Harri Stojka

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Harri Stojka (Vienna 2008).

Harald Wakar "Harri" Stojka (born July 22, 1957 in Vienna ) is an Austrian guitarist, composer, arranger, band leader and singer who is considered one of the most important contemporary Austrian jazz musicians. He comes from the Lovara - Roma dynasty of the Bagareschtschi and is one of the most famous Roma in Austria. His world music style is also called " Gipsysoul ". He also plays swing-oriented music with success .

Life

The Austrian jazz guitarist Harri Stojka began his career in 1970 with the formation Jano + Harri Stojka in the arena. Soon afterwards, the young autodidact joined the band of Karl Ratzer's Gipsy-Love as a bassist and made a name for himself as a guitarist with Peter Wolf's "Lens Truth Orchestra". In 1973 he founded the "Harri Stojka Express", which was the only Austrian group to perform alongside Jimmy Cliff , Eric Burdon , Van Morrison and Carlos Santana at the Open Air Festival in Vienna's Prater Stadium . This was followed by an invitation to the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival , where Harri Stojka played alongside Larry Coryell as part of the "Guitar Summit". This performance in front of a highly experienced professional audience, where he was also recognized by world-class musicians, brought Harri the breakthrough. The LP "Live at Montreux" provides an atmospheric testimony to the beginning of this impressive world career.

Harri Stojka Modern Jazz Band ( Porgy & Bess , Vienna 2008).

Since then, Harri Stojka has become one of the most important Austrian jazz musicians. This was followed by invitations to jazz festivals as headliners: Paris, Anger, Prague, London, Barcelona, ​​New Delhi, New York, Syracuse, Montreux, Detroit, Kahmoro Festival, Sziget Festival Budapest, the Django Reinhardt Memorial Festival in Augsburg, Graz Jazz Festival, the jazz festival in Jakarta and Yogjakarta. With the band around Harri Stojka, European jazz was heard for the first time in China and India. On all his travels he points out to his enthusiastic audience that he is an Austrian Roma and helps Austria gain a lot of sympathy abroad. The CD production: “A Tribute to Swing” was released in Austria in 2005 and then immediately in Germany, where it was nominated for the German Music Critics Award by renowned jazz experts within just one week. In 2006 the recording was reissued at ZOHO Music in New York. With this project, the formation around Harri Stojka gave two concerts at the jazz festival in Detroit.

The Viennese Harri Stojka comes from a Lovara Roma dynasty who came from Wallachia 150 years ago and settled in Vienna to live and work. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, the family suffered many victims - of 200 relatives, only a few family members survived the concentration camps and the notorious death march. Time and again, Harri Stojka is involved in projects that are dedicated to commemorating and coming to terms with this time. The 2005 CD “Garude Apsa” / “Hidden Tears” aims to remember the musical roots of the Roma in order to give today's generation pride and courage for the future. In a Europe that is increasingly politically committed to Roma culture, Harri Stojka launched the campaign “I am against the word Gypsy and for the word Roma”, which arouses public and international interest.

Prizes and awards

In 2005 Stojka's CD "A Tribute to Swing" was nominated for the Echo Prize in Germany - for the best CD production from abroad. In 2011 the film “Gypsy Spirit, Harri Stojka a Journey”, a musical journey through India in search of his Roma roots, was awarded a Romy : for the best cinema documentary in Austria.

On October 30, 2013 he received the Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria .

Harri Stojka with Jelena Krstic (voc.), Moša Šišic (v.) And Karl Sayer (b.), Demonstration “Let's make ourselves strong” 2010.

Albums (selection)

  • Harri Stojka Express - Sweet Vienna (1978)
  • Harri Stoika Express - ... off the bone (1980)
  • Harri Stojka - Live in Montreux (1981)
  • Harri Stojka Express - Camera (1981)
  • Harri Stojka Express - brother to brother (1983)
  • Harri Stojka Express - Live (1987)
  • Harri Stojka - Say Yes (1988)
  • Harri Stojka - Music for the People (1996)
  • Harri Stojka Gitancœur (2000)
  • Harri Stojka - Live at the Roma Wedding (2004)
  • Harri Stojka - A Tribute to Swing (2004)
  • Harri Stojka Gipsysoul - Garude Apsa - Hidden Tears (2005)
  • Harri Stojka - A Tribute to Gipsy Swing (ZOHO REC.) (2006)
  • Stoika & Stojka - Just Another City (2008)
  • Mosa Sisic & Harri Stojka - In Between (2009)
  • Harri Stojka - Gitancœur d'Europe (2010)
  • Harri Stojka - Romano Suno / Gipsy Dream (Christmas Time / Christmastime) (2010)
  • Harri Stojka India Express - India Express (2012)
  • Wolfgang Böck & Harri Stojka - Satire & Jazz (2013)
  • Harri Stojka - Hot Club de Vienne (2014)
  • Harri Stojka - Heavy Stuff (2014)
  • Harri Stojka - A Tribute to The Beatles (2016)

Movies

  • Gypsy Spirit. Harri Stojka. A travel. Director: Klaus Hundsbichler , Austria / India 2010, 91 min

Web links

Commons : Harri Stojka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stojka, family. In: Austrian Music Lexicon. Retrieved July 17, 2018 .
  2. ^ Harri Stojka in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  3. ↑ High distinction for guitarist Harri Stojka. In: Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture . October 30, 2013, accessed July 17, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Stojka, Harri
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stojka, Harald Wakar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna