Oscar Klein

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Oscar Klein 2004

Oscar Klein (born January 5, 1930 in Graz , † December 12, 2006 in Plüderhausen , Germany ) was an Austrian musician of oldtime and mainstream jazz . He played the trumpet and guitar , but also the banjo , clarinet and harmonica . “Convincingly like hardly any other European trumpeter ” he mastered the traditional range of expression of this instrument, while as a guitarist he built his own style on the influences of Eddie Condon , Freddie Green and Toots Thielemans .

Live and act

Because of their Jewish origins, Klein's family had to flee from the Nazis. In 1943, when he was interned there with his family in a small Italian mountain village during fascism, Klein received mandolin lessons from the village teacher. During his training at the Basel School of Applied Arts from 1944 on, he discovered jazz at the Basel Hot Club. He made his first experiences as a guitarist with the “Feetwarmers” around trumpeter Freddie Höhn and clarinetist Otto Flückiger. In 1948 Klein took up a position as a drawing and handicraft teacher in Florence and tried to find like-minded musicians there. For the planned Original Florence New Orleans Band , however, the trumpeter was missing, and so he got his second instrument. On a vacation visit to Innsbruck he met the clarinetist Fatty George ; In 1952 he became a member of the band. This band was one of the most important on the Viennese jazz scene in the 1950s, with musicians such as Bill Grah , Karl Drewo and Joe Zawinul . In 1958, Klein switched to the Swiss Chicago-style band Tremble Kids .

He married the jazz singer Miriam Klein and started a family in Basel . Of their four children, David Klein, born in 1961, is also known as a musician and composer.

From the end of 1959 he worked for several years in the Dutch Swing College Band . Since 1963 he has been traveling as a band leader with various of his own formations. First in a trio with Miriam Klein and Isla Eckinger , later mainly with Oscar Klein's jazz show. In addition, he worked with guest soloists such as Albert Nicholas , Joe Turner , Cootie Williams and Joe Venuti and gained international recognition. Since 1973 he has presented a series of albums under his own name, but also performed again with the Tremble Kids and - until his death in 1982 - with Fatty George. In 1981 he founded “Big Four”, an Italian-Swiss group of Chicago jazz. At the beginning of the 1990s he toured with alternating cast "European Dixieland All Stars" and also appeared with his "European Alls Stars", which included Charly Antolini and Barbara Dennerlein . He also worked with Romano Mussolini , son of the fascist " Duce ".

He acted as a presenter in the Swiss television series "History of Jazz". He also gave educational concerts in schools for many years, first with Jerry Ricks and later with Thomas Moeckel . He firmly believed that a jazz performance can be both musically sophisticated and entertaining.

He was not only one of the most important musicians of European " trad jazz ", but also an excellent entertainer, with (almost legendary) humorous announcements and the captain's hat as a visual trademark .

Oscar Klein has also made recordings with the following musicians: Lionel Hampton , Roy Eldridge , Earl Hines , Bud Freeman , Wild Bill Davison , Peanuts Hucko , Sammy Price , Ralph Sutton , Emil Mangelsdorff , Dexter Gordon , Slide Hampton , Wallace Bishop , Fritz Pauer , Lino Patruno , Jan Jankeje , Ludwig Stimmler , Hans Rettenbacher , Henri Chaix , Jimmy Woode , Gus Backus and Michael Pewny .

He has recorded more than 50 CDs and 130 LPs in total.

He also taught guitar and published Pickin 'the blues together with Caesar Perrig . A textbook for finger-style guitar that also includes two LPs.

Oscar Klein died in his adopted home Plüderhausen in Baden-Württemberg , where he last lived with his second wife Karin.

Prizes and awards

On October 19, 2005 he received the Silver Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital Vienna . In his Austrian homeland he was given the professional title of professor .

Publications

  • Pickin 'the blues. A textbook for finger-style guitar . ISBN 978-3-921275-00-9
  • Band guitar - a selection of traditional blues and swing tunes (including cassette), (1978) Nobile Verlag

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Martin Kunzler
  2. ↑ In doing so, he showed an aversion to reading music, which characterized him throughout his life. See Spoerri, p. 212
  3. ^ Scott Yanow: Oscar Klein: Biography. In: allmusic . Retrieved September 25, 2012 .
  4. ↑ ISBN 978-3-921275-00-9
personal data
SURNAME Little Oscar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 5th January 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz , Austria
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2006
Place of death Plüderhausen , Germany