With his inimitable, unagitated yet memorable style, Daniel Stelter has long since made a name for himself on the German jazz scene.
Unlike classical jazz guitarists, he follows a more harmonic melodic line. Stelter’s sound meanders back and forth between jazz, pop and classical. Stelter has been constantly developing his own sound language since 2003, and is now a sought-after guitarist and regular guest on German jazz stages. In addition to his own projects and work as a composer and producer, he is a sought-after sideman for studio and live productions.
Stelter’s passion for music begins early. At the age of eight, he learns classical guitar and is soon influenced by his older brothers through jazz, rock and pop music. As a teenager, he spends hours meticulously listening out for and playing along with records and music cassettes. After his first successes in “Jugend musiziert” and “Jugend jazzt,” he became a member of the Bundesjugendjazzorchester under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer at the age of 17. During this time, Stelter tours Southeastern Europe for six weeks and records a CD. After graduating from high school, he studied jazz guitar with Norbert Scholly at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, but never lost sight of the classical guitar.
With Ulf Kleiner (piano), Tommy Baldu (dr) and Michael Pauker (b) Stelter forms a quartet. The sound of the quartet is a successful symbiosis of classical guitar mixed with a hint of electronic music, underlaid with a sound carpet of cool beats and a healthy portion of funk and soul. Not a note too much, very restrained and minimalist in sound, yet leaving a deep impression. Here the music speaks for itself. The thoughtful instrumentation becomes the main thing, even if Stelter likes to be accompanied by great voices, such as Fola Dada. Although the four musicians have already found their musical recipe, they refine it from album to album with more subtle nuances.
At the end of 2016, he played a European tour with jazz legend Al Jarreau. In 2018 and 2019, he toured the U.S. as a duo with Lulo Reinhardt and played a variety of festivals and concerts.
Stelter is also a permanent member of the Ringsgwandl Band, with whom he regularly tours Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is also a commissioned composer, arranger, guitarist and producer for various radio plays, film and television productions and has been a lecturer for guitar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt since 2016.
To the current album “Pocket Full of Tales”:
WDR3 Album of the Week (March 06 – 10, 2023)
“Pocket Full of Tales manages (…) a balancing act between different sound worlds.” – Jazzthetik
“Above all, Daniel Stelter shows us with his versatile, partly acoustic partly electric playing, why he is such a sought-after guitarist between the worlds of jazz and pop.” – hr2
About the album “Begegnung”:
“Vielsaitig” – SWR2
“Daniel Stelter is a jack-of-all-trades on the guitar” – Jazzthing
“the guitaristic dominates and the accompaniment [is] with few exceptions very restrained, tasteful, but calculatedly serving the music” – Jazzthetik
“The Wiesbaden guitarist starts the year with a brilliant album” – Concerto Magazin
“Sovereign in all saddles […] one of Germany’s most versatile and best guitarists” – Akustik Gitarre
“Daniel Stelter […] shows himself to be a man of quiet, restrained sounds with a wide stylistic range. Stelter’s music avoids everything loud, shouty, vehement. […] On the twelve titles of the disc he prefers small instrumentations. In twos, threes, fours or fives the musical exchange takes place – and it is so intense that you only notice the small instrumentation when you look in the booklet for the people involved in each track.” – Rondo Magazine
“Virtuosic across stylistic boundaries” – Mannheimer Morgen
“Daniel Stelter moves confidently between jazz, pop and classical music with his inimitable, unagitated and yet memorable style.” – Badische Neuste Nachrichten
“Music giants such as Al Jarreau, Till Brönner, Wolfgang Haffner, Lulo Reinhardt and Jan Delay have left their mark on Daniel Stelter with his unmistakable style.” – Music Tip of the Week in Pinneberger Tageblatt
Older reviews:
“This has as much groove as charm, and especially the tracks on which Stelter or singer Fola Dada use their voices soon can’t get out of your ear.” – Star
“His music is handmade and free of any gimmickry.” – NDR Kultur Jazz, Album of the Week
“Already his last album “Krikel Krakel” was an experience. And three years later Daniel Stelter, the guitarist and songwriter from Ingelheim, has grown once again (…) A fantastic album.” – Guitar and Bass
“(…) every song is different and has the potential to become a favorite.” – Grand Guitars
“How he makes his guitar sing, however, already comes close to the art of an Eric Clapton. In any case, hardly any other guitarist in this country tells his stories so soulfully and relaxed.” – Darmstädter Echo
“With song pearls like ‘Split Heart’, Stelter should increase his fan base within a short time. He has long to be warmly recommended outside the jazz scene as well!” – Kieler Nachrichten
Stelter’s universal, genre-spanning understanding of music makes it possible for him to work as a concert or studio musician with renowned greats such as: Ringsgwandl, Xavier Naidoo, NDR Big Band, Al Jarreau &NDR Big Band Europe Tour 2016, Till Brönner, Wolfgang Haffner, Annett Louisan, Helen Schneider, Max Matzke, Manu Katché, Frank Ramond, Lars Danielsson, Joo Krauss, Jessica Gall, Lulo Reinhardt, Marc Secara, Sebastian Studnitzky, Jan Delay & Disko No 1, Ian Pooley, David Orlowsky, Lea, Moses Pelham,Clueso, Carsten Meyer (Erobique), Sebastian Sternal, Jörg Achim Keller, Laith Al-Deen,Simon Oslender, Dein Song(Kika), Wolfgang Niedecken, Paucker, Lizzy Loeb, Gregor Meyle, Lilo Scrimali, Tommy Baldu, Flo Dauner, Rüdiger Baldauf, Helene Fischer, Unheilig, Andreas Gabalier, Sasha, Lars Reichow, Kosho, Christian von Kaphengst, Roger Cicero, Marshall and Alexander, Andreas Bourani, Mark Forster, Jeff Cascaro, Nena, Sammy Deluxe, Patrick Kelly, Boss Hose, Stefanie Kloß (Silbermond) Christina Stürmer, Heavytones (TV Total)Rainer Böhm, André Heller, Tony Lakatos, Wirtz, Fola Dada, Thomas Quasthoff, Grosch’s Eleven (Sing meinen Song Band), Die Prinzen, Bill Evans, Yvonne Catterfeld, Pat Appleton, Rhani Krija, Barbara Schöneberger, Amanda, Cosmo Klein, Sarah Connor, Cassandra Steen, Glashaus, Lena Meyer-Landrute, Derek van Krogh and many more.
