Wolfgang Hirschmann (music producer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wolfgang Hirschmann (born January 8, 1937 in Breslau ) is a German sound engineer and music producer with a focus on the German jazz scene .

Life

After finishing high school in Weimar, Hirschmann came to the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf, where he studied with Friedrich Trautwein ; he then switched to Erich Thienhaus in the sound engineer training at the Northwest German Music Academy Detmold . In 1958 he was hired by Electrola in Cologne as a sound engineer. One of his first productions was a recording with the Feetwarmers around Klaus Doldinger . On July 7, 1959 he recorded the EP Holiday in Europe with Rolf Kühn for Dietrich Schulz-Köhn .

1960s

In the 1960s, Hirschmann often took on the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra for television productions. In addition, there was an increasing number of productions for composers of new music working in Cologne such as Karlheinz Stockhausen , David Tudor and Mauricio Kagel . In 1961, Hirschmann was responsible for the LP cycle / refrain / transición II with works by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel.

On 18./19. May 1961 Hirschmann was the sound engineer for Cologne impresario Gigi Campi for three recordings of the newly formed Francy Boland Ensemble for Alfred Lions Blue Note Records . This group formed the core of the later Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band . Campi and Hirschmann were responsible for all of the big band's productions from the first recording in December 1961 to the last recording in 1973. On 23/24 In September 1962, Hirschmann directed the recording of a concert with classical pianist Friedrich Gulda during the Berliner Festwochen, which surprisingly turned out to be a jazz concert for Hirschmann; because Gulda had made a total of 112 appearances as a classical pianist in 1960 alone. In June 1962, however, the excellent Beethoven interpreter Gulda decided on jazz.

With Hirschmann as sound engineer, further recordings were made in the Elektrola recording studios in Cologne: in 1962 he recorded the new music LP Music for Solo Flute with Severino Gazzelloni & Aloys Kontarsky . Then came the LP Jazz in Europe - The German All-Stars - A Documentation of Jazz in Germany , on 12/13. January 1963 in Baden-Baden by Hirschmann leveled and under the supervision of Joachim Ernst Behrendt. The jazz LP Handle with Care for the Clarke / Boland Big Band was made a few days later on 25/26. January 1963. The Johnny Griffin Quartet also had their LP Night Lady leveled by Hirschmann on February 13, 1964.

However, as a music director and producer at Electrola, Hirschmann was responsible for all musical areas. For example, he has also produced with Gitte Hænning , Lotti Krekel and Marlene Dietrich . The Sahib-Shihab -LP Summer Dawn was produced on May 8, 1964 at Electrola; the Clarke Boland Big Band LP Swing, Waltz, Swing was created on February 28, 1966 at EMI. Marcel Marceau presented the Clarke Boland Sextet on the 1965 LP Swing im Bahnhof , recorded by Hirschmann on September 25, 1965 at Rolandseck Bahnhof .

Francy Boland came to Cologne on February 18, 1967 for his LP Out of the Background , while Hirschmann had to travel to Brussels on May 28, 1967 for the Francy Boland LP Flirt and Dream . The next recordings of this band were also an away date, because the Clarke Boland Sextet recorded its LP Music for the Small Hours on June 16, 1967 in Berlin, while the third Clarke Boland LP Sax no End on June 18, 1967 in Rhenus Studio in Cologne-Godorf was created. The Clarke Boland LP Sketches from the “Faces” Suite was created on December 14, 1967 at EMI, the Mark Murphy LP Midnight Mood on December 18, 1967 also at Electrola. Together with Heinz Gietz , Hirschmann produced the LP Hallo Paulchen - Hallo Greetje with Paul Kuhn and Greetje Kauffeld in 1968 . In 1967 Hirschmann arranged for The Lords together with Claudio Szenkar ; one of the tracks ( John Brown's Body ) was also recorded by Rex Gildo .

For the LP All Smiles , Hirschmann brought in the Clarke-Boland-Band on the 13th and 14th. May 1968 in the Electrola studios, while his next LP Faces on 28/29. June 1968 in the Sonopress studios in Cologne. The Sahib Shihab quintet (with Clarke / Boland) stood in front of their microphones on June 9, 1968 for LP Seeds . In 1968 Hirschmann came up with the idea of ​​bringing Gitte Hænning together with Boland in order to fulfill her desire for jazz recordings (and thus keep her at Electrola): The big band recordings for the LP My Kind of World were made on August 13, 1968 in the Electrola studio with Hirschmann; the vocal part was recorded in Copenhagen. The next Clarke-Boland LP All Blues was also leveled by Hirschmann on May 27, 1969, and Smiles met one day later on May 28, 1969.

1970s

Horst Muys - A visit to the zoo

At the end of 1966, Heinz Gietz founded the record label Cornet Records , which was followed in 1969 by the Cornet recording studios in Cologne-Junkersdorf ( Aachener Straße 1112a) with the assistance of Wolfgang Hirschmann . The studios have made a name for themselves for recordings of all kinds, for example for Graham Bonney or Bill Ramsey with the Jay-Five . Numerous jazz and big band recordings were also made there because the two owners "halved their tariffs for jazz musicians". This is where not only the recordings for artists from the Cornet label, which existed until 1977, but also commissioned productions from outside the label in which Hirschmann was involved, for example with The Lords , Berry Lipman , Marek & Vacek and Adamo . In 2001 the studio ceased operations.

As a producer in the Cornet studio, Hirschmann recognized the potential of Hans Knipp's idea for the Cologne carnival hit Ne visit em zoo , which in December 1969 for Horst Muys was the first sales success of the Cornet label with over 100,000 copies within a period of three Months ago (Cornet # 3144). One of the first jazz recordings made in the new studio (still using studio equipment borrowed from Electrola ) was Tough Tenors: Again 'n' Again with Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Johnny Griffin, Francy Boland, Jimmy Woode and Kenny Clarke on April 24, 1970. The Cornet studios were booked on September 30, 1970 for the LP Off Limits of the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band with Tonmeister Hirschmann. Singing End - one of the predecessor groups of the Kölsch band Bläck Fööss (with Günther Lückerath lead guitar / vocals, Herbert Ihle rhythm guitar / vocals, Rainer Pietsch piano / organ and others, Rolf Lammers keyboard, Dieter Geis drums) - booked for their LP lists to the Music! in December 1970 the Cornet and Rhenus studios (Cologne-Godorf). Freddy Breck was referred to Cornet Records by Lotti Krekel , where he recorded his first single Carola / My Sweet Candy under producer Heinz Gietz in 1970 with Hirschmann as sound engineer. When he wasn't making any headway with the sessions, Hirschmann encouraged him: "Now do it, you artist."

Together with Gietz, Hirschmann produced for ZDF Musik ist Trumpf . The studio was supported commercially through recordings for Peter Alexander , Rudolf Schock , Caterina Valente and Heinz Rühmann . The productions of Bläck Fööss and Walter Scheel's interpretation of Hoch auf dem yellow Wagen were also created in this studio.

Stan Getz recorded 6 tracks with the Clarke / Boland big band on June 14, 1971 for the LP Change of Scenes in Cologne with Hirschmann as sound engineer. After 12 years, the Clarke-Boland Big Band broke up in May 1972, leaving a huge void in jazz and the studios. For this, Peter Herbolzheimer had Hirschmann produce 7 tracks for the LP Big Band Man in January 1973, Günter Noris appeared with the Bundeswehr Big Band for the LP Hit Festival in November / December 1974 in the Cornet Studios. Hirschmann also monitored recent developments in jazz such as fusion and jazz-rock when Rolf Kühn recorded the LP Total Space in the Cornet studio in January 1975 ; also the Nucleus LP In Flagrante Delicto , recorded live by Vera Brandes and Kurt Renker on February 6, 1977 in Düren, mixed on February 28, 1977 at Cornet.

1980s and 1990s

Udo Lindenberg & his Panik Orchester sought the services of the Cornet Studios for the LP Odysee in October / November 1982, the Francis Coppieters Selection recorded their LP Colors in Jazz in March 1986 also in the Cornet Studios with Hirschmann.

In 1986 Hirschmann was appointed producer and editor of the WDR Big Band Cologne . As such he has immortalized many productions of the WDR ensemble on CD, whereby it was one of his principles not to post-process the recordings for too long. Usually he published live recordings or first takes of studio productions. At his suggestion, a “jazz subscription” was set up for the concerts of the WDR Big Band in the Cologne Philharmonic with prominent guest soloists. This is where the LP Electricity was created around March 1991 with the WDR Big Band and Bob Brookmeyer . The WDR Big Band itself released a trilogy with the LPs The World of Duke Ellington , live in the Cologne Philharmonic on May 16, 1994 (part 1), June 5, 1994 (part 2) and June 18, 1994 (part 3) recorded; 3 tracks created in WDR Studio 4. The WDR Big Band appeared on the LP Jazzpaña of Vince Mendoza with of October 1992, it is a combination of flamenco and jazz, the flamenco jazz . Vince Mendoza used Hirschmann's services with the WDR Big Band for the LP Scetches (recorded in November / December 1993 at WDR). Eddie Harris gave his last concert on March 14, 1996 in Cologne, produced by Hirschmann with the WDR Big Band.

From 1996 to January 2002 Hirschmann was her orchestra manager, whose repertoire he constantly expanded. In January 2002, Hirschmann retired from WDR and was replaced by Lucas Schmid .

For drummer Kenny Clarke there were only three important producers, namely Hirschmann, Rudy Van Gelder and the German Gerhard Lehner (Barclay Studios) who works in Paris. What all three had in common was that they usually recorded his drums with just one microphone.

Awards

At the 28th Tonmeistertagung 2014 in Cologne, he was awarded the VDT Medal of Honor by the Association of German Tonmeister .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Concert culture and cellar art . Cologne 1997, p. 114
  2. ^ Maxi Sickert: Clarinet Bird: Rolf Kühn - Jazz talk . 2009, p. 239, as well as by Zahn: Jazz in Köln , p. 114
  3. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997; P. 115
  4. ↑ Gulda . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1962, pp. 126 ( online ).
  5. ↑ here the band consisted of 19 members
  6. ↑ The Lords (The Original Singles Collection)
  7. ↑ Booklet Gitte Meets the KCFBBB
  8. ↑ Tom Wohlert: Musicians, doers, machos, mafiosi: From amateur musicians to the Cologne studio scene . 2010, p. 71
  9. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997, p. 162
  10. ↑ Founded in 1966 by Heinz Gietz, Günter Ilgner and Rolf Engleder, all former Electrola employees
  11. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997, p. 163
  12. ^ Career website Freddy Breck
  13. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997, p. 164
  14. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997, p. 192
  15. ^ Robert von Zahn: Jazz in Cologne. Cologne 1997, p. 194
  16. ↑ WDR Big Band Manager Wolfgang Hirschmann is retiring . WDR press kit, February 1, 2002
  17. ↑ VDT website section Medal of Honor VDT Medal of Honor for Wolfgang Hirschmann
personal data
SURNAME Hirschmann, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German music producer and sound engineer
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw