Siegfried Kessler (musician)
Siegfried "Siggi" Kessler (born February 5, 1935 in Saarbrücken , † January 22, 2007 in La Grande Motte ) was a German-born French pianist and composer of modern jazz , who has occasionally also emerged as a clarinetist and flutist.
Live and act
Kessler began to learn the piano at the age of four. After the death of his father and his mother's internment, he was sent to an orphanage at the age of eleven, where he continued to take classical piano lessons at the music school. In addition to piano, he also received lessons in flute, composition, arrangement and percussion. First he performed with a classical repertoire (Bach, Poulenc, Chopin, Ravel). After listening to Stan Kenton ("City of Jazz") on records, he became interested in jazz; he gave concerts with Fritz Maldener , among others . After the Saarland was reintegrated into the Federal Republic in 1957, he moved to France. In 1957 he toured with the Dutch saxophonist Gijs Hendriks in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. In 1967 he settled in Paris, where he played with Michel Roques at the Blue Note . In the chat qui peche he accompanied u. a. Dexter Gordon , Slide Hampton , Joe Henderson , Nathan Davis, and Ted Curson . In 1969 he founded the “Perceptons” quartet with bassist Didier Levallet , saxophonist Yochk'o Seffer and drummer Jean-My Truong , which initially played music influenced by John Coltrane and became one of the central French free jazz formations.
At the end of the 1960s, Kessler oriented himself towards free jazz , influenced by the music of Iannis Xenakis , Luciano Berio , Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel . His first trio album with Barre Phillips and Steve McCall ("Live at the Gill's Club", the trio's preferred venue) was released in 1969. He also played with Hervé Bourde , in a duo with saxophonist Daunik Lazro and singer Gilles Elbaz whose longtime companion he was. The decisive factor for him was his encounter with Archie Shepp in the 1970s, with whom he accompanied for over a decade (recordings e.g. “Paris Concert” 1977, “Live at the Totem” 1979). Most recently they recorded the duo album First Take in 2005 .
In the 1980s he played in the "Kaztrio" (with drummer Jean-Pierre Arnaud and bassist Michel Zenino). With the drummer and percussionist Michel Bachevalier he recorded the album "Catamaran", an indication of his passion for sailing. In the field of jazz he was involved in 74 recording sessions between 1969 and 2003, according to Tom Lord .
For the last 20 years of his life he lived in between touring on a sailing boat in the south of France. In 1985 he gained attention in France with “Nam”, a staging of music (Kessler), dance (his girlfriend at the time Maroussia Vossen) and sculpture (René Lunel).
However, Kessler's interest was not limited to free jazz; he was briefly involved in Pierre Courbois ' rock jazz group Association PC and accompanied z. See also Joe Henderson , Dexter Gordon, and Slide Hampton .
In January 2007, his body was found floating in the water of the port of La Grande Motte. The cause of death was drowning (suicide). Two documentaries were made about him in France (“A Love Secret” 2002 by Christine Baudillon, “L'île du jazz” by Frank Cassenti 2006 for Arte).
literature
- Comolli et al. a .: Dictionaire du Jazz. 1994.
Web links
- Siegfried Kessler at Allmusic (English)
- Siegfried Kessler at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kessler, Siegfried |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kessler, Siggi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French jazz pianist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 5, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saarbrücken |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 22, 2007 |
| Place of death | La Grande Motte |