Jazz Makers Berlin

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Jazz-Makers is a Berlin jazz band that was founded in 1972 and was one of the most popular old-time jazz bands in the GDR . Their musical style combines elements of New Orleans jazz , contemporary Dixieland and swing and was significantly influenced from 1974 by the musical director of the band, Volker Kaufmann. The band, in which seven academics - five of them with doctoral degrees - played music together for 20 years, was also called the Doctor Band .

Band history

The Jazz-Makers were founded in 1972 by Lothar "Billy" Löbl at the Humboldt University in Berlin .

Line-up from 1972:

  • Lothar "Billy" Löbl (conductor, banjo, vocals) / since 1972
  • Otto Dohnert (trumpet) / 1972–1992
  • Dieter Hoffmann (trombone) / 1972–1987
  • Hilmar Polle (piano) / 1972–1974
  • Rudi Artz (drums) / 1972–1979
  • Raimund "Barney" Biegard (clarinet, alto saxophone) / 1972–1991
  • Helmut Wall (bass, vocals) / 1972–1992

Members added up to 1990 were:

  • Volker Kaufmann (piano, vocals) / 1974–2006
  • Horst-Dieter "Halli" Hallmann (drums, washboard ) / 1979–1988
  • Christian Brauer (trombone, vocals) / 1987–1992
  • Alexander "Sascha" Ugoljew, (drums) / 1988–1990
  • Michael Löser (drums) / 1990–1992

The band also included the drummers Jupp Els and Karl Vetter. In 1992 the band was reshuffled. Brauer, Dohnert, Wall and Löser left the band and later founded “Dr. Jazz". Kaufmann also played for “Dr. Jazz "and in 2005 switched to" Jazz-Collegium Berlin ". Among other things, the bassist Erich Abshagen came to the band.

Current occupation:

  • "Billy" Löbl (banjo, vocals) since 1972
  • Hans "Jack" Behrends (trombone) since 1992
  • Wolfgang Franke (clarinet, saxophone) since 1991
  • Timo Tietz (piano, bass) since 2007
  • Jo Dette (bass)
  • Wolfgang Winkler (drums) since 2004
  • Peter Tüllmann (trumpet, flugelhorn) since 1992

While the band used to be characterized by teamwork and was tied to tight arrangements for which Kaufmann and Biegard were responsible, today more professional teamwork comes to the fore. The band developed into a modern swinging formation. The band works regularly with the Berlin-based vocalist Hatti St. John from New Zealand .

In the first ten years of its existence alone, the band had 567 appearances, mostly in clubs. In 1978 the band first took part in the International Dixieland Festival in Dresden . In the meantime the band is a regular guest in Dresden with 14 participants and has also taken part in jazz festivals in Bulgaria, CSSR , Ukraine, Den Bosch (Netherlands) and Moscow . In the GDR, the Amiga Jazz Makers recorded two records , had numerous radio productions and appeared in the television programs "Ein Haus voll Musik" and " Ein Kessel Buntes ".

In 2002 the band produced their second CD 30 Years Jazz-Makers Berlin. On March 31, 2007, she celebrated the band's 35th birthday with an anniversary concert in the “Ratskeller Berlin-Köpenick ”.

Discography (selection)

  • International Dixieland Festival 80 ("Hesitating Blues", LP, 1980)
  • Years Jazz-Makers Berlin (CD, 1995)
  • Dixieland Forever - 30 Years Jazz-Makers Berlin (Live with guests; CD, 2002)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 35 years of Jazz Makers - 35 years of Dixieland. (Archive version)