Ernst Gerber (saxophonist)

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Ernst Gerber (born October 11, 1941 in Zurich ; † September 30, 2010 ) was a Swiss jazz musician ( tenor saxophone , initially also clarinet ).

Live and act

Gerber, whose mother Anna Gerber-Götzel was a singer in the Bob Huber entertainment orchestra in the 1940s and 1950s, began playing jazz with his brothers Hans (bass) and Ueli (piano) at the age of fifteen. With them and Heinz Bühler he played with the Teacher's Training College Band , with which he also appeared for the first time at the Zurich Jazz Festival in 1957 ; then he performed with the Porridge Jazz Band in 1960 and with the Porridge Brass Band in 1961 . From the mid-1960s he worked with the Swinghouse Septet / Octet for a decade ; In 1965 he was recognized as the best traditional tenor saxophonist (when performing with this band) at the Zurich Festival, and in 1966 (with the Swinghouse Sextet ). He also celebrated successes there in the following years (gold awarded in 1971). With the Swinghouse Septet , with which he also appeared at the Jazz Jamboree Warsaw in 1969 , he had the opportunity to play with Bill Coleman (1972), Jo Jones and Slam Stewart . Musicians like Rex Stewart and Benny Waters , whom he accompanied, but also Hal Singer , Peanuts Hucko , Jimmy Woode , Charlie Shavers and Guy Lafitte loved his sensitively swinging playing. Gerber also worked with Charly Antolini's Jazz Power and Mani Planzer's big band and was a member of the Metronome Quintet between 1982 and the 1990s . He later played with the Zurich Tenors and with Unit 4 . In 2009 he performed at the Willisau Jazz Festival with a Swiss All Star Band.

Gerber also played the saxophone for Bill Ramsey , who in the final scene of Rolf Lyssy's film Die Schweizermacher (1978) as William S. Tall first played the Swiss national anthem for the two naturalization officers , before suddenly switching to a rousing jazzy improvisation.

As a musician, Gerber was always an amateur and “understood how to pursue his beloved hobby with passion and still be successful in his profession as a parquet floor builder with his own business”.

Discographic notes

literature

  • Bruno Spoerri (Ed.): Jazz in Switzerland. History and stories. Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Saxophonist Ernst Gerber dies Neue Zürcher Zeitung , October 4, 2010
  2. ^ Rolf Lyssy, in Bruno Spoerri (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Jazz. CD supplement on Jazz in Switzerland Zurich 2005
personal data
SURNAME Gerber, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss jazz musician and parquet floor installer
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 2010