The Feetwarmers
| The Feetwarmers | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | jazz |
| founding | 1953 |
| resolution | 1963 |
| Founding members | |
| Jürgen Buchholtz (until 1961) | |
| Klaus Schmitz (until 1954) | |
| Klaus Wildenhaus (until 1954) | |
| Klaus Doldinger | |
| Lutz Nagel (until 1956) | |
| Stefan Buchholtz (until 1956) | |
| Last occupation | |
Trumpet |
Ingfried Hoffmann (since 1962) |
Clarinet, soprano saxophone , tenor saxophone
|
Klaus Doldinger |
Banjo, guitar |
Helmut Kandlberger (since 1962) |
Drums |
Klaus Weiss (since 1962) |
| former members | |
Clarinet, alto saxophone
|
Heinz Schellerer (1957–1959) |
| Manfred Wagner (1954) | |
| Erich Schilling (1954-1959) | |
trombone |
Manfred Lahnstein (1959–1961) |
piano |
Ingfried Hoffmann (1954) |
piano |
Horst E. Mutterer (1955–1959) |
piano |
Robert Theobald (1956) |
Piano (also vibraphone ) |
Claudio Szenkar (1959–1961) |
Guitar, banjo |
Dieter Süverkrüp (1956–1959) |
Guitar, banjo |
Alfons Zschockelt (1959–1961) |
| Heino Ribbert (1954–1961) | |
Drums |
Fred Schuler (1956-1958) |
Drums |
Kurt Bong (1958–1961) |
The Feetwarmers were a German jazz band that was founded in Düsseldorf and was active from 1953 to early 1963. For a long time it was considered the "first and best German Dixieland band." In the course of its development, the band, which worked as a septet or sometimes even as an octet between 1954 and 1961 , was due to the musical inclinations of the individual musicians but also other styles up to open to modern jazz . (In the 1970s, a British band around John Chilton and a Swiss band also called themselves The Feetwarmers .)
history
The band was founded on March 1, 1953 by trumpeter Jürgen Buchholtz; the members - three schoolchildren, two apprentices, one medical student - first met on Sunday afternoons to practice in the house of the Buchholtz family or in the post office in Pempelfort , which Klaus Doldinger's father ran. “We played Dixieland and were hungry for something new. Jazz , blues , art and the preference for the French existentialists welded us together to form an artist community of many genres. "
Before their first appearance, the group named themselves after Sidney Bechet's band in New Orleans . However, they jokingly justified their choice of name from the history of European ideas : "The Dutchman Erasmus von Rotterdam first had the idea of running a jazz band called The Feetwarmers ."
After several changes of line-up - among other things, the young Doldinger switched from piano to soprano saxophone - the band took second place in the "Old Style" category at the 1955 German Amateur Jazz Festival . In November of the same year the band received the Grand Prix d'Honneur at the International Jazz Tournoi of the Hot Club de Belgique (Doldinger was also awarded the Cup Sidney Bechet ). The band then got a record deal. In total, she was involved in ten recording sessions between 1955 and 1963.
After another line-up in 1956, the band was stylistically reoriented towards Chicago jazz . In 1957 The Feetwarmers won first place at the German Amateur Jazz Festival; In addition, the band's musicians were honored as "best soloists" on their instruments. In January 1959, the band was involved in a car accident on the way to the Berlin Jazz Salon . The pianist Horst Mutterer, longtime leader of the band, died, two other musicians suffered serious injuries. Eight days later the band bus got into another accident in which bassist Heino Ribbert was seriously injured and Klaus Doldinger was slightly injured. Just three months later, the Feetwarmers received first place in the ensemble rating at the amateur jazz festival, despite the need to make changes. After winning the Amateur Jazz Festival again in 1960, they were rewarded with a three-week study tour through the USA, where they were made honorary citizens of New Orleans.
After a concert tour in 1961 and professional changes - until then all musicians were amateurs or semi-professional - the band around Jürgen Buchholtz was no longer active. Doldinger continued to use the name Feetwarmers until 1963 when he was asked to play traditional jazz as well (the musicians of his “modern” quartet then changed instruments and styles). In January 1963, recordings were made on Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden , which was the 31st episode of Joachim E. Berendt's television program Jazz - heard and seen on February 22nd of the same year.
In 1994 Doldinger presented The Feetwarmers again as a sextet at the Leverkusener Jazz Days .
Discography
- The Feetwarmers Play the Blues (1955)
- Greetings to Zarah (1957)
- Wild Bill Davison and The Feetwarmers (1958)
- Klaus Doldinger Works & Passion 1955–2000
literature
- Jürgen Buchholtz: The Feetwarmers story in: Peter K. Kirchhof (editor) Jazz City Düsseldorf. The history of jazz in Düsseldorf in the 20th century Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 2003, pp. 70–71
- Heinz Protzer: Traditional jazz and amateur bands in North Rhine-Westphalia (with three band portraits by Reiner Kobe), in: Robert von Zahn (ed.): Jazz in North Rhine-Westphalia since 1946 . Emons-Verlag, Cologne 1999, pp. 134–157
Individual evidence
- ↑ The founding date is sometimes also given as 1952. See GEMA on Klaus Doldinger ( memento from October 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Klaus Doldinger quoted. n. Music remains a matter close to my heart , Die Zeit 19/2001
- ^ Quoted from R. Kobe, Bandportrait, in: R. von Zahn: Jazz in Nordrhein-Westfalen since 1946 . Cologne 1999, p. 148
- ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online January 5, 2014)
- ↑ Jazz - heard and seen (Jazz Institute Darmstadt) ( Memento from January 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )