Bill Grah
Bill Grah (born June 24, 1928 in Bergisch Gladbach as Wilhelm Josef Grah ; † September 17, 1996 in Vienna ) was a German jazz musician (pianist and vibraphonist ) who mainly worked in Austria.
Live and act
The son of the pianist Willi Grah learned piano from 1936 and played from 1946 together with his younger brother, the bassist Heinz Grah , in his own band, and from 1949 with a quintet. He lived in Vienna since 1954 , where he first worked in Oscar Klein's quartet and in Fatty George's band . In the mid-1950s, he recorded an album for Mod Records , A New Star from Germany . From 1959 he performed with his own combo in the Vienna Volksgarten , a. a. with Toni Stricker and Udo Jürgens . He also played with Joe Zawinul , Oscar Peterson , Roy Eldridge , Teddy Wilson , Klaus Doldinger , Albert Mangelsdorff and recorded records with Fatty George, Lionel Hampton , Bud Freeman , Wild Bill Davison / Barrelhouse Jazzband Vienna , Georg Kreisler and under his own name. He was arranger and composer for stage, television and film music and often for radio and television.
In 1955 he came in second place in the Down Beat Critics Poll . The Bill-Grah-Park in Vienna- Essling is named after him. In 2000, a jazz sculpture designed by Leopold Grausam was unveiled in the park , stylizing the most important jazz instruments.
Lexical entries
Web links
- Bill Grah in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ According to the Austrian music lexicon as Wilhelm Friedrich Grah
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grah, Bill |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Grah, Wilhelm Josef (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bergisch Gladbach |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th September 1996 |
| Place of death | Vienna |