Swiss singer Manu Hartmann is anything but purist. On the contrary, her music cannot be pigeonholed into one (blues) category and demands its own label: Modern Blues 3.0. Soul, jazz, funk and psychedelic elements are important components of her sound.
Manu Hartmann grew up in Niederdorf/BL in Switzerland, the eldest of four children. She sings in various blues and jazz bands (the Chicago Dave Blues Band; Florian Schneider's Gugelfuehr) and performs also in various musicals (The Wizard of Oz). She sang with the American blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson on his Swiss tour in 2003.
In 2018, Manu Hartmann and her band won the Swiss Blues Challenge and in 2019 (as the first Swiss band formation) made it to the semi-finals of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, USA. In the Azores, she played in the final of the European Blues Challenge.
Manu Hartmann has released five albums under her own name to date and sang as backing vocalist on four further albums by other formations. She is the songwriter and bandleader of MANU HARTMANN BAND, leadsinger of the ST. LOUIS BLUES BAND and HARTMANN KÖPPEL DUO. She conducts pop choirs and has been nominated twice for the SWISS BLUES AWARD.
Manu Hartmann and her band love to play live, true to the motto: ‘sex satisfies your desire, music feeds your soul, get your mind on fire, on blues planet 3.0!’
MANU HARTMANN BAND:
Manu Hartmann, vocals
Stephan Schätti, drums
Simon Bucher, guitar
Ramon Vaca, bass
Daniel Wäch, organ/keys
Roland ‘Phile’ Philipp, sax
