Tea For Two

Tea For Two

Tea For Two is a German progressive folk and folk rock project associated with two separate acts using the same name. One version begins in 1985 when Michael Schumpelt on piano and recorder and Oliver Soerup on guitar form the group as a blues-folk-jazz duo. After early performances, they add a bass player, and in 1987 the line-up becomes a five-piece with drummer and singer Stephan Weber. The group’s first album, Dream or Reality, appears in 1993.

After that release, Tea For Two performs extensively and supports Fish and Arena on selected shows. Those concerts are documented on the live album Snapshots, released in 1996. The band then disbands in 1997 as members’ priorities change because of marriage, children, graduation and the start of professional careers.

Schumpelt, Soerup and Weber later regroup to record 101, which appears in 2001. In the following years, Tea For Two plays occasional acoustic concerts under the name “Tea For Two - light”, using piano, flute, guitar and vocals. That stripped-back format leads to reworked older material and then new songs. Those recordings appear on Twisted, an album that moves through a wide range of styles including solo flute, flamenco, soundtrack-like passages, folk, piano solo, rock, blues and progressive rock. Its track list includes “Spanish Night”, “Soundscape”, “Out in the Sun”, “Last Drink”, “Autumn”, “Hold On”, “My Own Way”, “Scar Folk”, “Why?” and “Come What May”.

A second Tea For Two release appears in 1984, when Tam Tam Records issues Time And Love by a group of the same name.