Moving Krippenspielers - Vol. 1

Moving Krippenspielers - Vol. 1

Matthias Schriefl

A nativity play of a different kind: with a lot of mischief and anarchic joy, six musicians, who also act as speakers/mimes, retell the Christmas story on thirty instruments. The story has hardly been seen before.

A wild spectacle tells, partly in dialect, how things might or might not have been back then with the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the Three Kings. This strange jazz revue is not only wild in terms of the lyrics, but also in terms of the music: across genres, through various eras and origins, and virtually through the entire history of music. “O Tannenbaum” is accompanied by Tibetan overtone chants, spirituals and gospels, pop, folk dances, hip hop and ska, Balkan folklore, samba, punk and afrobeat color the numbers, which are as nuanced and cleverly arranged as they are cheeky. Even Weather Report’s “Birdland” is given a Christmassy, ​​subversive touch. I wonder if the Catholic Church will give its blessing to this program by the “Moving Nativity Players”?

Contributors:
Matthias Schriefl (DE, trumpet, flugelhorn, baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, accordion, alphorn, trombone, piccolo trumpet, vocals)
Anna Tropper-Lener (AUS, violin, keyboard, electric bass, guitar, recorder, vocals)
Simon Rummel (DE, viola, keyboard, piano, melodica, euphonium, recorder, vocals)
Johannes Bär (AUS, (tuba, clarinet, trombone, euphonium, trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, alphorn, beatbox, vocals)
Philipp Zdebel (DE, drums, vocals)

Very Special Guests:
Michl Engl (IT, tuba, tenor horn, ophicleide, alphorn, cowlo horn, vocals)
Claudia Schwab (IE, violin, flugelhorn, accordion, recorder, vocals)
Michael "Schnucki" Theissing-Tegeler (D, trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, trumpet, vocals)
Julian Walleck (DE, double bass, electric bass, vocals)
Kalle Mathiesen (DK, drums, electric bass, vocals)

REVIEWS of Moving Krippenspielers - Vol. 1

“I know from your great work that a combination of Christmas and jazz can work... before I wasn't sure.”
Andreas Felber - ORF

“Thus, a rapid series of magnificently staged Christmas songs, rich in quotations, raced through the history of jazz.”
Sven Thielmann - WAZ Oberhausen

“With short dialogues, costumes and spontaneous actions, Schriefl’s arrangements gradually develop into a total work of art that can best be experienced live.”
Harald Holstein - Allgäu Newspaper

“The things that eight jazz musicians, who know no musical or content-related boundaries, come up with when they pursue the approach "The church must modernize" borders on madness for notes.”
Bettina Schack - NRZ

“Jazz fans laugh until they cry at nativity comedy.”
Sven Thielmann - wr.de