Kopmajer, Simone & Viktor Gernot
You Wonderful You
Vienna. With *You Wonderful You*, Simone Kopmajer and Viktor Gernot release their first joint album. The duet project is both a journey of discovery and a declaration of love to jazz: two perfectly harmonizing voices celebrating the great melodies of the 20th century while bringing their finely attuned musical dialogue to the forefront. The album brings together timeless song gemsclassics as well as lesser-known treasures, some of which exist in only a few recordings. The oldest composition, Irving Berlin's "Play a Simple Melody" from the 1910s, symbolically represents the entire project: a journey through melodies of the Great American Songbook all the way to Traditional Pop. In the tradition of legendary duet albums by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbra Streisand, Simone Kopmajer and Viktor Gernot shape their own sonic conversation. The velvety brilliance of Kopmajer's voice seems to float above the sonorous vocal foundation presented by Viktor Gernot. The concept is "Strictly Duets": the focus lies on the dialogic interplay between the two voices. Historical recordings from Hollywood also served as inspiration: for the title track "You Wonderful You," it was a 1950s recording by Gene Kelly & Judy Garland. In a reduced trio version, the magic of Gernot's warm baritone and Kopmajer's elegant jazz voice unfolds. A key atmospheric aspect is the classic recording approach: the album was recorded traditionally, with band and vocals performed live together in the studio. This immediate working method allows for spontaneous interaction and improvisational moments, delivering the vibrant dynamism that often makes jazz albums so special.