Bermudian jazzes up Berlin’s music scene
But can you sing? That’s the question Ginea “Adi” Wolf often heard when she first approached Berlin jazz joints asking to jam.
“It was frustrating, because men would be welcomed onto stage with no questions asked,” said the 48-year-old Bermudian. “But when women approached, we were treated in a completely different way.”
She moved to Berlin with her German husband, Jorg Wolf, a year ago after previously living in London and Austria.
“Jazz is hot in Berlin,” she said. “There are many jazz clubs and they are packed even on a Wednesday night.”
Eventually, she began to make a name for herself.
“People call me now to do concerts,” she said.
“I don’t have to beg to do jams. I have eight concerts lined up between now and July 16.
“I recently started a foundation called Women of Music. Female musicians have to prove themselves a lot more here than male musicians. I never found that to be the case in Bermuda. I decided we should all stick together and uplift ourselves.”
The foundation goes to schools to talk about the history of women in jazz. It provides music lessons and encouragement to female music students and also organises female jazz concerts.
Mrs Wolf just finished performing at the Ellington Hotel in a show called Berlin Jazz Divas.
“I am very proud of that,” she said.
She started singing in Bermuda as a little girl, performing throughout primary and high school.
“At six years old, I just opened my mouth one day and started singing,” she said.
She’s proud that her daughter, Genesis Lynea, 25, seems to have inherited her voice.
“She is dancing professionally in London’s West End, but Genesis can also sing,” said Mrs Wolf.
“We have almost the exact same voice. It sounds really good when we harmonise together.”
She was looking forward to getting together with her daughter later in the summer to sing with her.
“There won’t be any concert or anything,” she said. “We just like working on songwriting together.”
Sixteen years ago she met and married her second husband, Mr Wolf, a German chef at the defunct Lantana Colony Club in Hamilton Parish.
Her family, which grew to include sons Marley, 14, and Eden, 11, lived in Freiburg, Germany for several years. They then moved to London so she could earn a master’s in business administration.
“After 9-11 I had a moment of panic,” she said.
“There was an anthrax scare in London right down the street from us. We moved back to Bermuda for a few years. I thought it was the best place for us.”
She was hired by the government to put together a plan for a performing arts school, but ended up working with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs instead.
Eden was born here.
“Both my sons are musical,” said Mrs Wolf.
“Eden played the violin and Marley taught himself to play the guitar.
“They are in a lull with it now. Genesis was the same way when she was younger. She used to walk around on her toes all the time, but she wanted to play football. The dance gene didn’t really kick in until we were in London. She is an amazing dancer.”
She’s found her creative vibe in Berlin.
“You didn’t get that so much in London,” she said.
“In Berlin everyone seems to feel free to be creative. If someone gets on the train and half his head is shaved and the other half is green, no one minds at all.
“I like that. There is a freedom to be as creative as you want to be.”
But she isn’t done with Bermuda. She would like to organise a concert in Bermuda for Bermudian musicians living abroad.
“There are lots of us who have left the Island,” she said. “It would be nice if we could come back and give a performance. Sometimes you just leave and then all people back in Bermuda know is what they see on Facebook.”
She wanted young Bermudians to know that opportunities are available overseas, but it isn’t always an easy path.
“If it wasn’t for my husband working as a chef I wouldn’t be able to do this,” she said. “The Berlin music scene is not something that necessarily pays well. Sometimes people back at home think you are abroad getting rich.”
Check Mrs Wolf out on www.facebook.com/HouseofAdi or soundcloud.com/ginea-adi-wolf
Music, food and puppies — there’s plenty to do in Berlin.
Here are Mrs Wolf’s recommendations:
Badenscher Hof at 29 Badensche Strasse. Mrs Wolf is performing there this Friday and Saturday night. It’s a small venue that seats 40 to 50 people, so if you plan to go, make sure you book ahead. “It is intimate and the sound is great,” she said. See www.badenscher-hof.de.
The Jazzy Berlin Jam Session at Neue Heimat at 88 Revaler Strasse. There is hip hop, jazz and other types of music going on in different parts of the building. Visitors sit on random bits of furniture including old packing crates. See www.jazzclubsinberlin.com/jazzy-berlin-jam-session-katerholzig.php
Edelweiss Berlin next to Herzen vom Görlitzer Park has a restaurant downstairs and performance space upstairs. Here people stand and listen to the house band or regular open mic sessions. Be warned though, smoking is allowed inside. The crowd can be quite young. See www.edelweiss36.com
Favourite Restaurant: Katz Orange at 22 Bergstrasse. Mrs Wolf called this the best kept secret in Berlin. The food here is rustic. Her favourite is the lamb which is cooked all day until it is so tender the meat falls off the bone.
Favourite place to stay: The Ellington Hotel on 50-55 Nürnberger Strasse, in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, an area on the outskirts of the city. Mrs Wolf says her husband works here, and makes a delicious peanut butter cheesecake that’s served with a side of mango in the hotel restaurant. Rooms run for about $125 a night. It’s just around the corner from KaDeWe, a famous Berlin department store on KuDamm Strasse, a very long street in Berlin with all the top designer stores.
You should know: Berlin is a dog lover’s paradise and patrons regularly take their dogs into restaurants. Mrs Wolf loves this as she has a Maltese called Leila.
