Gerhard Zachar

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Gerhard Zachar (born October 8, 1945 in Glauchau , † November 15, 1978 near Kalisz , Poland ) was a German rock musician , singer , band leader and composer . He was the leader of the Dresden Sextett and Lift bands .

Life

As a 15-year-old Gerhard Zachar played in amateur bands. He was self-taught and mastered the saxophone , guitar , piano and organ . In 1965 Zachar graduated from the University of Halle with a degree in pedagogy and then played in the Dresden Combo and the Meeraner Band Meridas, which took part in the GDR hit competition in 1967 with two German-language rock songs and qualified for the finals with an autumn song . At the same time he completed an evening course at the Dresden Music Academy .

When the Dresden Sextet was founded at the Musikhochschule in 1969 , he switched to the band as a pianist and later became its leader. Dina Straat was there as a singer . At first the band played song-like beat music . After several line-up changes, it called itself the Dresden Septet from 1971 and developed into a jazz rock band. In 1972 Gerhard Zachar took over the bass. In the following period there were further changes. Most of the arrangements and compositions in the band came from Zachar.

In January 1973 the Dresden Septet became Lift. Initially, the band played with a barely changed line-up and continued to focus on jazz rock. Later the line-up changed several times. At the end of 1973 they parted ways with the winds. This also changed the musical style of the band towards art rock . The band's sound was from then on shaped by organ, e-piano , synthesizer , mellotron and polyphonic singing. In 1976 Zachar brought Michael Heubach, another keyboard player, into the band, gave up guitars and played with four keyboard players at the same time. After the band landed a few hits and recorded their debut album in 1977, the LP Meeresfahrt was released in 1979 .

Gerhard Zachar and Henry Pacholski , who joined the band in 1976, can be heard for the last time on this record . On November 15, 1978, after completing a tour through Poland, they had a fatal accident in a car accident near Kalisz . Michael Heubach, who was behind the wheel, was seriously injured. The band processed the traumatic event in the ballad On some days' evening with the text by Joachim Krause . The band started their comeback with the title. With the sea ​​voyage the foundation stone for the later music of Lift was laid. However, none of the following albums came close to the quality of this record. This fact is due to the fact that Pacholski and Zachar had an extraordinary influence on the band. The band's creative period, under the direction of Zachar, was crowned with the GDR Art Prize in 1978 .

Zachar had been married to Dina Straat since October 1974 and had one daughter.

Compositions

1971

  • she
  • Vo Thi Lin
  • I'm in love
  • Then you're there
  • Love was already there
  • Every day is beautiful only because of you

1973

  • Rainy day
  • My debts
  • Wind carries away all words

1977

  • Evening hour, silent hour
  • When you came back

Discography

Singles

  • Dresden Sextet: You (Amiga / 1971)
  • Lift: Scandal (Amiga / 1973)
  • Lift: Just come with me (Amiga / 1974)
  • Lift: It's over (Amiga / 1975)
  • Lift: My heart should be a water (Amiga / 1977)

LPs

  • Lift: Lift (Amiga / 1977)
  • Lift: Sea trip (Amiga / 1979)

See also

Music of the GDR

literature

  • Melody and Rhythm , Berlin (East), issue 10/1976
  • HP Hofmann: Beat Lexicon. Performers, authors, technical terms . VEB Lied der Zeit Musikverlag, Berlin (East) 1977.
  • Melody and Rhythm , Berlin (East), issue 11/1977
  • Melody and Rhythm , Berlin (East), issue 12/1978
  • Melody and Rhythm , Berlin (East), issue 1/1979
  • Wochenpost , Berlin (East), number 50/1978

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Balitzki: Stories from the Saxon three . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-323-3 , p. 298
personal data
SURNAME Zachar, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German rock musician, singer, band leader and composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Glauchau
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1978
Place of death near Kalisz , Poland