Fatty George

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Fatty George (tombstone, Vienna Central Cemetery)

Fatty George (born April 24, 1927 in Vienna as Franz Georg Pressler ; † March 29, 1982 ibid) was an Austrian clarinetist and jazz musician . He "was one of the most important musical personalities of revival jazz in Europe", made swinging mainstream jazz popular in Austria and created an unmistakable way of synthesizing different jazz directions.

Live and act

Fatty George learned alto saxophone from 1942 before switching to the clarinet, which he studied at the Conservatory and the Vienna Music Academy ; Stylistically, he was initially influenced by Benny Goodman before he found his personal style of playing, which also reflected the modern jazz of Lee Konitz . After the Second World War, he first played in officers' clubs of the occupying powers , first for the Red Army , then the US Army . Due to the difficult economic situation, he went to Germany with his band in 1949. There he developed the concept of playing both Dixieland and Cool Jazz with the same band ; therefore he called the band, which Oscar Klein joined, the Two-Sounds Band . With this band he made his artistic breakthrough across Europe in the 1950s and began recording records in 1954 . In 1955 he returned to Vienna with this band (to which Joe Zawinul also belonged). In 1952 he opened the first “Jazz Casino” in Innsbruck , and in 1955 the Jazz Casino in St. Annahof (Vienna) , where he played with his Two-Sounds Band . In 1958 he founded Fatty's Saloon, also in the capital, where he also organized jam sessions with international jazz greats such as Lionel Hampton , Art Blakey or Ella Fitzgerald and otherwise concentrated on Dixieland - in his main band you could hear Willy Meerwald , Bill Grah , Heinz Grah , Bob Blumenhoven dm, at times Franco Manzecchi and Al Fats Edwards voc. In 1963 he had to close his saloon for economic reasons and from 1964 played temporarily in Berlin. In 1967 he returned to Vienna, founded a new band and hosted the radio programs Jazz Casino and Swing and Dixieland on ORF ; from 1977 he also had the television show Fatty live , in which he and his band fulfilled audience requests that were received by telephone on the spot. In 1980 he opened Fatty's Saloon for the second time. After an Italian tour with Cat Anderson , he withdrew from active music-making for health reasons.

With his band he also accompanied Helmut Qualtinger's Villon production in the mid-1960s . In 1972 he wrote the pop opera Trip with Silke Schwinger (with Ronny Williams , Su Kramer , Julia Migenes and the ORF big band).

He died after a heart attack on March 29, 1982.

Jazz monument, museum and permanent exhibition

Since October 2005, in addition to Fatty-George-Gasse , the 22nd district of Vienna ( Donaustadt ) has also been home to the “First Jazz Sculpture in the World” by Leopold Grausam , a tribute to jazz through the display of typical instruments such as piano , trumpet and vibraphone , Guitar and clarinet .

At the end of October 2005, a jazz museum with a permanent exhibition about the musician was opened in Essling - the suburb on the eastern outskirts of Vienna where Fatty George grew up . The opening speech was given by Joe Zawinul , and 73-year-old Hans Salomon , who had played in Fatty's band, played the role. The Fatty George Memorial Band and the Salomon Quintet then played at the jazz festival on the occasion of this opening .

He rests in an honorary grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 40, number 147).

literature

  • Klaus Schulz: Vienna Blues - The Fatty George Biography , Album Verlag Vienna 2010; ISBN 9783851641820

Web links

Commons : Fatty George  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Manfred Straka: Fatty George (own Franz Georg Pressler). In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7001-3043-0 .
  2. ↑ Book review , jazz newspaper
  3. ↑ a b Entry Austria Lexicon
  4. ↑ Fatty George Museum ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / seniorinnen.gruene.at
personal data
SURNAME George, Fatty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pressler, Franz Georg (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian clarinetist and jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 1982
Place of death Vienna