Reviews and Press
GENE KRUPA Jazz Assoc. Says!
„The Band sounds GREAT !!
Your drumming is real nice and the artwork on your website was beautiful plus the idea for your show is WONDERFUL. I know Gene himself would have given you the GREEN LIGHT and most likely helped out with the financial part.“
Best Success. We wish you all the luck.
Mr. Roy Anderson
President of the GENE KRUPA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ ASSOCOCIATION
The Concorde Club
We were delighted to put on the Gene Krupa Story by Arthor von Blomberg’s Gene Krupa Famous
Swing Orchestra – the band and the music held the audience spellbound with powerful drumming
by Arthor and fantastic vocals by Cassie Miller. Great music played with great humour!
Cole Mathieson, The Concorde Club
THE GENE KRUPA BIG BAND AT RONNIE SCOTTS CLUB, LONDON
Good evening everyone,
I rushed back from a trip to Paris just in time to catch Arthor von Blomberg lead the Ronnie Scott Big Band in a tribute evening to Gene Krupa.
Ronnie Scott's Club as usual was excellent - this must be the best jazz club in the world. The ambience, lighting sound are all superb. The band was also superb and we all enjoyed two sets of Gene Krupa Orchestra hits (all of the numbers had the original arrangements) - with a couple of trio numbers and a couple of Benny Goodman numbers.
Arthor played superbly and the band swung like the preverbial (all the musicians
were of the highest order and in particular the trumpet section was wailing).
The evening featured - Starburst (Genes Theme), Bolero at the Savoy, Drummer Boy,
Let's Dance, Don't be that Way, Lover, Drum Boogie, Let me off Uptown, Skylark,
What's This, Drummer Boy, Boogie Blues, How hight the Moon, Drummin' Man, Opus 1,
How High the Moon, Disc Jockey Jump, Bolero at the Savoy, The Trio with Undecided
and China Boy (taken at a furious tempo) ending with a marvelous Sing, Sing,Sing.
The night was scintillating, full of fun, good humor and wonderful swinging music.
Well done Arthor you deserved your success and we all wish you well for the future
gigs.
Signing off from London
Cheers,
Peter Brightman
Arthor von Blomberg and the Gene Krupa Orchestra
Hi Everyone,
If you read my last post under the "stories section", you will see my review
of a performance earlier this evening at Ronnie Scott's Club in London, of Arthor
von Blomberg and the Ronnie Scott Big Band playing an evening of Gene Krupa Orchestra
hits.
The reason for this second post, is because I feel the need to share the
enjoyment this event gave to me and everyone who attended. As many of you know
there have been many tribute bands, indeed Michael Berkowitz leads an excellent
band in the New York area (his CD is available via JazzLegends.com). Roy Anderson
formerly led a good band and there have been others. I am not generally in favor
of tribute bands, although there have been some excellent orchestras over the years.
Arthor (with the unusual name of von Blomberg) sounds more like a German
General than a world class drummer and band leader - has dreamed of having a
Gene Krupa musical on Broadway and indeed Bruce Klauber has been advising Arthor
on this project. Tonight's performance wasn't really a tribute band at all. It was
a superb gathering of musicians playing the charts of Gene and having a ball - and
so did the audience.
It is easy to knock these performances of music from a bygone era and yet
- to see the audience loving every minute of it on a cold, windy, wet London
evening made me realize what wonderful music Gene and his band made over the
years. Well done Arthor and above all else keep playing and bringing this marvelous
music to people in all lands.
Go for it, Cheers
Peter Brightman
British Press, March 2008
British Press, March 2008
PLANETROC Opening VIP Party
"When I took over management of one of the largest recording studios in the world ->
PLANETROC Iwanted an opening party as "BIG" as anything ever seen. The VIPs and public
that were invited were waiting to be impressed.So in addition to our spectacular
recording/filming facilities. I wanted a program of great and unique talent with lots of
variety. From POP to Reggae to Metal to Funk to Classic Opera to Folk. It filled all our rooms for people to enjoy. Than there was ARTHOR von BLOMBERGs, GENE KRUPA Famous Swing ORCHESTRA. 16 musicians and vocal that seemed to have landed from another (planet!). All the guests that witnessed their performance were knocked out. They could have performed a sell-out concert. I am so glad then G.K.O. was part of our memorable Grand Opening and look forward to seeing them anywhere ,anytime."
Werner Krumme, Big Boss, Planetroc
"THE GENE KRUPA STORY": A BROADWAY MUSICAL!
There is virtually nothing that the Berlin-based Arthor Von Blomberg has not done in the
entertainment industry. His experience includes stints as record producer, recording engineer,
recording artist, author, jazz drummer, actor and band leader. I received a telephone call
some weeks back from Arthor, who wanted to enlist some of my services in line with an upcoming
project about Gene Krupa. The project? "The Gene Krupa Story," a Broadway musical based on the
life and music of that ace drummer man. At first, I was skeptical about the concept, but upon
hearing further details about it and looking into Arthor's extensive resume', I concluded that
this was, indeed, "the real thing." Though still in the early stages, Arthor and his
colleagues (and I proud to be one) are moving forward with plans for a national promotional
tour with a big band that will include some pretty big-name players (like the great altoist
Richie Cole), casting, discussions about merchandising, various presentations to potential
backers, etc. Arthor Von Blomberg's passion and knowledge of Gene and jazz is extraordinary,
and if anyone can do something like this and do it well, it is Arthor. Gene Krupa led a life
filled with superb, innovative music and a good deal of singular drama. Could there be any
better material than this for a Broadway show? Anyone interested in being a part of "The Gene
Krupa Story" should contact me directly at DrumAlive@aol.com. We will keep all of our
JazzLegends visitors updated on the progress of the show and the tour
JazzLegendsForum, Dr. Bruce Klauber
