It's clear the moment she steps on stage: San Glaser is an exceptional artist, whose charming personality, smooth vocals and honest lyrics have been captivating audiences all over Europe for the last decade. Her style could be described as soulful jazz, with elements of pop and folk, all connected by her personal, authentic stories. A breath of fresh air in a musical landscape dominated by plastic manufactured singles.
Glaser is the daughter of Dutch-Indonesian parents. She inherited her musical talent from her father, a famous jazz musician in Holland, and followed in his footsteps studying music and jazz vocals in Amsterdam. After this, she spent some time singing and performing in various bands across Europe - a solid apprenticeship for her solo career. Along the way, she had collaborations and features with bands and artists such as Jazzkantine, Stefan Gwildis and Orange Blue.
In 2005 she recorded and released her critically acclaimed debut solo album "Never in Vain". Her follow up record "New Road" topped the German iTunes Jazz Charts in 2009 for many weeks and with "Beautiful Stranger" in 2014, she explored some of life's universal themes: love, longing and loss. This album was also deeply influenced by her journey reconnecting with her Indonesian roots.
After three excellent and stylistically different albums, the fourth (name?) can be characterised by terms such as: groove & sensuality, lightness & optimism. Songs that tell hopeful stories - as the only cover song on the record says (Neil Sedaka): "not another soul around, alone at last, you and I..."
This song is "...one of my favourites", she says, "with it's subtle hint of melancholy, which has always been something present in my own life. Right now, I'm in a phase of self-acceptance. This makes it easier to deal with the inevitable heaviness and this ease is reflected in the songs, in the music, in the lyrics. "
Taking this philosophy into the studio, every song on the new album, that the San Glaser Band recorded live at the historical Grand Hotel Heiligendamm, contains elements of this yin and yang. This was also reflected by their surroundings: inside, architectural elegance, but outside, only a door away from the wild and free Baltic sea.
San is joined on stage and in the studio by bassist Arnd Geise, who has played with jazz icons like Matalex, Randy Brecker, Colin Towns and Barry Finnerty. Johannes Wennrich on guitar, who provides amazing textured soundscapes and breathtaking solos and fantastic Leo Lazar on the drums.