Max Greger

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Max Greger (2008)
Max Greger with Mini Schulz (2008)

Max Greger (* 2. April 1926 in Munich , † 15. August 2015 ) was a German jazz - musicians , saxophonist , big band - leader and conductor . He recorded more than 150 records, performed in hundreds of concert halls with Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, among others , and produced around 3,000 pieces of music. Greger's musical companions included Paul Kuhn , Hugo Strasser and James Last .

life and career

Max Greger was originally supposed to take over the parents' butcher shop. In 1936, however, his grandfather gave him an accordion and thus laid the foundation for the musical development of the then ten-year-old. In addition to attending a postgraduate school , Greger studied clarinet and saxophone at the Munich Conservatory .

Single B.-R. Boogie , 1957

At the age of 18, Max Greger was drafted into military service in 1944/45 towards the end of the Second World War . Shortly after the end of the war, he was one of the first Germans to play mainly in American officers' casinos and thus, together with his long-time companion Hugo Strasser, became a pioneer of the German swing and jazz scene of the post-war period. In 1948 he founded his first own ensemble, which was later expanded to an octet. At an early age he managed to play with jazz greats like Woody Herman , Stan Kenton and Lionel Hampton . During the day he played mainly hits and folk music with the Enzian sextet for the Bavarian radio and in the evenings as the Max Greger sextet swing and jazz in American clubs. He later appeared in the trumpeter Charly Tabor's band and appeared on stage with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington , among others .

First recordings with his own dance and hit compositions such as Auf Bergeshöhen , Rock'n'Roll Boogie , Trompeten in Love , Max & Sax , Looping Blues , Nobody Kisses Like You , Teenager Cha Cha and Rock Twist followed, as well as extensive tours through Germany and Europe . As the first Western band in 35 years, Max Greger was allowed to start a five-week tour to the Soviet Union in 1959 , where he performed with Maria Hellwig and Udo Jürgens . In total there were 36 sold out concerts. Then he made his commercial breakthrough.

He always refused a band membership in one of the big big bands in order to be able to remain independent. To found the Second German Television , however, he agreed in 1963 to sign a contract as the head of a big band. Until 1977 the band leader had a permanent contract with ZDF. During this time, Greger was a regular guest on major ZDF live shows such as forget-me-nots , the golden shot , 3 times 9 or music is trump . The Thomas Reich composition Up to Date , performed by his orchestra, is still used as the theme song by the ZDF's current Saturday sports studio .

In 1970 his band was the only German orchestra to play on Germany Day at the world exhibition in Osaka, Japan . In 1971 he was seen alongside Beppo Brem , Joachim Fuchsberger and Helga Anders in Kurt Wilhelm's TV comedy Olympia-Olympia .

In 1986 Greger celebrated his 60th birthday on ZDF with a “super band” to which famous colleagues such as Hazy Osterwald , Paul Kuhn , Hugo Strasser and James Last came together in his honor . From 1992 he acted as a guest conductor at public events and studio productions of the SWR Big Band , from 2002 to a month before his death he was still on tours in Germany, together with his son Max (* 1951), Hugo Strasser (1922-2016) , Paul Kuhn (1928–2013) and his grandson Max in changing line-ups.

In 1992 there was a tragic accident in which Greger's brother-in-law was killed. While both were working on a car in a garage, Greger slipped off the brake pedal, the automatic car started moving and crushed his brother-in-law. Greger received no penalty for this accident. “He's punished enough with the tragic accident,” said the Chief Public Prosecutor, and had the proceedings for negligent homicide set.

Max Greger did not celebrate his 80th birthday at home in the Geiselgasteig district of Grünwald , but as part of a birthday tour through Germany that began on April 2, 2006 in the Munich Philharmonic .

Max Greger left behind a daughter, Hannerl, and a son, Max jr. who is also successful as a musician and arranger. His son is also called Max (* 1982), works as a lawyer in Munich and has made music his hobby.

On the night of August 15, 2015, Max Greger died in Munich of cancer. A good month earlier, on July 13, 2015, Max Greger had given his last concert in Munich's Brunnenhof. There he stood once more with his son Max Greger junior , his grandson Max Greger jr. jr. and his oldest friend Hugo Strasser on stage.

On August 21, 2015, Max Greger was buried in the Grünwald forest cemetery. At the funeral, his long-time companion and friend, Hugo Strasser, played the Beatles classic Yesterday on the closed coffin , before his grandson Maxi Greger gave a speech for his grandfather. During the funeral, the trumpeter intoned Felice Civitareale the Il Silenzio .

Recordings

From 1963 to 1977 Max Greger had his own big band, with which he recorded more than 3000 different titles on record. The repertoire ranges from pop music to jazz.

Memorial plaque in Berlin, Friedrichstr. 107
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
World championship dance tournament
  DE 16 07/15/1962 (8 weeks)
Basement party with Max Greger
  DE 9 October 15, 1962 (28 weeks)
Dance tournament with Max Greger
  DE 13 October 15, 1962 (28 weeks)
Ball of Nations (Max Greger Orchestra)
  DE 26th 07/15/1964 (8 weeks)
Greger in the night
  DE 32 03/15/1967 (8 weeks)
Exercise and dance yourself fit (Max Greger Orchestra)
  DE 25th 02/15/1974 (24 weeks)
The dance record of the year '77
  DE 46 04/01/1977 (2 weeks)
Do dance day
  DE 5 
gold
gold
December 04, 1978 (16 weeks)
The golden dance plate
  DE 20th 07/01/1980 (13 weeks)
Singles
Singing Hills (... and his orchestra)
  DE 21st 11/01/1958 (12 weeks)
Moscow Nights (... and his orchestra)
  DE 52 10/01/1959 (8 weeks)
Yakety-Sax (Max Gregers twist combo)
  DE 40 08/01/1963 (4 weeks)
Harem (... and its orchestra)
  DE 17th 04/01/1964 (8 weeks)
Java
  DE 6th 05/01/1964 (12 weeks)

Albums (selection)

  • European Jazz Sounds (1963), Brunswick 267 918, Polydor 829 257-2
  • Yakety Sax (1964) Polydor 237 374
  • Maximum (1965), Brunswick, Polydor 825 703-2
  • Ball Paré (1965), Polydor 237 483
  • Dance with me (1965), Polydor 249 034
  • A Little Dance Music (1966), Polydor 249 066
  • Greger in the Night (1966), Polydor 249 103
  • Greger in Rio (196?), Polydor 249 112
  • Live - A "tour de dance" with 28 hits and evergreens (196?), Polydor 249 273
  • In the Mood for Dancing - 28 Glenn Miller Evergreens (1969), Polydor 249 315
  • Sunshine Starshine (1969) Polydor 2371 009
  • Gaudi in Bavaria (1970), Polydor 2371 046
  • Max Greger plays Glenn Miller (1970), Polydor 2371 047
  • Olympia-Dancing '72 (1971), Polydor 2371 153
  • Sax-Appeal (1971), Polydor 2371 197
  • Trumpets Trumpets Trumpets (1971), Polydor 2371 198
  • Hits March On - Episode 1 (1972), Polydor 2371 286
  • Strictly for Dancing (1972) Polydor 2371 317
  • Hits March On - Episode 2 (1973), Polydor 2371 379
  • Dance and keep fit (1973), Polydor 2371 433
  • Dance '74 (1973), Polydor 2371 434
  • Hits March On - Episode 3 (1974), Polydor 2371 485
  • Trim and dance to be top fit (1974), Polydor 2371 513
  • Dance '75 (1974), Polydor 2371 526
  • Max, you've got the dancing out of it (1975), Polydor 2371 570
  • Soft-Ice Dancing (1975), Polydor 2371 589
  • Top-Fit in the Snow (1975), Polydor 2371 607
  • Dance '76 (1975), Polydor 2371 609
  • Dance with Me - Episode 2 (1975), Polydor 2371 630
  • Let's go (1976), Polydor 2371 684
  • Everything dances on my command (1976), Polydor 2371 692
  • Dance with Me - Episode 3 (1976), Polydor 2371 694
  • The dance record of the year '77 (1976), Polydor 2371 720
  • The dance record of the year '78 (1977), Polydor 2371 820
  • The dance record of the year '79 (1978), Polydor 2371 921
  • White Christmas (1979) Polydor Spectrum 551 299-2
  • Dance is trumps - The current dance party of the year (1980), Polydor 2372 040
  • Classical Dance Pleasure (1984), Polydor 817 857-2
  • Max Greger and his Enzian Sextet (1984), Polydor 821 650-2
  • Supertanzmusik (1984), Polydor 823 687-2
  • Traumzeit - Max Greger senior and junior and 100 enchanted violins (1986), Polydor 831 476-2
  • Oscar Melodies for Dancing (1987), Polydor 833 009-2
  • Lovebird - The Saxy Feeling-Sound (1988), Polydor 833 921-2
  • Evergreens in Glenn Miller Sound (1988), Polydor 835 916-2
  • Dancing '89 - Today & Traditional (1988), Polydor 837 316-2
  • Mambo-Jambo - dancing in the Latin sound , 1989, Polydor 837 929-2
  • Dancing '90 - Today & Traditional , 1989, Polydor 841 166-2
  • Dancing '91 (1990), Polydor 843 932-2
  • Magic of the Mountains - Max Greger and his Golden Bavaria Orchester (1990), Polydor 843 933-2
  • Let's Dance - The Classical Dance Plate (1991), Polydor 849 021-2
  • Dancing '92 (1991), Polydor 511 071-2
  • Sax in Love (1992) Polydor 513 040-2
  • Dancing '93 (1992), Polydor 513 992-2
  • A Journey into Happiness - in Billy Vaughn Sound (1993), Polydor 519 911-2
  • Dancing '94 (1993), Polydor 519 912-2
  • together - Greger and Greger (1995), Polydor 529 156-2
  • world wide hits - Greger and Greger (1996), Polydor 533 508-2
  • swingtime - Max Greger and the RIAS Big Band (1998), Polydor 559 855-2
  • Night Train - Swing & Jazz Forever (1999), Polydor 543 393-2
  • Happy Birthday! Max Greger 80 years - 40 hits , 2-CD compilation with 11 new tracks (2006), Koch Universal 06024 9876941
  • Hello, little lady , compilation with recordings from 1958 to 1965, "Jazzclub" series (2007), Universal 06024 9845696
  • Greger's Groove Party , compilation with recordings from 1965 to 1973, "Jazzclub" series (2008), Universal 06007 5307296

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

Commons : Max Greger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Joe Schevardo: From Enzian Sextet to Big Band. In: WDR (including audio contribution with original sounds: Experienced stories with Max Greger) from December 31, 2013, accessed on August 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ Helmut Mauró: Obituary for the death of Max Greger: Fine jazz here, clumsy hits there. In: Süddeutsche.de , August 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ Big band musicians: Max Greger is dead. In: Spiegel Online , August 15, 2015.
  4. ↑ Max Greger is dead. Jazz musician. In: zeit.de. Retrieved August 16, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Max Greger is dead. Legendary band leader. In: rp-online.de. Retrieved August 16, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Max Greger. Living Museum Online, LeMO , accessed August 15, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Legendary band leader: Max Greger succumbs to cancer. In: Focus Online . August 15, 2015, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Funeral of Max Greger: a warm Giesinger leaves. In: Abendzeitung-muenchen.de
  9. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE1 DE2 .
  10. ↑ Awards: DE
personal data
SURNAME Greger, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz musician, saxophonist, big band leader and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH 15th August 2015
Place of death Munich