Simone Kopmajer & Viktor Gernot - You Wonderful You

What's it about?

Album: Simone Kopmajer & Viktor Gernot Title: You Wonderful You Release: May 8, 2026 Vienna. With You Wonderful You, Simone Kopmajer and Viktor Gernot release their first joint album. The duet project is a journey of discovery and a declaration of love to jazz at the same time: two perfectly harmonizing voices that celebrate the great melodies of the 20th century and bring their musical dialogue to the forefront with fine sensitivity. The album brings together timeless song gems - classics as well as lesser-known treasures, some of which have only a few recordings. The oldest composition, Irving Berlin's "Play A Simple Melody" from the 1910s, is emblematic of the entire project: a journey through melodies from the Great American Songbook to Traditional Pop. In the tradition of legendary duet albums by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald or Barbra Streisand, Simone Kopmajer and Viktor Gernot form their own sounding conversation. The velvety brilliance of Kopmajer's voice virtually floats above the sonorous vocal foundation that Viktor Gernot presents. The concept is "Strictly Duets": The focus is on the dialogical interplay of the two voices. Inspiration also came from historical recordings from Hollywood: For the title song "You Wonderful You", it was a recording by Gene Kelly & Judy Garland from the 1950s. In a reduced trio version, the magic of Gernot's warm baritone and Kopmajer's elegant jazz voice unfolds. An essential atmospheric aspect is the classic recording method: The album was traditionally recorded live in the studio with band and voices together. This immediate way of working allows for spontaneous interactions and improvisational moments and provides the lively dynamic that often makes jazz albums special. Musically, the spectrum ranges from "Come Fly with Me", "Play a Simple Melody", "Take Five" to "One Note Samba" and "Witchcraft", complemented by surprising reinterpretations such as a country-committed "Blue Bayou" or a ballad arrangement of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day". Two original compositions - "Our Easy Life Blues" by Viktor Gernot and "Always There" by pianist Paul Urbanek give the album a personal touch. QUOTES: "If you will, I'm in love with his voice: Viktor Gernot possesses that sonorous warmth of a true crooner, while I often interpret with a certain coolness. I couldn't wish for a more multifaceted interplay." (Simone Kopmajer) "Our approach was: together in the room, together in the moment. You can hear this closeness, the result is not an AI-controlled product, but music that breathes. Simone has this incredible class and vocal precision that amazes me every time. In working with her, I love the balance between planning and spontaneity: we prepare a lot, but at the same time let a lot happen. That's exactly what creates the magic." (Viktor Gernot) "We wanted to unearth little-known treasures. Among them are songs that perhaps not everyone knows, but which have an incredible amount of heart and history. "You Wonderful You" is more than an album title. It is a declaration of love to our counterpart: the people who like to listen to us and are in dialogue with us." (Simone Kopmajer) Viktor Gernot and Simone Kopmajer have been performing live together since 2021 (among others with "Jazz On A Summer's Day"). Here, two worlds meet on stage that perfectly complement each other: Kopmajer's elegant jazz precision and Gernot's charmingly humorous entertainer qualities. They are accompanied by a top-class quartet: Thomas Kugi (saxophone), Paul Urbanek (piano), Karl Sayer (bass) and Reinhardt Winkler (drums). Together they create an atmospheric sound world characterized by subtle arrangements, virtuosic interplay and great musical passion - a listening experience of the highest quality. Album: Simone