Born: January 15, 1966 Primary Instrument: Trumpet
Annette Neuffer began studying jazz trumpet at the music high school in Graz. Two years later she attended the Stuttgart music high school and studied with Claus Stötter, gaining a diploma. She also took other music courses before embarking on her professional career and playing with Pete York, the Bobby Burgess Bigband Explosion, Jimmy Woode, Curtis Fuller, the Sunday Night Orchestra and Milt Hinton, among others. Meanwhile, and quite unexpectedly, she discovered that she had a natural talent for singing and she was engaged as a vocalist by the Munich-based American bandleader and trumpeter, Al Porcino, who's band she has been joining since 1995. In his liner notes to her latest cd he writes about Annette: “Whether you're hearing double-talent Annette Neuffer for the first time, or following her musical progress for some 10 years as I have, you're in for a special treat with her latest release. She swings effortlessly with her lovely sonorous alto voice, never getting shrill or over-selling a good tune. This is real jazz singing. Along with the wisely selected rhythm section of Bernhard Pichl, Rudi Engel & Jens Düppe, Ms. Neuffer creates just the right mood on selections as diverse as the bossa-nova “So Nice”, and the deep bluesy “Baby All The Time”. Check out her savvy handling of the seldom-heard verse to “Someone To Watch Over Me”. And let's not forget her really fine trumpet alongside top tenorist Claus Koch, certainly one of the most swinging inventive saxmen out there today. Who could ask for anything more? Keep up the great work, Annette!” Al Porcino
