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Bettina Pohle

Bettina Pohle has been singing all her life. Born in Berlin, she started taking piano lessons at age 6, later adding flute and voice to her music education. She sang with the Berliner Konzertchor for years, before leaving for the United States in 1986, where she studied literature and voice at the University of Georgia, placing 2nd at the classical student competition NATS the same year, and concentrating on oratory performances as a soprano soloist.

After moving to California, she continued her studies in literature, graduating with a Ph.D. in from UC Berkeley, California in 1994. While studying, Bettina continued to sing in classical and contemporary music ensembles, among them Anthony Pasqua's Perfect Fifth Chamber Choir and Robert Geary's The San Francisco Chamber Singers . Eventually she switched to vocal jazz, when - after working with pianist Ellen Hoffmann and participating in a workshop with Mark Murphy - she joined Bill Ganz’s UC Vocal Jazz Ensemble, with whom she also went on tour to Hawaii. She was given the University of California Chorale Ensembles': Award for Greatest Musical Achievement, 1993-1994 . Due to her vocal qualities, Bettina also worked in the Bay Area as a sought-after voice-over artist for many years. From 1995-1997, Bettina was employed as Asst. Prof. in the Humanities at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in San Francisco, California.

After 12 years in the US, Bettina returned to Germany, where she has been running the Berliner Zukunftssalon (www.berlinerzukunftssalon.de) ever since and continues to teach US-American college students. After pausing to raise her two daughters Morghan and Avril, Bettina picked up singing jazz again in 2008, this time concentrating on solo vocal jazz, and she has since been working with the Jazz pianist, percussionist, teacher and friend Ralf Ruh and studying with the husband-wife jazz musicians/teachers team Connie Moore (voc) & Reggie Moore (piano) in Berlin.

see also: www.bettinapohle.com contact: [email protected]

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Bettina Pohle & Ralf Ruh Trio Just [b] Sensual and technically brilliant „I sing therefore I am“ is written on the cover of Bettina Pohle's latest CD, which appears to be a translation suggestion from a dictionary for the word „to be“. This is obviously the life motto of the versatile Berliner, who lived in the US for an extended period of time. Initially out and about in classical music, Pohle switched to jazz during her time in the US; and - to put it in Berliners' terms - that's a good thing, too, because Pohle's expressive voice, full of character, is virtually predestined for jazz. With Just [b], Bettina Pohle is presenting her second album, this time accompanied by the Ralf Ruh Trio with Ralf Ruh at the piano, Lars Gühlcke on the bass and Peter Horisberger on drums. Along with the interpretations of jazz classics, the disc also contains an original composition by Ruh and Pohle. Unfortunately, there is no CD booklet with it. From the outset, the striking thing is Pohle's extraordinarily warm timbre: expressive, strong and still transparent, such as in „The Man I Love“ by George and Ira Gershwin, which brings out her vocal timbre wonderfully especially in her low range. Likewise in Eden Ahbez' „Nature Boy“, which in this interpretation is interspersed with Latin sounds, which are particularly skillfully mastered by the pianist. This song interpretation, too, is characterized by Pohle's expressiveness. However, sensuality and warm timbre must not let one forget that Pohle is also technically very versed; with flexible agogics in the individual phrases she pointedly ramps up the expression. In „Angel Eyes“, a jazz standard from the 1940s, written by Matt Dennis and Earl Brent, Pohle shows that her voice can also groove. This is a title one can hardly sing as written, not exact singing but expression is what is demanded here. Pohle answers to this demand skillfully by using her voice nimbly and playfully, accompanied gingerly by The Ralf Ruh Trio. The real surprise on this CD is „Beneath the Midnight Moon“ a gorgeous song, composed by Ralf Ruh with lyrics by Bettina Pohle. Not only does Pohle's voice come into effect particularly well in it; the song is written with great skill and quality that rival international jazz standards without effort. The Ralf Ruh Trio accompanies perceptively and gently. Good timing, rhythmic secureness and mutual close listening inform the overall music playing of Pohle and the Ralf Ruh Trio on this CD. Hopefully we will hear more from Bettina Pohle, preferably again with the Ralf Ruh Trio. Perhaps the label then decides to print a real CD booklet with all the bells and whistles. This music deserves it. Susanne Westerholt, OMM (Online Musik Magazin) http://www.omm.de/cds/jazz/bettina-pohle-just-b.html

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