SWR big band

The SWR Big Band during the closing event for the 2011 Federal Garden Show in Koblenz

The SWR Big Band was founded in 1951 by Erwin Lehn as the "Südfunk-Tanzorchester".

Lehn directed the orchestra until 1992. Since then the formation has been without a permanent director and has performed with changing conductors. With the merger of Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR) with Südwestfunk (SWF) to form Südwestrundfunk (SWR) in 1998, it was renamed from SDR Big Band to SWR Big Band .

Every year the big band performs jazz productions with renowned American arrangers and soloists: Sammy Nestico , Toshiko Akiyoshi , Don Menza , Frank Foster , Rob McConnell, Bill Holman , Clark Terry , Slide Hampton , Bob Florence , Phil Woods and Bob Mintzer . She had lasting success with the concert series "Swing Legenden", in which she accompanied Max Greger Sr., Paul Kuhn , Bill Ramsey and Hugo Strasser . She has also recorded with singers like Paula Morelenbaum and Themba Mkhize . In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009 the band was nominated for the Grammy Awards .

Current occupation

The SWR Big Band has remained a purely male ensemble to date (as of 2017).

• Saxophone: Klaus Graf (as), Matthias Erlewein (as), Axel Kühn (ts), Andreas Maile (ts), Pierre Paquette (bs)
• Trumpet: Nemanja Jovanovic, Felice Civitareale , Karl Farrent , Rudolf Reindl
• Trombone: Marc Godfroid , Ernst Hutter , Ian Cumming, Georg Maus
• Piano: Klaus Wagenleiter
• Guitar: Klaus-Peter Schöpfer
• Bass: Decebal Badila
• Drums: Guido Jöris

former members

• Saxophone: Werner Baumgart , Heinz von Hermann , Rainer Heute , Bernd Rabe , Gerald Weinkopf , Peter Less , Jörg Kaufmann
• Trumpet: Franz Bummerl , Johannes Faber , Klaus Osterloh , Claus Reichstaller , Ack van Rooyen , Frank Wellert , Thomas Vogel
• Trumpet: Ernst Mosch , Ludwig Nuss
• Piano: Horst Jankowski , Joerg Reiter
• Bass: Peter Witte
• Drums: Klaus Weiss , Jörg Gebhardt (drummer / singer / arranger)

Web links

• www.swrbigband.de
• http://www.swr.de/orchester-und-ensembles/bb/
• SWR Big Band at Discogs (English)