Hellmut Hattler
Encyclopedia
Hellmut Hattler is a German jazz and bass player. Hattler took much of his influence from Jimi Hendrix
. As a child he learned to play the violin, and in the 1960s played the guitar. Joining Peter Wolbrandt
's band marked the debut of his changeover to the bass. In May 1971 with the Wolbrandt brothers Peter and Jan, and Johannes Pappert he founded the pop group Kraan
whose early style of Krautrock
developed later towards fusion
, combining elements of both rock and jazz.
Hattler has toured and recorded with may international musicians of the genre including Michael Brecker
, Kai Eckhardt
, Billy Cobham
, Joachim Kühn
, Ernie Watts
, Alphonse Mouzon
, and Nippy Noya
.
Towards the end of the 1980s they reformed for several more years with trumpeter Joo Kraus taking over the keyboards from Ingo Bischof. In the summer of 2000 they made a highly successful comeback, first in Ulm
, followed by the Burg Herzberg Festival with Peter Wolbrandt
, Jan Fride Wolbrandt, Hellmut Hattler and Ingo Bischof in the line-up. In 2001 Hattler celebrated his 30 years on the stage and published a new CD Live 2000. The band continues to record and play live concerts.
, Hattler met the trumpeter Joo Kraus from Ulm. Together with the guitarist Torsten de Winkel
who can be heard as a guest on all the Tab-Two albums, they brought out their first duo disc Mind Movie. from their early attempts to combine jazz and Hip-Hop, with their seven highly successful albums they became the pioneers of German Acid Jazz
formations. Flagman Ahead became a long-lasting hit on American radio stations and the duo composed music for Tina Turner
. The group won the ECHO (the German equivalent of a Grammy Award
), for best jazz album in 2001. After many world-wide tours, the duo went their separate ways.
and Oli Rubow the band has been on tour for its CD The Big Flow . In 2001 Hattler founded the 'Bassball Recordings label.
In 2011 Hattler was on tour with 'Siyou 'n' Hell' with Siyou.
Hattler has published two bass books: the Hip Bass school in which he demonstrates his plectrum technique, and the Hattler Songbook, of chords and scores from his various projects.
Hattler's son Max
is an award winning film maker.
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. As a child he learned to play the violin, and in the 1960s played the guitar. Joining Peter Wolbrandt
Peter Wolbrandt
Peter Wolbrandt born 28 October 1949 in Ulm, is a German guitarist most known as a founding member, composer, and player for 40 years in the rock and fusion band Kraan. In the latter part of the 1960s together with his younger brother Jan Fride Wolbrandt and fellow student Hellmut...
's band marked the debut of his changeover to the bass. In May 1971 with the Wolbrandt brothers Peter and Jan, and Johannes Pappert he founded the pop group Kraan
Kraan
Kraan is a German band based in Ulm and formed in 1970. It had several minor hits through the 1970s and 1980s. After a break of ten years, the group reunited in 2000...
whose early style of Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
developed later towards fusion
Fusion Music
Fusion Music is a sub genre of Reggaeton. Calle 13 helped introduce this genre, and are the most famous artists to sing it. It's also known as Alternative Reggaeton. Danny Fornaris is the most famous producer in this sub-genre, known as its Luny Tunes...
, combining elements of both rock and jazz.
Hattler has toured and recorded with may international musicians of the genre including Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Kai Eckhardt
Kai Eckhardt
Kai Eckhardt is a German musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, the band he co-founded Garaj Mahal and Billy Cobham...
, Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
, Joachim Kühn
Joachim Kühn
-Biography:Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition with Arthur Schmidt-Elsey. Influenced by his elder brother, clarinetist Rolf Kühn, he simultaneously got interested in jazz. In 1961 he became a professional jazz musician....
, Ernie Watts
Ernie Watts
Ernest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
, Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts...
, and Nippy Noya
Nippy Noya
Nippy Noya is a Europe-based Indonesian percussionist and songwriter, specialising in congas, Kalimba, bongos, Campana, Güiro, Cabasa, shek, Caxixi, triangle and the Berimbau....
.
Kraan
When asked about the meaning of the band name he explained "It sounds good because it starts hard and aggressive and finishes softly." This duality, seen from a musical perspective would become the trademark of Hattler and his various projects. His music appealed not only to the groove receptive audiences but also to pure music fans. For the first, he delivers highly danceable grooves, while for the others he simply became the German bassist. After six albums and hundreds of concerts with Kraan, with the support of an all-star team of German musicians, he published Bassball, his first solo album. During its formative years the members of the band lived together for economy. Although the first plans to disband began after seven years, in 1978 Kraan published Flyday which was critically acclaimed as one of the best recordings of their career. Three further albums followed and in 1983 the bad was finally dissolved.Towards the end of the 1980s they reformed for several more years with trumpeter Joo Kraus taking over the keyboards from Ingo Bischof. In the summer of 2000 they made a highly successful comeback, first in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, followed by the Burg Herzberg Festival with Peter Wolbrandt
Peter Wolbrandt
Peter Wolbrandt born 28 October 1949 in Ulm, is a German guitarist most known as a founding member, composer, and player for 40 years in the rock and fusion band Kraan. In the latter part of the 1960s together with his younger brother Jan Fride Wolbrandt and fellow student Hellmut...
, Jan Fride Wolbrandt, Hellmut Hattler and Ingo Bischof in the line-up. In 2001 Hattler celebrated his 30 years on the stage and published a new CD Live 2000. The band continues to record and play live concerts.
Tab Two
After a short period as a guest player with the group FehlfarbenFehlfarben
Fehlfarben is a German post-punk band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The band name is from a German printing term referring to erroneous colors in prints: singer Peter Hein was in this line of work at Xerox while in the band...
, Hattler met the trumpeter Joo Kraus from Ulm. Together with the guitarist Torsten de Winkel
Torsten de Winkel
Torsten de Winkel is a German musician and composer primarily active in the jazz and world music genres...
who can be heard as a guest on all the Tab-Two albums, they brought out their first duo disc Mind Movie. from their early attempts to combine jazz and Hip-Hop, with their seven highly successful albums they became the pioneers of German Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
formations. Flagman Ahead became a long-lasting hit on American radio stations and the duo composed music for Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
. The group won the ECHO (the German equivalent of a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
), for best jazz album in 2001. After many world-wide tours, the duo went their separate ways.
Hattler
Inspired by young musicians who specialised in electronic music, Hattler began his 'Hattler' project which set a new impulse with the No Eats Yes album that was awarded the 2001 German ECHO prize. With the album Deep-Dive-Corp. he established himself as an electronic musician and recorded albums from 2000 to 2006 followed by the publication of a 'Best of' compilation. since 2006 in a new formation, Fola Dada, with Torsten de WinkelTorsten de Winkel
Torsten de Winkel is a German musician and composer primarily active in the jazz and world music genres...
and Oli Rubow the band has been on tour for its CD The Big Flow . In 2001 Hattler founded the 'Bassball Recordings label.
In 2011 Hattler was on tour with 'Siyou 'n' Hell' with Siyou.
Hattler has published two bass books: the Hip Bass school in which he demonstrates his plectrum technique, and the Hattler Songbook, of chords and scores from his various projects.
Hattler's son Max
Max Hattler
Max Hattler is a German video artist and experimental filmmaker best known for his kaleidoscopic political short films “Collision” and "Spin" , abstract stop motion work "AANAATT" , and psychedelic animation loops "1923 aka Heaven" and "1925 aka Hell" .- Biography :Max Hattler was born in Ulm,...
is an award winning film maker.
Hattler about himself
In 1971 Hattler said "We don't have any regular jobs in this society. We concentrate entirely on the music. In this situation we try to make music that separates us from the pop clichés. We strive towards a closed musical experience that touches on all areas of our lives. We follow no one else - we make our own music."Books
- Hip Bass 1995, AMA-Verlag, ISBN 9783927190344
- Hattler Songbook 2009, Bosworth Music, ISBN 9783865434340
With Kraan
- Kraan (1972)
- Wintrup (1973)
- Andy Nogger(1974)
- Live (1975)
- Let it out (1976)
- Wiederhören (1977)
- Flyday (1979)
- Tournee (1980)
- Nachtfahrt (1982)
- Kraan "X" (1983)
- Live 88 (1988)
- Dancing In The Shade (1989)
- Soul Of Stone (1991)
- Live 2001 (2001)
- Berliner Ring (2002)
- Through (2003)
- Psychedelic Man (2007)
- Diamonds (2010)
With Tab Two
- Mind MovieMind MovieMind Movie is the first album by acid jazz band Tab Two.-Track listing:# Mind Movie - 6:08# Four Miles To Ulm - 5:27# Row - 4:00# Dinner For Three - 4:22# Phoenix - 6:15# Beauty Farm Suite - 5:25# The Tab Two In Toontown - 4:54...
(1991) - Space Case (1993)
- Hip JazzHip JazzHip Jazz is the third album by acid jazz group Tab Two.-Track listing:# The Commencement Of The Pilgrimage To The Mecca Of Hip Jazz - 1:42# This Beat Goes Boom - 4:49# We Are T.T.T...
(1994) - Flagman AheadFlagman AheadFlagman Ahead is the fifth album the the acid jazz band Tab Two. It contains the hit single "No Flagman Ahead".-Track listing:# MBN Trumpet Intro - 1:06# No Flagman Ahead - 5:19# Wanna Lay - 5:24# Swingbridge - 4:35...
(1995) - Belle AffaireBelle AffaireBelle Affaire is the sixth studio album by the acid jazz group Tab Two-Track listing:# Vorfilm - 1:50# Let It Flow - 4:02# Spot Of Choice - 4:43# Think Tank - 3:54# Sad News - 6:34# Belle Affaire - 5:09# Club Mambo - 3:17# Public Meditation - 7:07...
(1996) - Sonic ToolsSonic ToolsSonic Tools is the seventh studio album by acid jazz band Tab Two. It contains remixes of other Tab Two songs.-Track listing:# Lieblingslied - 4:59# No Flagman Ahead - 5:00# Sad News - 6:31...
(1997) - Between UsBetween Us (Tab Two album)Between Us is the seventh album by acid jazz group Tab Two.-Track listing:# Reconcile - 5:25# No Way No War - 6:19# Get There II - 4:29# Tidy Up - 3:58# Crazy Day - 4:00# Columbus - 5:00# Chateau De La Passée - 3:38# Life Is In Flux - 4:01...
(1998) - Zzippp (2000)
Solo
- Bassball (1978)
- No Eats Yes (2000)
- Remixed Vocal Cuts (2002)
- Mallberry Moon (2003)
- Bass Cuts (2004)
- Surround Cuts -DVD Video- (2005)
- The Big Flow (2006)
- Live Cuts (2007)
- Gotham City Beach Club Suite (2010)
With Torsten de Wikel
- Mastertouch with Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Kai EckhardtKai EckhardtKai Eckhardt is a German musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, the band he co-founded Garaj Mahal and Billy Cobham...
, Billy CobhamBilly CobhamWilliam C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
, Joachim KühnJoachim Kühn-Biography:Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition with Arthur Schmidt-Elsey. Influenced by his elder brother, clarinetist Rolf Kühn, he simultaneously got interested in jazz. In 1961 he became a professional jazz musician....
, Ernie WattsErnie WattsErnest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
, Alphonse MouzonAlphonse MouzonAlphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts...
, and Nippy NoyaNippy NoyaNippy Noya is a Europe-based Indonesian percussionist and songwriter, specialising in congas, Kalimba, bongos, Campana, Güiro, Cabasa, shek, Caxixi, triangle and the Berimbau....
(1985) - Humanimal Talk with Naná VasconcelosNaná VasconcelosNaná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
, Kai EckhardtKai EckhardtKai Eckhardt is a German musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, the band he co-founded Garaj Mahal and Billy Cobham...
, and Joel Rosenblatt (1989)
External links
- Helmut Hattler official web site
- Kraan web site
- web site of Hattler's son Max Hattler (* 1976, media artist and film maker.)