Elsie Bianchi Brunner
Elsie Bianchi Brunner (* November 5, 1930 in Zurich as Elsie Brunner ; † July 17, 2016 ) was a Swiss jazz musician (accordion, piano, vocals) who, after her musical career in the USA, worked as a sporting goods manufacturer.
Live and act
Bianchi Brunner first played the accordion - together with her siblings - before switching to the piano at the age of ten. Occasionally she worked as a pianist in Harry Pfister's saxophone band while she was training to become a commercial clerk. On the Jazz Festival Zurich she performed with great success from 1951 to 1954 as a pianist, jazz accordionist and singer, and has received several awards. In 1956 she married the saxophonist and bassist Siro Bianchi, with whom she worked as a professional musician, expanding the duo into a trio with drummers such as Daniel Humair , Fritz Stähli and Kenny Schmidt. In 1958/59 they were on tour in the United States, where Howard Rumsey recorded them in the Hermosa Beach Lighthouse Cafe . In 1959 they came back to Switzerland and played mainly in the Basler Atlantis (in a trio with Alex Bally ). Since 1962 they have spent the summer in North America and the winter season in Les Diablerets , Grindelwald and Gstaad as musicians . In 1968 the couple moved to the United States. In 1978, like her husband, she gave up the music profession and took over the sporting goods factory K-Swiss from her brothers . In 1987 she and her husband retired to a farm in Georgia. She died in 2016 at the age of 85.
Lexigraphic entries
- Bruno Spoerri (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Jazz. CD supplement to: Bruno Spoerri (Ed.): Jazz in Switzerland. History and stories. Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6 .
Discographic notes
- Flavio Ambrosetti (Columbia, 1955)
- Elsie Bianchi Trio (Swiss Rec, 1962)
- Elsie Bianchi: The Sweetest Sound (Saba- MPS , 1965)
Web links
- Brilliant, emigrated, fell silent: Elsie Bianchi Brunner SRF, August 26, 2015
- Radio show Jazz Collection about Elsie Bianchi on May 7, 2013 on SRF 2.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Notification of death by the Darmstadt Jazz Institute on August 3, 2016
- ↑ Obituary
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bianchi Brunner, Elsie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brunner, Elsie; Bianchi, Elsie; Bianchi, Elsa |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss jazz musician and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 5th November 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th July 2016 |