Roland Kovac

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Roland Kovac (born November 7, 1927 in Vienna ; † February 20, 2013 in Samedan , Switzerland) was an Austrian jazz musician ( piano , clarinet and saxophone , composition, arrangements), pseudonyms: Bob Elger, Luis Meguel, Pietro Leguani.

Live and act

Kovac learned the piano from 1933, was with the Vienna Boys' Choir from 1935 to 1938 and studied clarinet at the Music School of the City of Vienna (from 1941), then up to the doctorate "On the Harmonics in the Music of the Late Baroque" (1952) musicology at the University of Vienna . He became internationally known in particular through his collaboration with Hans Koller : in 1954 he performed as a duo with Koller at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt , then was a member of his “New Jazz Stars” with Albert Mangelsdorff and Willi Sanner until 1956, and wrote challenging compositions for him. The pianist , who was then a fan of cool jazz , also played with Lee Konitz and Lars Gullin . At the end of the 1950s he developed into hard bop pianistically and occasionally played with Klaus Doldinger and Stu Hamer .

Commissioned compositions by him were performed at the "Days of Light Music" in 1955 in Stuttgart and at the 1956 World Music Festival. Kovac then wrote for Kurt Edelhagen's orchestras and the SFB dance orchestra, which he directed from 1960 to 1962, but also performed again at Südwestfunk jazz sessions in 1958 with Koller and with Zoot Sims and Kenny Clarke . He wrote film music ("Das Totenschiff", 1959; " Deine Zärtitäten ", 1969; "Jonathan", 1970) as well as television music and worked as an arranger in the 1960s. In 1968 he composed a “Motet for Big Band”. In the early 1970s he experimented with early forms of easy listening- influenced fusion functional music and released several albums with Sigi Schwab , Peter Trunk , Charly Antolini and Brian Auger . In 1988 he recorded his solo album "The Einstein Concerto".

In the judgment of Joachim Ernst Berendt , his music did not "swing", "but it was a completely independent, autonomous contribution that was rare on the European - and especially the German - scene."

Roland Kovac died (according to Falter 9/15 - page 32) on February 20, 2013 after a skiing accident near St. Moritz in the Samedan hospital.

Discographic notes

  • Roland Kovac; Piano Time in Germany ( Mod Records , 1955)
  • Hans Koller, Koller Plays Kovac (Emarcy, 1955)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kovac, Roland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 20th February 2013
Place of death Samedan , Switzerland