Die Strottern (Klemens Lendl, voc & viol and David Müller, voc & gt) and Jazzwerkstatt Wien (musicians of the jazz collective from Vienna) played their annual new year concert at one of europe’s finest jazzclubs, Porgy & Bess. The combination is unique: Die Strottern are representatives of the modern “Wiener Lied” (The traditional viennese song spreads coziness and humor and has the city of Vienna or something characteristic Viennese on the subject, e.g. love, death, wine and the city itself. Its facets range from funny to sad, from romantic to bitter), and the Jazzwerkstatt Wien represents the modern to avantgarde jazz scene of Vienna and Austria. As the Strottern are singing their songs in Viennese dialect, it’s even for Germans sometimes difficult to understand the lyrics and it’s impossible for people without good knowledge of the German language – but it is a home game in Vienna, and the audience is nowhere else as enthusiastic as in the heart of Austria. And rightly so. (Frank Schindelbeck)