Hans Reichel (musician)

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Hans Reichel 2009 in the Waldfrieden Sculpture Park in Wuppertal, Photo: E. Dieter Fränzel

Hans Reichel (born May 10, 1949 in Hagen ; † November 22, 2011 in Wuppertal ) was a German guitarist , violinist (in the field of free jazz / improvised music ), instrument maker and font designer from Wuppertal.

music

After studying the violin on his own, from the age of 15, Reichel first played beat music , blues rock and compositions by Frank Zappa in rock bands , before completing a design degree. His first solo guitar recordings appeared in the early 1970s. Right from the start, he not only dealt with unconventional, not yet heard playing techniques, but also developed and built third bridge guitars . He placed pickups in places where they really don't belong; instead of one, many guitars also had two necks. Due to the mutual effect of sound research and musical execution, Reichel had an enormous potential of his own sound possibilities. "He has not only enriched the existing idea of ​​the guitar with new constructions and playing techniques, but above all with new sound dimensions," said Bert Noglik .

Daxophone reeds

In his sound experiments he also invented a completely new string instrument, the daxophone , which he also played regularly and for which he also composed “operettas”. Reichel worked mostly solo, but also with Rüdiger Carl in the seventies (later also in the Bergisch-Brandenburg Quartet with Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky and Sven-Åke Johansson , as well as in the September Band , there with Shelley Hirsch and Paul Lovens ) . He formed duos with cellist Tom Cora , Michel Waisvisz , Achim Knispel , Stephan Wittwer , Keith Tippett , Fred Frith and the Japanese guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi . Together with the percussionist Eroc (from the band Grobschnitt ), the album "Kino" was created in 1986 (re-released as "The Return of Onkel Boskopp"). Occasionally he also appeared in larger groups, for example with Johansson, Butch Morris and the saxophonist Thomas Borgmann . He played with Jan Kazda , Harald Heller and Ingo Specht (also at international festivals, for example in Bologna ) in an "All Dax (ophone) band". He wrote the composition “Namakemono” for the Kronos Quartet , which he performed for the first time in 1997 (together with the latter). Concert tours have taken Reichel to over 40 countries in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia; he lived in Japan for a long time. The construction and functioning of his instruments have been extensively presented in American, Japanese and European journals, and his music can be heard on numerous solo LPs and CDs.

Font design

Reichels FF Dax on a railway station sign

As a font designer, Reichel developed several font families (Barmeno, FF Dax , FF Daxline, FF Sari, FF Schmalhans, FF Routes), some of which were widely used in graphic design and desktop publishing . For example, his FF Dax is used by UPS , Norisbank , the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Total Music Meeting . It is one of the most successful fonts in the FontFont library from FSI FontShop International . The FF saree is z. B. the corporate font of the wholesale company Lekkerland and the logo font of the BEFG . Reichel, who was Günter Gerhard Lange's student with Berthold , described himself as a “writer” in an interview with Der Spiegel.

Awards

In 1998 Reichel received the Art Prize of the Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal. "As an improviser and composer, as a solo musician and in ensemble play, Reichel moves in the border areas between conventional musical genres and contemporary music, opening up previously unimaginable and unknown dimensions of sound" (Jazz Live).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hans Reichel died at the age of 62 Westdeutsche Zeitung of November 23, 2011
  2. ↑ cit. n. Liner Notes "Stop Complaining / Sundown" (FMP)
  3. ↑ http://www.100besteschriften.de/54_Dax.html#a54
personal data
SURNAME Reichel, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German guitarist, violinist, instrument maker and typographer
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Hagen
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 2011
Place of death Wuppertal