Theo Bleckmann

Theo Bleckmann (the dead man) is a two-time Grammy®-nominated jazz singer and new music composer whose diverse recorded work includes albums of Las Vegas standards, Weimar art songs, a-capella solo voice pieces, newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); and his highly acclaimed Hello Earth! - The Music of Kate Bush, leading his work to be described as “from another planet” (New York Times), as “magical, futuristic,” (AllAboutJazz), “limitless” (Citypaper, Philadelphia) “transcendent” (Village Voice) and “brilliant” (New York Magazine).
Bleckmann, who has been residing in New York City since 1989, has released a series of gorgeous and irreverent albums, including his highly acclaimed "Hello Earth - the Music of Kate Bush." In recent years, he has appeared as a special guest on recordings by Ambrose Akinmusire for Blue Note Records and Julia Hülsmann’s trio for ECM, and in 2017, ECM released Theo’s recording with his Elegy Quintet, produced by Manfred Eicher. In their album review of “Elegy”, the Wall Street Journal’s called Bleckmann “A jazz vocalist for the 21st Century”. Bleckmann has a long-standing collaboration with guitar iconoclast Ben Monder - together they have recorded 6 albums with a 7th in the making. Bleckmann’s latest release is “This Land” (2021), developed and performed with celebrated bass quartet The Westerlies. Theo Bleckmann has performed with musicians, dancers, visual artists, actors and composers, including Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine, Merce Cunningham, Philip Glass, Ann Hamilton, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, Frances MacDormand, Mark Morris, David Lang, Ben Monder, Ulysses Owens, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the WDR Jazz Bigband and hr radio big band Frankfurt and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann has collaborated with for over 20 years. Bleckmann was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air, appeared on the David Letterman show with Laurie Anderson and performed as a soloist with the St. Louis Symphonie at Carnegie Hall in Ms. Monk’s “Weave". In 2015, he premiered his own commission for the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and 2016 brought the premieres of two new works to the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics. Bleckmann has been a regular presence in “Best of...” polls, from DownBeat, Jazz Times, Rhapsody, and WQXR. In 2010, Bleckmann received the prestigious JAZZ ECHO award in his native Germany, and since 2019 has been voted Jazz Vocalist of the Year in the El Intruso Jazz Poll in Argentina. Bleckmann just returned from Finland, where he performed his music, bringing together the Oulu Symphony with the UMO Jazz Orchestra on stage for the first time ever.