Departure is an international album bringing together top musicians from both sides of the Atlantic to create an exciting mix of pop and rock songs with a soulful edge, as well as instrumental Jazz-Funk tunes. The album features original compositions as well as extravagantly arranged covers of classic pop songs and hidden treasures. Departure was created by drummer Marcus Boeltz who, as a sideman, has worked with Melissa Etheridge, Ronan Keating and Chris De Burgh, among many others and received the Best Drummer Award 2006 in Germany.



Marcus spent more than 2 years traveling, arranging, writing and recording at locations in Los Angeles, New York, London, Munich and Amsterdam for his debut solo album.



Each album track features carefully selected top musicians for the highest musical impact. Departure features guitarist Michael Landau (Michael Landau Group, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, BB King, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand...) and bassists Rufus Philpot (Planet X, Randy Brecker, Scott Henderson...) and Philip Bynoe (Steve Vai, Jay Leno Tonight Show...), as well as Kit Walker (Airto Moreira, Neal Schon), Mark T (Worrybeats, Brothers Johnson), George Kerhulas (Stevie Wonder, Bruce Kulick), Randy Hill (Pointer Sisters) and Sandro Feliciano (Airto Moreira, George Duke...) among many others.



The vocalists Shantay Noir (Mauritius/Germany), Diana Booker (USA) and Juliet Balaz (Switzerland) as well as UK Garage icon STRETCH (England) add to the international vibe of the project.



Each musician was given complete creative freedom that contributes to the album’s unique soul and Identity. Departure is an authentic production without synthetic sounds and effects. The aim was to produce music of hand-made authenticity with a modern and fresh sound. Departure is a creative collaboration, combining analogue recording techniques with modern digital production standards. Vintage gear, such as a vocal microphone originally owned by John Lennon was used in combination with modern, state-of-the-art digital mixing consoles. Also, musicians from diverse genres and generations were introduced to the melting pot. The result is an authentic and fresh approach to the music.



The album was produced by Marcus Boeltz and Chris Lausmann who has worked with Joe Lynn Turner (Deep Purple, Rainbow) and Tony Martin (Black Sabbath) among many others.

Guest producers on some tracks are George Kerhulas (Stevie Wonder, Bruce Kulick), Hantaan (The Disc Brakes) and GOAR B (Lou Bega "Mambo No 5")



Featuring

Michael Landau (Michael Landau Group, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, Barbara Streisand, BB King, Pink Floyd)

Philip Bynoe (Steve Vai, Kevin Eubanks, Tonight Show)

Rufus Philpot (Randy Brecker, Scott Henderson, Planet X)

Randy Hill (Stephen Stills, Pointer Sisters)

George Kerhulas (Portrait, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Kulick)

D. Booker (Eyedentity)

MC STRETCH (UK Garage Icon, Soulvation)

Mark T (Brothers Johnson, Worrybeats)

Martin Motnik (Gregg Bissonette, Ian Paice, Uli Jon Roth)

Shantay Noir (Peter Ries, Cande deRouge)

Christian Bolz (Tina Lillett, Frank Wunsch, Funkaholish)

Jürgen Funk (Tina Lillett, Funkaholish, Livegespräch)

Kit Walker (Airto Moreira, Neal Schon)

Sandro Feliciano (Airto Moreira, Steve Fister, George Duke, The Storm)

Jürgen Köhler (Grace Jones)

Juliet Balaz (Juliet Balaz)

Thomas Göhringer (Funkaholish, Martin Rosengarten Trio)

Andy Najera (Sam Moore, The Platters, Ben E King)

Kilian Reischl (Kim Frank, Megaherz)

Piotr Cichewicz (Ron Williams, Queen Yahna)

Karsten Lupa (Sautanz, Four 76, Studio)

Michael Bräunlich (Four 76)



Produced by Marcus Boeltz and Chris Lausmann



Guest Producers:

GOAR B (14 million albums sold with Lou Bega, Grammy nomination for “Mambo No.5”, Songs for “Ally Mc Beal”, 70 gold & platin awards)

Hantaan (The Disc Brakes, BMW/Mini campaign, Burger King campaign)

George Kerhulas (Portrait, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Kulick)