Ladi Geisler

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Miloslav Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler (born November 27, 1927 in Prague ; † November 19, 2011 in Hamburg ) was a German jazz and studio musician (guitarist, bass guitarist). His "cracking bass" shaped the sound of Bert Kaempfert's orchestra .

Live and act

Ladi Geisler's grave

Geisler received violin lessons as a child and soon learned to play the trumpet. He was supposed to work as an engineer in the electrical company where his father was director. In the last phase of World War II , Geisler was drafted into the German Air Force, where he was trained on the Heinkel He 162 fighter aircraft . He then fell into British captivity and was sent to a Danish prisoner of war camp. With the help of a fellow prisoner, Geisler developed an electric guitar and learned to play the guitar as an autodidact . His role model was Oscar Moore , guitarist for the American singer Nat King Cole . In the camp he also made the acquaintance of the German musician Horst Wende , who took him to Germany after his release and made him the guitarist of his “Horst Wende Trio”.

Geisler came into contact with the NWDR through Horst Wende , and after the NDR was spun off in 1955, he was given a permanent position as a guitarist in the NDR dance orchestra under the direction of Franz Thon . In addition, he continued to play with Horst Wende, who meanwhile had a contract with the Polydor record company . The Horst-Wende-Band also performed in the Hamburg nightclub “Tarantella”. It was there that Ladi Geisler and Freddy Quinn met , from which a long-term collaboration developed. Until the early 1960s, Geisler took part in numerous recordings by Freddy Quinn.

By this time Geisler had already developed into a distinguished guitarist. At the NDR he was used in many ways, so he was also involved with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of a work by Pierre Boulez at the Edinburgh Festival . In addition to Polydor, he also worked for other record companies and accompanied other singers such as Evelyn Künneke , Greetje Kauffeld , Friedel Hensch , Esther and Abi Ofarim and Hildegard Knef . By James Last , he bought the late 50s the Gibson EB bass guitar , with which he made his legendary "Knack bass" sound developed and which he then at the first recordings as a member of Easy Listening used -Orchesters by Bert Kaempfert. He later used a Fender Jazz Bass model. Most recently he used a Fender Precision Bass when invited to live or recording sessions.

In 1958 he had already recorded his first solo record with the record company Telefunken with Happy Guitar / Samba estrella . With Philips and Ariola , but mainly with Polydor, he took up further solo records until 1965, partly with the Polydor band "The Playboys". Under her name he reached number 19 in the German hit lists in 1961 with the cover version of the world hit Wheels . As a freelance musician, he was sought after by all leading German record companies and in some years he was involved in up to 1,500 recordings. He toured Japan with the Alfred home orchestra in 1988 and 1990.

In the 1990s he founded his own music studio, "Studio 17", and increasingly turned to jazz. He founded his own jazz band, worked with Günter Fuhlisch and was most recently heard with the "Elbenquintett". For several years Geisler was chairman of the German Association of Composers in Northern Germany and was on the board of GEMA .

In spring 2010 he was involved in the recordings for Helen Schneider's current swing CD - a homage to Bert Kaempfert - as a bass player.

From July 2010 Ladi Geisler played a compact and lightweight guitar amplifier that was specially developed and tuned to his sonic needs. With his help, as well as the sound of his Gibson L-4 CES guitar and his unique feeling for rhythm and solo playing, he created his unmistakable guitar tone and delighted his audience with numerous live performances.

Ladi Geisler died on November 19, 2011 shortly before his 84th birthday in Hamburg. He found his final resting place in the Ohlsdorf cemetery there (grave location S 29 / 15–189).

Prizes and awards

In 2003 he was awarded the Louis Armstrong Memorial Prize by Swinging Hamburg eV .

Discography

Solo singles

  • Happy Guitar / Samba estrella , Telefunken, 1958
  • Red River Rock / Dreaming Guitar , Polydor, 1960
  • Navajo / Lonely Guitar , Philips, 1961
  • In a Persian market / Just smile , Polydor, 1961
  • Amazon Paddleboat / Tomahawk , Polydor, 1962
  • Guitar Tango / Two Guitars , Polydor, 1962
  • Little Geisha / Helena , Polydor, 1963
  • Old comrades / entry of the gladiators , Ariola, 1965

LPs and CDs

  • Mr. Guitar , LP, Polydor, 1962
  • Girls, Girls, Girls , LP, BASF, 1964
  • Memories Of Spain , LP, Ex Libris, 1968
  • Guitar a la Carte Vol. 1 , LP, AMG, 1968
  • Guitar a la Carte Vol. 2 , LP, AMG, 1969
  • Guitar with Disco 74 , LP, Columbia, 1973
  • Swinging Guitar , LP, Intercord, 1977
  • Guitar dreams under palm trees , Intercord, LP, 1978
  • Classics with the guitar , LP, EMI
  • The rock guitar by Ladi Geisler , LP, BearFamily, 2000
  • Minor Swing , CD, BearFamily, 2000
  • Mr. Guitar , CD, BearFamily, 2000
  • Those Were The Days , CD, BearFamily, 2003
  • Günter Märtens meets Ladi Geisler. Anecdotes of a Guitar Player, CD, BearFamily, 2007 (audio book)

Lexical entries

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report of the death of Ladi Geisler in the Hamburger Abendblatt
personal data
SURNAME Geisler, Ladi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geisler, Miloslav Ladislav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz and studio musician (guitarist, bass guitarist)
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 2011
Place of death Hamburg