jazz Critics Polls magazines and now has a worldwide fan base. She has remained humble and explores the emotional connection to their audience beyond the style definitions.