Boogie Woogie Breakdown - a salute to Axel Zwingenberger

[ratbikeatze]

awesome! love that! Let´s see and hear more of your talent here!

[widdyhabb]

Technically brilliant, but wa-a-a-y-y too fast!

[stilzelrump]

Have you ever heard the original record ? I play at about the same speed as Axel Zwingenberger himself - nothing more, nothing less...

[widdyhabb]

@stilzelrump 1: No, I haven't heard the original record; 2: I did not say you are playing this faster than Mr Zwingenberger; 3: Boogie music played at this speed loses the feeling and rhythmic "drive" of the (slightly) slower tunes; 4: For an example of what I'm talking about, listen to Albert Ammons original recordings, especially Boogie Woogie Stomp; 5: But as I said, you're technically brilliant! :-)

[bigredlover77]

This will sound utterly cleche, but the 1st album I ever bought w/ my own money was 'Meade Lux Lewis'. I'm relatively young now(32) and bought the record at 11yo. I liked the names of the songs and loved the picture on the cover- I hadn't ever heard him but for $2.50- it was a steal! I can't read music because I prefer playing it , like it's in style! Axel is good but, he's like a metronome. He has no blues to the boogie, no raw emotion to sew back together after an 'unraveling'-Opinion.

[poissonnoir]

who is this?

[Bumblebee38]

Nice but too FAST for me !

[freddynator2]

brilliant

[pianoreis]

Brilliant!

[sidhe333]

brilliant!

[cjyu2]

thats unbelievable!! amazing!!! im in tears:(

[Germanikus86]

nice play! where do i get the sheets?

[stilzelrump]

There are no sheets. Try playing it by ear !

[RahmSifr]

Heaven must be like that...

[imageoptical]

wicked !!!

[Driveandlife]

Too fast-I can't see your fingers-haha!

[lasalleman]

Christ that's extraordinary! Damn I wish I could play that good.

[fubukitsunami]

OH YEAH MAN !

You made me having an orgasm ! <3

[CADYBOB1960]

I love that little piece you did near the end thats from the movie Boogie Woogie Dream.

You play real great. Keep the video's coming.

[EPENAEED]

WIIIIII!!! that's the real stuff... from Greece... congratulations!

[Bullwinkel]

you rock. my grandfather got to play with him on stage when he was in the U.S. about 4 years or so ago. cool story behind it.

My grandfather would pay you big to fly out to SF Bay Area to meet you and listen to you play. Amazing!!

[Bullwinkel]

thats awesome. how did you learn this song? i only know one 1 sheet music book and this song i dont think is on it. you rock!!

[stilzelrump]

I don't play Axels sheet music. Find it easier by ear and that way I am also not restricted to the few songs he put on sheets. I think many of his best recordings are from his early days where he played uninhibited with the full fire of his youth. Maybe at a later time I will post some more early Zwingenbergers like 'Steady Roll Boogie' or 'Thursday Evening Blues' - just wait....

[glattmehl]

so edel

[aribur76]

damn good:)keep on rockin dude...

[charliebiloxi]

very nice

[johnnyRmoney]

vielen dank für das video! ich liebe den song und hab axel auch schon viele male live erlebt!

rock on und was hältst du von meinem video???

es ist zwar nur sehr kurz aber ich würde gerne die meinung eines anderen boogie/blues pianisten hören?!?

dankeund weiter so

[12BarDave]

From Australia - you ROCK! Axel is the meister!

[maddermofo]

meade lux lewis is another fucking legend!!

[Kryptonoi]

Was ist denn Talent ohne Disziplin? Wenn man nicht an seinen Fähigkeiten arbeitet, wird man sie nicht verbessern. In diesem Sinne kann ich deine Abstufung Axel Zwingenbergers nicht nachvollziehen. Gerade für Boogie Woogie ist einiges an Aufwand nötig, um einigermaßen gut zu sein...

[stilzelrump]

Weniger eine Abstufung als eine Aufwertung Vince Webers. Vince ist zurueckhaltender, hat zwar viel weniger CD's gemacht als Axel. Aber bei Axel kann ich nachvollziehen was er spielt, bei Vince nicht. Der kleine Mann mit dem Wuschelkopf ist ein Phaenomen !

[spassgamer]

Your left hand is really funny^^, I am playing for 4 years now boogie but never played such bass line :) .

Hafe fun and play on!

[CADYBOB1960]

If you listen to You are my sunshine boogie by Ammons,you'll hear that base line

bob

[boowoojo]

Hervorragende Arbeit! Perfekt rausgehört und gespielt! Was ich aber besonders toll finde, ist, dass man merkt, dass Du diese Musik liebst!

[stilzelrump]

Obwohl ich Axel Zwingenberger hoch einstufe muss hier mal gesagt werden dass der Boogie-Meister aller Klassen fuer mich eindeutig Vince Weber ist. Er ist ganz einfach Talent pur und sehr schwer nachzuspielen. Axel ist top, aber auch ein Produkt von sehr viel Arbeit und Fleiss.

[Ebbrell]

wow!

[Benapostoli]

I have been listening to Boogie 65 years. The big three were awesome in thier day. No one holds a candle to Axel today. Anyone who wants to play Boogie should take a lesson from Axel. Watch his left hand In person his hands are jumping off the keys. Simply great. Remember the paino is a percussion instrument.

[merlilu]

Wow, das ist echt toll. Wielange hast du trainert, um das so spielen zu können? Und wielange spielst du schon Klaiver?

[stilzelrump]

Let's switch to English: to become a good amateur piano player you may need 4 to 5 years at 500 to 800 hrs/year. Any professional or real hardcore pianist spends at least 1000 to 1500 hrs/year on his instrument. And they are normally not very eager to point that out to the public ! (Jaja, ohne Fleiss kein Preiss...)

I have not been playing more than 100 to 200 hrs/year for the past 20 years, enough to maintain proficiency, but not enough to get any better.

[Amadeo909]

I don't speak german, but recognized the name Vince Weber in your previous reply. I gess he influenced you as he did me back in early 80's when I saw him in Europe. For 10 years I only played boogie, nothing else.

Great stuff.

Check out Daniel Paterok, aka, boogieman69..pieces 1, 2 & 3.. he is in the same league with bunch of similar riffs.

[widdyhabb]

@Amadeo909 "... I only played boogie, nothing else." There IS nothing else! :-)

[BluesMeBaby]

Logged on to watch videos of Axel and, this video popped up. Wow! You are amazing! I almost didn't post because I didn't care for your comment about women. grrrrrr lol

[stilzelrump]

Oh, you are so sensitive.... besides there is too much political correctness already - the world needs more Borats !

[boogiebike]

I guess the artist delivered us basically his empathetic insight about the natur of.... pianos!

[stilzelrump]

It's actually Axel Zwingenberger who is blowing you away. I am just copying his style here. Many people don't realize how good some of the living professional players really are - Vince Weber and Axel Zwingenberger would be on top of my list. If you read the bio of Jean Pierre Bertrand, who is also extremely talented, you will notice that Axel had a great influence even on him to develop his very own style.

[rounder2u]

Yeah, sure Axel and Vince are amazing, but no one (including yourself) should take that away from you, that You also have the skills to blow us away! Actually it seems like you need some time (a chorus or two) before your mighty steam train roll has settled in, but when the train is rolling at cruising speed - you're rolling very, very good!

[stilzelrump]

Hmmm - train, rolling - reminds me of having to post my Hardcore-version of the Honky Tonk Train. I like to play it quite fast for 6 to 7 minutes, the ultimate endurance trial. Lets see whether I can manage to record it without hitting too many wrong keys (a few I won't mind)

[rounder2u]

Is there anything left of the left forearm after 7 min of Honky Tonk Train Blues? But, please, upload it! And with the camera focusing on the right hand :-) I have been trying in vain to find sheet music for that tune. I have the 1935 Meade Lux Lewis recorded version, but not the sheets. Maybe I can see what You are playing if I play back in slow motion:-)

[andreboogie]

Armin, you're blowing us away! I'm subscribing to your videos! Keep it up!

[cam1987]

Yes finally!!! I was waiting for you to upload more vids :D because your first one was fantastic!

Hey are you a member of Terry Aspinall's Boogie Woogie forum yet?

Cam :)

[rounder2u]

Wow! Really a tour de force-boogie woogie performance! I saw your first 'just another Boogie Woogie'-upload and was hoping to see more of you, and here you are again! Nice!

[stilzelrump]

Yeah, I hope it's not too much of that "Kraft durch Freude"-thingy. With Axel and me both being German, the danger is there. Nobody of course could play that stuff better than Axel himself, but since he doesn't post here and nobody else is taking him on, I will. Besides, pianos are like women - sometimes you have to come down real hard on them - they like it !