Benjamin Koppel Releases New Album 'White Buses' with International All-Star Ensemble

Benjamin Koppel has released WHITE BUSES "Passage to Freedom" available here: WWW.COWBELLMUSIC.DK/SHOP

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Putting into words the everyday life of concentration camp prisoners during World War II is an impossible task. But can you set it to music? During the end of the war, rescue operations were organized and coordinated by the Red Cross. In total, 20,000 concentration camp prisoners were rescued alive from the Nazi extermination camps via the White Buses. Danish musician Benjamin Koppel has composed the work White Buses, which conveys a story that must not be forgotten. 

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

The work about the White Buses' rescue operation was created by Koppel himself interviewing survivors of the camps. A number of these statements are drawn into the music like flying quotes, and in the introduction, for example, we hear an elderly gentleman state, ‘There's a devil under the skin of any human being - beware, it never gets out!” We start off despairing and searching.

 

WHITE BUSES

Award-winning composer and saxophonist Benjamin Koppel has composed a stunning work based on recorded statements from surviving concentration camp prisoners who were rescued by the White Buses. It is a musical interpretation of a piece of violent world history, that should not be forgotten. Joy and fear, hope and sorrow are all part of the eyewitness accounts of the Red Cross rescue operation ‘The White Buses', which drove prisoners from concentration camps to safety in Sweden and Denmark in the final months of World War II. 

The music is composed around the poignant quotes that make the story both vivid and relevant.

The work was recorded in New York with an international All-star ensemble consisting of some of today's greatest and most interesting musicians: Grammy-nominated jazz singer Thana Alexa, the 5-time Grammy winner Antonio Sánchez on drums, Scott Colley on bass, Uri Caine behind the grand piano, Søren Møller on keys, and solo cellist from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra Henrik Dam Thomsen.

 

BENJAMIN KOPPEL (DK) - saxophone

THANA ALEXA (US/HR) - vocals

URI CAINE (US) - piano

SCOTT COLLEY (US) - bass

HENRIK DAM THOMSEN (DK) - cello

SØREN MØLLER (DK) - keys

ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ (MEX) - drums

 

TRACKS

01 Introduction - Testimonial I  01:18

02 1 The Devil Under the Skin  02:51

03 Testimonial II  00:12

04 2 The Woman With Her Violin  03:12

05 Testimonial III  00:11

06 3 I Was Terrified  02:24

07 Testimonial IV  00:21

08 4 Dreaming of Food  02:32

09 Testimonial V  00:22

10 5 Two Birds in a Nest  01:26

11 Testimonial VI  01:09

12 6 The Planes in the Sky  02:29

13 Testimonial VII  00:22

14 7 Rumors  00:58

15 Testimonial VIII  01:18

16 Die Dänen Raus  01:47

17 Testimonial IX  00:33

18 9 My Father  00:42

19 Testimonial X  00:33

20 10 The White Bus 01:03

21 Testimonial XI  00:24

22 11 The Goodbye  01:11

23 Testimonial XII  01:37

24 12 Potsdam  01:45

25 Testimonial XIII  02:28

26 13 The Welcoming pt. 1  01:39

27 14 The Welcoming pt. 2  02:15

28 Testimonial XIV  01:30

29 15 Awake or Dreaming  02:08

30 Testimonial XV  00:14

31 16 A Fantastic Miracle  03:33

32 Testimonial XVI  00:16

33 17 The Golden Carriage  01:54

 

Composed and arranged by Benjamin Koppel

Produced by Jeff Levenson & Benjamin Koppel

Recorded at Sear Sound, New York by Chris Allen

Mixed by Boe Larsen, Jeff Levenson and Benjamin Koppel at MillFactory Studios, Copenhagen

Mastering by David Elberling

Photos by Frihedsmuseets Fotoarkiv, Hans Lorenzen and Pontoppidan Sørensen

Cover by Christina Carlsen, Eks-Skolens Grafisk Design & Tryk

Scott Colley uses Pirastro Strings

Benjamin Koppel plays Peter Jessen handmade mouthpieces and sax necks

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