Barbara Dennerlein differs from most organists by not sounding all that much like Jimmy Smith. She utilizes MIDI with her organ in order to get a different sound and her basslines (which she operates through her foot pedals) really do sound like a bass. Born in Munich in 1964, Barbara Dennerlein started playing organ at the age of eleven. Just a few years later, aged fifteen, she performed regularly at local jazz clubs. There she laid the foundations for her future career as a professional musician, which, before very long, let her rise to the circle of the few German artists with international reputation and become the leading representative of her instrument, the legendary Hammond B3. With her brilliant playing technique she created an innovative and distinctive style that opened up totally new musical dimensions for the Hammond organ, which in modern jazz had been ignored for a long time. Without doubt she can claim that she has paved the way for the organ's renaissance in jazz. Whether playing the B3 or the pipe organ; whether playing solo, or in duo, trio, quartet, quintet, or even with full orchestra backup, Barbara Dennerlein is in a class of her own; she is without question the First Lady of the organ. http://www.barbaradennerlein.com/