George Gruntz
Paul George Gruntz (* June 24, 1932 in Basel, † January 10, 2013 in Allschwil ) was a Swiss jazz pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader.
Life and work
George Gruntz was after studying at the conservatory in Zurich from 1956 worked for Radio Basel as a pianist and arranger. In 1958, he became internationally known as a member of the Newport International band at the Newport Jazz Festival, where he also played with Louis Armstrong.
During the 1960s graduated Gruntz (among others in the band of Kurt Weil) countless European tours as a pianist and accompanied stars such as Dexter Gordon, Roland Kirk, Donald Byrd, Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, Johnny Griffin, Gerry Mulligan and Art Farmer. In 1962, he was with singer Helen Merrill in Japan. In 1965 he joined Flavio Ambrosetti and headed own trio. Subsequently, he initiated two early ethno-jazz productions, once with Basler drum music, on the other hand the highly successful Noon in Tunisia (1967 ) with Tunisian Bedouin music, but also presented " Jazz Goes Baroque" syntheses, inter alia, on the harpsichord. 1968 and 1969 he toured with Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine.
Since 1971 he has led his own big band, The George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, in which stars like Alan Skidmore, Sheila Jordan, Dave Bargeron or Ray Anderson played his arrangements and which has since toured all continents except Australia. As the only European big band, it was ranked in the world's " Critics Poll ," Technical Report of the American Jazz Downbeat more than ten times continuously in the first ranks.
In 1974, the Gruntz Piano Conclave, the six of Europe's leading pianists such as Wolfgang Dauner, Jasper van't Hof, Joachim Kühn, Adam Makowicz, Fritz Pauer, Martial Solal, Gordon Beck or Gruntz united at their performances. In 1977 he played with the drummers Pierre Favre, Jack De Johnette, Fredy Studer, Dom Um Romão and David Friedman as a percussion Profiles at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Gruntz also frequently worked over with the trumpet player Franco Ambrosetti, 1984 to Uschi Brüning and 1985 with the musicians, which he founded with the Swiss Jazz pool. From 1989 Gruntz also played in a trio format with Mike Richmond and Adam Nussbaum which he the live album Serious Fun recorded for Enja.
Already in the 1960s, he collaborated with well-known composers such as Rolf Liebermann, Earle Brown and Hans Werner Henze. Gruntz composed several works for the stage and oratorios. The Paris Opera commissioned Gruntz in 1973 with the composition of a World Jazz Opera, which was premiered in 1982 at the LaMama Theatre in New York City in parts. The work was written in collaboration with the African-American poet Amiri Baraka ( LeRoi Jones). With poet Allen Ginsberg, he composed Cosmopolitan Greetings, the director Robert Wilson in 1988 staged in Hamburg. Another Jazz Opera 2003 The Magic of Flute ( Peter O. Chotjewitz libretto ) was born.
Gruntz also wrote numerous film scores, including for Hannes Schmid Hauser ( Mental cruelty, 1960, which he recorded with Barney Wilen, Marcel Peerers, Raymond Court, KT Geier, Kenny Clarke), as well as for Franz Peter Wirth ( A man in most age, 1963), Johannes Schaaf ( Tattoo, 1967), Peter Lilienthal ( Malatesta, 1970, the solar attack 1971), Bernhard Wicki ( Karpfs career, the wrong weight, 1971, the Conquest of the Citadel 1977) and Fred Haines ( the Steppenwolf, 1974).
George Gruntz worked frequently as a guest conductor of symphony orchestras and big bands radio throughout Europe. From 1970 to 1984 he was music director of the Zurich Schauspielhaus, 1972-1994 artistic director of the Berlin Jazz Days.
George Gruntz in 1995 awarded the Order of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Writings
- George Gruntz: Born as a white Negro. A Life for the Jazz. Corvus, Berneck 2002, ISBN 3-9522460-1-8. autobiography