"The major artists were backed by a German band called the Heavy Mellow Quartet from Berlin who did an admirable job. They accompanied all the US artists and showed no sign of weakness during their many hours on stage, they did a flawless job and adapted well to each and every performer, additionally they showed their skills with their soloing at many occasions. They must have had to learn over 50 songs and probably had minimal rehearsal time, but at the concerts, they delivered." read more
"Die meisten Künstler machten mir den Eindruck, extrem unterfordert zu sein. Auf die fantastische Begleitband, das "Heavy Mellow Quartet", traf das sicher auch künstlerisch zu, keinesfalls aber konditionell: Die haben so um die zwei mal vier Stunden auf der Bühne gestanden und mussten sich auf unterschiedlichste Besetzungen einstellen" ... "Ich mag es, wenn Künstler wie beiläufig ihre Professionalität unter Beweis stellen. Das betrifft die "Heavy Mellow"-Quartettler, aber auch die unterschiedlichen Konstellationen der Solomusiker, die nur ein paar Fingerzeige untereinander brauchen, um eine mitreißende Show zu erzeugen." read more
"Major kudos to the house band that learned ALL of our music - that's like 50+ songs ... a phenomenally talented group of guys from Berlin. I want to say thanks to the hundreds of folks who attended from all over the world-great to see everyone. ... congrats on a fantastic festival-you guys really have something going! ... Danke Schoen! - DK." read more
"[The Heavy Mellow Quartet] had to manage more than 50 songs and performed them flawlessly ... The group has furthermore a tremendous grasp of things as I could observe during the rehearsal." read more
"Dass Marcus Johnson seine eigene Band für sein einziges Konzert in Europa zu Hause gelassen hatte und sich stattdessen kurzfristig entschieden hatte, auf drei deutsche Begleitmusiker zurückzugreifen, störte selbst seine vielen von weit her angereisten Fans überhaupt nicht. Gitarrist Stefan Machalitzky, Bassist Edward Maclean und Drummer Felix Lehrmann aus Berlin bereiteten dem Tasten-Wizard Johnson einen so perfekt groovenden, nach vorne treibenden Sound, dass sogar der Star des Abends selbst manches Mal in begeisterte Verzückung geriet." ... read more
"Great show! Great band! It was truly a great experience!
Peace and Love, MJ" see fotos
"Next was guitarist extraordinaire Chuck Loeb doing a great show, just backed by the Heavy Mellow Quartet, he gave us some great renditions of tracks like "The Music Inside" and other gems from his vast catalog. The crowd just loved it. At the end of his show, Rick Braun and Shilts played a couple of tracks with him (like "Brother Ray" and a blues) jamming along, in the spirit of jazz expressing spontaneity and cameraderie. This brought the evening to a satisfying close." read more
"Benoit was backed by the "Heavy Mellow Quartet" spearheaded by guitarist Stefan Machalitzky. The formation has earned accolades as a dependable and accommodating side act to the artists in previous years' Smooth Jazz festivals and managed to surprise headlining artists as well as audience with some fiery solo parts by individual band members." read more