Conny Bauer

Conny Bauer in Club W71 , 2018

Konrad "Conny" Bauer (born July 4, 1943 in Halle (Saale) ) is a German trombonist who is primarily active in the field of improvisational music and free play, including free jazz .

Life

Konrad Bauer grew up in Halle (Saale) and in Sonneberg, Thuringia . As a pupil he was introduced to trombone music in private lessons and played this instrument in the trombone choir of the Evangelical Church in Steinbach . But he was particularly interested in modern dance music. During high school he first played in various amateur bands as a singer and guitarist. After graduating from high school, he trained as a ceramic worker. During his apprenticeship he was also a hobby musician and played the piano as well as the guitar. With his experience in dance music, he decided to start studying music after completing his professional training. There were too many applicants for the guitar he preferred at the entrance examination to the music college. Since he could also play the trombone, he changed instruments to get a place at university.

From 1964 to 1968 Bauer studied at the "Carl Maria von Weber" University of Music in Dresden. He then moved to East Berlin , where he took further private lessons.

With his musical ambitions, Conny Bauer greatly influenced the development of his younger siblings. Hannes as trombonist and Matthias on double bass also became internationally recognized jazz musicians. His sister played the saxophone in the band of the bass guitarist "Smut" , with whom Conny had made music as a teenager in Sonneberg and who, despite many bans , maintained the band tradition that Conny had started in Sonneberg for over 20 years .

Act

Conny Bauer was guitarist and singer in the Manfred Ludwig Sextet (1968–1970). In the Modern Soul Band he played the trombone as the main instrument for the first time (1970–1973), which then partially merged with the Klaus Lenz Band. He also played in the Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky Quartet, the Hans Rempel Octet and the Exis quintet (1971–1973). Members of Exis were Andreas Aigmüller (drums), Christoph Niemann (double bass), Eberhard Klunker (guitar) and Andreas Pieper (flute). The group FEZ (1974–1977, with Hannes Zerbe ) developed from this band . In addition to Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (alto saxophone, clarinet), Ulrich Gumpert (piano) and Günter “Baby” Sommer (drums), Conny Bauer is the founder of the Synopsis group (1973–1975), which has been the central quartet since 1984 . He played in the band Doppelmoppel with his brother, the trombonist Johannes Bauer , and the two guitarists Helmut "Joe" Sachse and Uwe Kropinski (1981-2015). In 1992 he founded the Konrad Bauer Trio, initially with Peter Kowald , later with Barre Phillips on bass and Sommer on drums. With his brothers Hannes Bauer and Matthias Bauer (bass) and his son Louis Rastig (piano) he played in the band Bauer 4 from 2006 to 2016 . In 2010 he toured with William Parker (bass) and Hamid Drake (drums). He played with renowned musicians such as Joachim Kühn , Peter Brötzmann , Han Bennink , Derek Bailey , George Lewis , Nils Wogram , Louis Moholo , Aki Takase , Fred Van Hove , Alexander von Schlippenbach , Paul Lovens , Sven-Åke Johansson and others. a.

Bauer also appears in productions by the independent opera company Novoflot and has been playing in the play Hour of the Comedians at the New Theater in Halle since 2016 .

Bauer has also appeared as a soloist since 1974 and has released several solo albums (including an appearance at the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in 1988 ). From 1977 to 1989 he was a member, from 1984 chairman of the jazz section of the GDR committee for entertainment . In 1987/88 he directed the GDR jazz orchestra. In the 1980s he also wrote film scores (including for Polizeiruf 110 ).

Since April 2016 the Zentralquartett has been performing with another trombonist. In an interview with Jazz thing , Bauer stated that he did not want to take part in the planned production and the concerts of the Central Quartet with Wolf Biermann because he did not see himself as the accompanist of a songwriter .

Awards

In 1986 Bauer received the GDR Art Prize . In 1994 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin . In 2004 he received the SWR Jazz Prize . In its justification, the jury particularly emphasized his solo CD Hummelsummen and its “amazing blowing techniques, such as polyphonic multiphonics , which Bauer uses for his sound experiments without having to forego unmistakable narrative lines”. In 2008 his solo CD The Yellow Sound was included in the list of the best in the fourth quarter of the calendar year for the German Record Critics ' Prize (area jury Grenzgang ).

Discographic notes

• 100x Jazz in the Chamber , Amiga (1972)
• Klaus Lenz Modern Soul Band , Amiga (1973)
• Just for fun , FMP 0140 LP (1973)
• Synopsis , Amiga 855395 LP (1974)
• Jazz Jamboree'74 , Muza (1974)
• Jazz Aspects , Nova (1975)
• A pink crocodile swims on the Elbe , FMP 0240 LP / Intakt CD 142 (1974)
• Hans Rempel Octet: Number six , FMP (1976)
• FEZ , Amiga 855585 LP (1977)
• What is it now? , Konrad Bauer Trio, FMP 0780 LP (1979)
• Secret Points , Conny Bauer & Gianluigi Trovesi , Dragon DRLP 21 LP (1979)
• Konrad Bauer Solo , Amiga 855783 LP (1980)
• Round about Mittweida , Konrad Bauer Quartet, FMP 0980 LP (1982)
• Fleeting happiness , Konrad Bauer Solo, Risky 4017 LP (1984) / EFA-CD 15713
• Reflections , Doppelmoppel, FMP CD 74 (1986)
• Jazz Orchestra of the GDR , conductor Konrad Bauer, Amiga 856455 double LP (1987)
• Live in the Völkerschlachtdenkmal , Solo, Amiga 856439 LP (1988)
• Three Wheels - Four Directions , Konrad Bauer Trio, Victo CD 023 (1992)
• Plié , Central Quartet, Intakt CD 037 (1994)
• Bauer - Bauer , Intakt CD 040 (1995)
• Generations from (East) Germany , Connie Bauer with Joachim Kühn , Klangraum LC 6035 (1995)
• European Jazz Ensemble - 20th Anniversary Tour , Konnex KCD 5078 (1997)
• Careless Love , Central Quartet, Intakt CD 050 (1998)
• Aventure Québécoise , Doppelmoppel, Victo CD 065 (1999)
• Alice in Wonderland , Walfriede Schmitt and Conrad Bauer, Eulenspiegel Verlag (2000)
• News from Berlin , Aki Takase , Konrad Bauer, Victo CD 081 (2002)
• European Jazz Ensemble - 25th Anniversary Tour , Konnex KCD 5100 (2002)
• Between Heaven and Earth , Conrad Bauer, Peter Kowald , Günter Sommer Intakt CD 079 (2003)
• Hummelsummen , Conrad Bauer, Intakt CD 085 (2003)
• 11 Songs - From Teutschen Landen , Central Quartet, Intakt CD 113 (2005)
• The Yellow Sound Solo, Jazzwerkstatt (2007)
• European Jazz Ensemble - 30th Anniversary Tour 2006 , Konnex KCD 5225 (2009)
• Tender Exploration Conny Bauer, Hamid Drake, William Parker, Jazzwerkstatt (2010)
• Conny Bauer / Matthias Bauer / Dag Magnus Narvesen : The Gift , NoBusiness Records (2020)

literature

• HP Hofmann: Beat Lexicon. Performers, authors, technical terms . VEB Lied der Zeit Musikverlag, Berlin (East) 1977.
• Bert Noglik and Heinz-Jürgen Lindner: Jazz in conversation . Verlag Neue Musik Berlin, Berlin (East) 1978.
• Ulli Blobel (Ed.): Woodstock am Karpfenteich. The Peitz jazz workshop . Jazz workshop, 2011.
• Rainer Bratfisch:  Bauer, Konrad (Conny) . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Conny Bauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Conny Bauer's website
• Portrait at deutsche-mugge.de
• interview
• Early projects
• Conny Bauer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Portrait at ostbeat.de ( Memento from November 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] Website of Jazz thing. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
2. ^ The art award winners 1986 , In: Neues Deutschland , May 23, 1986, p. 6