Marc Secara | |
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 Marc Secara at Greve Studio, Berlin | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 20 February 1976 |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | marcsecara |
Marc Secara (born 20 February 1976) is a German singer and recording artist known for jazz, American pop music, and German popular repertoire. He is also a member of the German singing group the Berlin Voices.
Marc Secara was born in Bad Harzburg (Niedersachsen) and raised in Bavaria. At the age of 15 while in school at the gymnasium he founded his own band. After school and civil service he studied music (saxophone) at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. He first met Peter Herbolzheimer at that school who would become a big influence on Secara's development as an artist. Secara's interests gravitated more towards voice performance and at the age of 20 he moved to Berlin and attended Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" studying voice, jazz, and popular music. In 2000 he received an IASJ scholarship and a period of study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA). From 1997 to 1999 he was a soloist and member of the jazz choir vocal group member for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Bujazzo) under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. [1]
In 1998 Marc Secara founded the Berlin Voices, a four-part vocal group much like Manhattan Transfer with two female and two male voices. [2] The group released two critically acclaimed CDs: The Music of Billy Joel, and About Christmas. [3] The group has also toured and recorded with the HR Big Band (Frankfurt) and the Berlin Jazz Orchestra.
In 2001 his "Marc Secara Group" was the first Western Jazz band which had a tour in the Islamic Republic of Iran. [4] After another Iranian tour in 2002, he won with his Marc Secara Group 1st prize as "Best Artist" of the nationwide music festival "Fader". In 2004 Secara toured Europe as a "cultural ambassador" of the Federal Republic of Germany and performed four concerts for the former Federal President Johannes Rau and Horst Köhler. In 2006 he sang in duet with baritone Thomas Quasthoff at the Federal President's Summer Party. In 2006 he was also a solo artist on tour in Germany with the HR Big Band, strings and a choir; Secara was one of the youngest guest soloists to appear with the Hessian Radio Jazz Orchestra. This was part of the Bert Kaempfert (Germany) tour nationwide, the first major one in 20 years.
In 2008 Secara recorded and toured with actor and singer Manfred Krug. [5] In 2009 he composed Killing Is My Business, Honey with Hoku Ho and Rick Kavanian for the movie Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling . With Berlin Jazz Orchestra he sang the theme song for the movie. [6]
In 2009 Marc Secara entered a production contract with Bert Kaempfert Music Publishing. Together with a German all star jazz orchestra, he recorded a CD with Bert Kaempfert's music. In 2010 was the presentation of the new stage show Now and Forever, featuring the music from the CD.
Secara is featured on the 2018 release Origin Suite as a collaboration with composer Jack Cooper; he supplies prominent vocalese parts on four of the twelve tracks for the album. [7]
Since 2000 Secara has been working with his own big band, the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. [8] The ensemble is under the direction of former RIAS Big Band conductor Jiggs Whigham. In collaboration with the music agent Jacky Wagner and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) their first CDs were released in 2004 and 2008; the albums Update and You're Everything with scores commissioned from the British arranger Steve Gray.
2005 celebrated the Berlin Jazz Orchestra's 5th Anniversary as part of a broadcasting Germany, moderated by Alfred Biolek.
In 2009 Secara and the Berlin Jazz Orchestra toured Estonia, Azerbaijan and performed in numerous concert halls in Germany.
In 2012 the concert video Strangers In Night - The Music Of Bert Kaempfert was produced with the Berlin Jazz Orchestra with Secara's repertoire completed for the earlier recording from 2010. In November 2014 the group toured Germany with the New York Voices. [9] In 2014 Secara hired arranger and conductor Jack Cooper to collaborate on the new Songs of Berlin BJO project and CD recording. Secara's Songs of Berlin project includes noted hit tunes of German artists such as Marlene Dietrich, Hildegard Knef, and Peter Fox.
Since 2008, he is a vocal coach of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (BuJazzO), the Landesjugendjazzorchester Brandenburg and the State Youth Jazz Orchestra Berlin. Until 2019 he was the musical director for the Young Voices Brandenburg. In 2013 he was appointed professor of singing and ensemble at the SRH Hochschule der populären Künste (Berlin).
Marc Secara resides in Berlin, Germany.
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Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including "Strangers in the Night" and "Moon Over Naples".
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Manfred Moch was a German trumpet player. He made a name for himself in the 1960s as the featured solo trumpet player for the Bert Kaempfert orchestra, contributing memorable and melodic solos to many of Kaempfert’s hits; such songs included “Bye Bye Blues”, “Strangers In The Night”, “L-O-V-E” and “Sweet Maria”. His association with Kaempfert ended in 1968 over a pay dispute, but by the late 1970s he was again playing sessions and concerts with Kaempfert, although not as a soloist. Moch was also a long-time member of the James Last Orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s, and continued to play for Last as a session musician after leaving the touring band. In addition, Moch was a member of the NDR Big Band from the 1960s until the 1990s. He was also active as a session player in Hamburg, playing for many other popular German recording artists. During the late 1960s, Moch recorded some trumpet duet albums with fellow Last/Kaempfert bandmate Heinz Habermann, which were released on the Decca label under the name The Tattoos. Moch died on 28 May 2011.
Harald Ende is a German saxophone, flute and accordion player who was active in the Hamburg music scene from the 1950s to the 1990s. He attended the local music school and was trained as a classical clarinetist. However, upon graduating, he soon found that in order to get steady work, he had to play in a more popular context. In 1958, he joined the NDR big band. He also worked as a studio musician for many popular German recording acts like Bert Kaempfert. In 1968, he joined the James Last Orchestra, for which he had to learn how to play the flute; James Last himself taught Ende how to play the instrument. A big band musician enamoured with the work of Buddy Rich and Count Basie, Ende recorded and toured with Last until the end of 1979, after which he devoted most of his career to his work with the NDR big band, often backing up well-known jazz stars like Joe Pass and Chet Baker. One popular sideline act was his accordion duo with fellow Last and Kaempfert bandmate Günter Platzek, known as The Pop Kids. Now retired, Ende took part in the 80th anniversary celebration of the birth of Bert Kaempfert in 2003.
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Miloslav Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler was a German musician who established a high profile in the post-war German music scene. Best known for his work with pop musicians Bert Kaempfert, James Last and Freddy Quinn, Geisler developed the distinctive "Knack-Bass" percussive bass sound that helped popularize the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. He later released numerous records under his own name.
Maria Baptist is a German musician and professor.
Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling is a German comedy directed by Sebastian Niemann.
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The Berlin Jazz Orchestra is a 17 piece concert jazz orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. The orchestra has been critically acclaimed by prominent periodicals such as the Berliner Tagesspiegel, Märkische Allgemeine, Jazzpodium, and Jazzthetik.
You're Everything is a jazz album produced by Schoener Hören Records and Kulturradio, it was officially released in March 2008. The album was critically acclaimed by Jazz Podium magazine as the second recording for the Berlin Jazz Orchestra with vocal artist Marc Secara. Jazz artist Jiggs Whigham is featured on this release as both instrumentalist (trombone) and musical director.
Strangers in the Night - The Music of Bert Kaempfert is the Berlin Jazz Orchestra's first home video, released on DVD September 21, 2012 by Polydor/Universal Entertainment. The DVD is a live recording from the Alte Oper on February 12, 2008 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Update is a jazz album produced by 44 Records and producer Jacky Wagner, released in 2004. The album was critically acclaimed by Jazz Podium magazine as the first initial recording for the Berlin Jazz Orchestra with vocal artist Marc Secara. Jazz artist Jiggs Whigham is featured on this release as both instrumentalist (trombone) and musical director and Steve Gray's arrangements are featured on this recording.
The Young Voices Brandenburg are a jazz and popular music choir of over 20 voices, composed of 18 to 26-year-old male and female singers. The musical ensemble is specifically auditioned from the State of Brandenburg, Germany on a two-year rotation. They have toured the United States, China, and South Africa as well as having recorded numerous highly acclaimed CDs. The group has been featured with prominent media periodicals/broadcasts such as Der Tagesspiegel, Cue TV and RBB.
Sound of Home is the sixth studio album from the Young Voices Brandenburg on the Junge Töne label. The concept for the CD focuses on popular repertoire relating the questions "Where I come from, where I belong and where I feel at home".
Arne Jansen is a German jazz guitarist.
Gregory Bowen is a Welsh trumpet player. His primary work was done in London before relocating to Berlin, Germany in 1976. Since 1961, Bowen has performed and recorded with jazz, pop artists and entertainers from Europe and North America on records, soundtracks and T.V. broadcasts. Most notable is his lead trumpet work on the James Bond film soundtracks Goldfinger, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice.
