Walter Richard Langer

Grave of Walter Richard Langer

Walter Richard Langer (born August 24, 1936 in Vienna ; † May 21, 1995 Vienna) was a moderator and designer of radio and television programs on Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and was considered one of the most prominent jazz experts in Austria .

Jazz shows and other activities

Langer's radio program “ Vokal - Instrumental - International ”, or “VII” for short, was broadcast on radio station Ö3 for almost 20 years (between 1967 and 1987) and Langer ended mostly with the phrase “Keep Swinging”, his trademark.

In addition to other jazz programs on the radio, Langer also designed and hosted the television program "Bourbon Street", which was broadcast from 1975 to 1979 and which featured live performances by well-known jazz musicians such as Donna Hightower , Barney Kessel and Albert Mangelsdorff .

His main job was for the ORF as a spokesman for the information programs “ Zeit im Bild ”, “Ten to ten” and “Aktuell”, an activity that he carried out from 1965 until his death in 1995. Until 1982 he also presented the news on ORF radio and occasionally took part in radio play productions.

He also conveyed jazz to a broader public through the club edition he published VIP-Jazz at the Donauland book club 1978 - 1981. The 40 records offer an excellent cross-section of the world and history of jazz.

biography

Langer originally worked in the second half of the 1950s after graduating from the Bundesgewerbeschule in Linz as a civil engineering engineer in the office of the Upper Austrian provincial government, bridge construction department (among other things, he was involved in the construction of some sections of the western motorway ).

On the side, however, he played guitar (as an autodidact) and sang in a dance band, the Blue Danube Quintet; the ensemble also made radio recordings (as an accompanying group by Hannelore Auer , Greta Keller and Bruce Low ). Langer also took acting classes during this time.

After his final exam at the Mozarteum in Salzburg , Langer finished his engineering career, played theater (including at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt and the Vienna Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt), had an extra appearance in the TV film "Der Himbeerpflücker" (with Kurt Sowinetz and Helmut Qualtinger ) and completed how Many actors also have various speaking jobs (radio moderation, advertising, welfare for the blind). In 1965, initially as a vacation replacement, he became a newscaster for the current television service of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

When in 1967, after the ORF reform, the new pop channel Ö3 went on air, Langer received the offer to present the program " Vokal - Instrumental - International ", which at that time was held every day except Sunday with changing moderators from 10.05am to 11.00am Clock was broadcast. His condition of choosing the music for the programs he presented himself was gladly accepted. Now Langer, who was previously only known as a ZIB spokesman, was able to present his profound knowledge of jazz to a wider public.

He made his broadcast debut on Wednesday, October 4, 1967; mostly he moderated the series on Tuesday and Thursday. In addition to “VII”, Langer also designed and presented the Ö3 programs “Frisch aus der Presse”, “Recently arrived”, “Jazz live” and “Big Band Sound in Stereo”. Soon he was hired as an announcer at jazz concerts, and in 1970 and 1971 he was also a juror at the Montreux Jazz Festival .

Langer's enthusiasm for jazz music was aroused by the soldier broadcaster Blue Danube Network (BDN), which was active during the American occupation in Upper Austria in the early post-war period . (Although Langer's parents originally came from Vienna, they fled to Upper Austria during the Second World War, where Langer also spent most of his school days.)

From 1972 Langer presented "VII" alone, but three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday [these two were repeated on the following day between 1972 and 1974] and Saturday). From 1981 onwards, only the Saturday morning meeting was observed. The other programs initially switched to evening programs and were later replaced by the program “Ö3-Jazzhaus” (also partly presented by Langer). 1987 also came the end for the Saturday "VII", as an equivalent replacement Langer was given a slot on Sunday afternoon, the program was now called "Keep Swinging"; but this was withdrawn from him after a dispute with the then Ö3 boss Dieter Dorner . Subsequently, Langer mainly designed jazz programs for the ORF radio station Austria 1 (“Jazz unlimited”, “Jazzforum”, “Ö1-Jazznacht”, “Piano Forte”). During this time he was heard on Ö3 (alternating with other moderators) in the programs “Ö3-Nachtexpress”, “Ö3-Jazzhaus” and later “Round Midnight”.

Langer was also primarily responsible for the television programs “Apropos Music: Jazz Scene Austria” (1980), “Faces in Jazz” (8 episodes, 1978) and “ Bourbon Street ” (35 episodes, 1975-79). Between 1983 and 1984 he also worked for the “Current Culture” editorial team at ORF television and during this time interviewed musicians such as Benny Goodman , Bobby McFerrin and Mikis Theodorakis . As a columnist for the hi-fi magazine “VOX”, Langer wrote the “Jazz Corner” regularly between 1978 and 1984, and he also translated the biographies of the jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie (“To Be Or Not To Bop”), Charlie Parker (“Bird Lives”) ), Miles Davis (“Round About Midnight”), John Coltrane (“Chasin 'The Trane”) and Glenn Miller (“Glenn Miller - His Life, His Music”) as well as a book about jazz during the Nazi era (“La tristesse de Saint Louis ”) from English.

On May 21, 1995, Walter Richard Langer died of a heart attack. He was buried in the Atzgersdorfer Friedhof (1-51).

Web links

• Walter Richard Langer - Homepage
• Entry on Walter Richard Langer in the Austria-Forum  (biography)
• Archive recordings with Walter Richard Langer in the online archive of the Austrian Media Library