wenet – organ electric jazz trio

Great masters such as Wes Montgomery, John Abercrombie and John McLaughlin loved their organ trios and set the standard for this line-up.
The band led by Leipzig-based guitarist Werner Neumann combines this tradition with contemporary jazz-rock, R&B and soul. With Steffen Greisiger on the organ and Tom Friedrich on drums, two magnificent musicians have come together for this project. wenet celebrates the fusion of jazz, rock, soul, blues and gospel. It pays homage, as it were, to the songs and celebrates that sacred moment in jazz: improvisation, ensemble playing, and the communication between the musicians and between the band and the audience.

The debut CD Neue Heimat was released in October 2020 by Lakeland Records.

"… the guitarist Werner Neumann has now established himself as one of the most accomplished virtuosos on the European music scene. It is precisely Neumann’s stylistic versatility that is so astonishing. Rejecting any form of purism, he is equally at home in jazz, fusion and rock – including its harder-edged varieties … It is particularly on stage that Werner Neumann’s hidden musical roots come to the fore, for example when he sweeps through the restrained jazz landscape with the overdriven sonic storms of a Jimi Hendrix. Such surprising leaps and contrasts in his stylistic approach – which, however, never seem out of place but, on the contrary, come across as extremely refreshing – are an integral part of the guitarist’s individual style, which has taken shape over the years through a skilful and successful interweaving of his rock and jazz influences."

(Harald Rehmann on Deutschlandfunk, Jazzfacts “Saitenfeuer”)