Biography

I grew up in Basel passing my teens as a notorious troublemaker…

My father was a hunter, the influential Sha – a psycho-chromatic enthomologist – from the tribe of the „Shametterlings“ (he hunted Shmetterlings which the tribe smokes as a ritual against hollow spirits)…
Quickly retrieving into my own reality, I found the genuine brother- and sisterhood of musicians to be my real family and root.

When I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, my mother (the best I ever had) took me to a concert of Errol Garner which was to be a seminal experience. Sometime in primary school, I was lucky to have had a teacher that sensed and fuelled my musical passion by getting me into an acapella choir of which I became one of three soloists. I was very glad to have had that „extra-exposure“, because it kept me from being more odd than just a handful to everybody…

My brother Philippe put me on to jazz, of which I remember a track called „Comin’ Home“ by Herbie Mann (written by Ben Tucker). So I enrolled the conservatory for (classical) flute.
At the same time, I kept on listening to all kinds of   s o u n d    as remote as firebrigade-songs, student-obsceneties, musak and/or many other „styles“. I adored the mexican arranger Esquivel – the founding father of the bachelor pop music revival of which J.J. Perry was another, more popular exponent with stuff like „Popcorn“. I remember adoring this weird french sound creator – André Pop – who totally disappeared a good 25 years before he was rediscovered recently.
In the early 60-ies, I received for christmas my first LP, the Beatles’ „Please Please Me“ and sometime in my early teens I borrowed a Farfisa organ to play with friends and set up a band. I remember an ‘Ultravox’, some kind of dictaphone with recording folios (instead of tape) with which I recorded bubbling mushed-potatoes, screetching doors and more to let that play while we ‘rehearsed’.

Always in quest of new music and sounds, I was into boogie-woogie a while and checking out the local record store, I discovered a strange record sleve

checked the tracks and read one „Opern-Boogie“ by Georg Kreisler, who was to leave an indelebil mark on my future path. The guy was so incredibly good a wordsmith, that I was never to write any words myself, but rather focussed on instrumental music, although I cherish a vivid interest in the songform and in poetry. Hence Bob Dylan’s 1964 release („Bringing it all back home“) was another big bang onto my concience: I discovered Folkmusic and it’s „derivative“, the topical songs, worksongs, consciousness songs etc. This interest in the ’small tradition‘ was to lead to another seminal encounter (see 1989). 35 years later, I picked up the topic of the macaberetist… (see 2008/9)…

When I was 15, I discovered the blues with a Blue Horizon record of one Eddie Boyd (25. November 1914 – 13. Juli 1994),

blues singer and pianist from Mississippi. Boyd came to England in the early days of the British blues explosion and been backed by Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall and many other bands from that ‚British bluesinvasion‘. Eventually Eddie played in Basel where I grew up and I was spellbound to this man who became my first musical mentor. Eddie showed me riffs, licks & tricks and much more! Eddie would take me with him on tour to acompany him as far as East-Berlin.

I was also listening to bands like „Them“, „The Kinks“ and others. I vividly remember genuine revelations with the discovery of „Pet Sounds“ (Brian Wilson), although I never liked the Beach Boys‘ superficial commercial ditties too tough.
Anyway, I worked a whole summer long to buy my first stereo system, a real thing with separate amp and big speakers in order to fully soak in all those sounds I was attracted to. In order to „lock“ myself 100 % into records, I discovered the subtleties of the headphones so much, that I modified one of those first portable battery-fed mono (Philips)-cassetteplayers.

I’d sew the player into my jacket and as early as 1968, the ski-slopes saw probably the first walkman coming down with a bewildered music-freak. In spring ‘68,  the „Monsterconcert“ – a festival in Zürich – was to be a seminal experience: John Mayall’s Bluesbrakers, Jimi Hendrix, the excentric shows of Eric Burdon and „The Move“ smashing monitors, blowing fume-bombs and what not,  „Traffic“ and others all playing at one evening left an indelebil mark on my musical wishing list. I’d listen interminably to all kinds of music and ‘eat’ books (Hesse, Camus, Po, Dostojewski, Bierce, Jung…). Besides listening to as many records I could, I continued playing flute with our little band of friends. I also started to record  gigs with a friends‘ stereo tape recorder (a Uher 4400)…

In 1969, I went to London and then the Orkney islands and then back again through Scotland. When in London, I’d visit some clubs, checked out the carnaby street and portobello road business (that was about to fade already), smoked plenty shoeshine-creme and awakened my apetite to return to this fascinating city a year later with a chum (the one that owned the Uher 4400). We’d check out the Ronnie Scott’s and the Marquee. I remember some fantastic music, a concert with Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, Graham Bond, Keith Tippett’s Centipede, Nucleus, Gary Burton and many others.

1971, eventually, I went to the french part of Switzerland – to Neuchâtel – to finish school. In Neuchâtel, I enrolled the conservatory masterclass with André Pépin (of Ernest Ansermet’s orchestre de la Suisse Romande). However, I wanted a bread-providing paper, too, so I graded 1973 with both a diploma of the school of commerce and the conservatory of Neuchâtel.

I got my first job at „Musik Hug“ in Neuchâtel in the record’s department. Pop music starting to lose its fascination and having discovered jazz and the avantgarde of Miles Davis and his off-springs, I started playing guitar and sax and bought a Fender Rhodes.

In 1974, leading the record’s department at „Musik Hug“ by now, I was sent to New York to purchase a container of cut-out albums. I took advantage to take 3 months off and done a motorbike-trip with my oboe-playing buddies. We drove from New York via Toronto all the way to Vancouver and then south down the westcoast to ‘kill my american dream’, visiting all those hippie-sites I used to think I was fond of. To pay the trip back (I couldn’t sell my BMW-bike like I planned), I busked in Vancouver’s gastown playing guitar and harmonica, singing Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Boris Vian and other topical songs.

In 1975 – the petrolcrisis striking – I was made redundant at „Hug Musik“ and in a whim of anger, I figured I could well open my own record-store.

In 1976, I joined forces with the late jazzdrummer Denis Progin to open the jazzclub „Jazzland“. Instead of setting up flippers and condom-machines in a spareroom, I put up a little record store. In the evenings, I’d ingeneer and record the concerts. Since we weren’t allowed to sell alcohol (making the only real money) if no band was playing, we’d set up the club-stage as rehearsing platform for my various bands („Arthur“, „Clever Bastards“ and others). The lose constellations of the ‘bands’ enabled the club to always have live music (and sell boose).
However, another aspiration was to organise concerts, hence I launched Neuchâtel’s first rock-gig with „Van der Graf Generater“ in the newly restaured „Temple du Bas“ down town . And for the winefestival, I did promote and organize „Gentle Giant“. The concert was a smashing success. More gigs followed like  until I flopped with „The Stars of Faith“. However, at that gig I became aquanted with organist Jerome Van Jones and yet more jazz.

By 1978, I grew tired to just spread news, i.e. be the record-guru that sells good taste; I prefered to get news, learn more…
So I decided to get rid of my debts before I was 30 and enrolled the bow-tie-eight-to-five at „Metaux Precieux“. Speaking fluently english, german & french, I was sent around the world by the company (e.g. Hong Kong, New Delhi and others).

In 1980, Métaux Précieux wanted to ‘buy me out’ by offering me a steep carreer; hence I quit (became confident enough to make it on my own). I ran into an oportunity to work as independant sales-rep for advertising space (selling blue sky…). This and being independant musically made me travel an incredible lot and given me more oportunity to discover places like SaudiArabia, Columbia, Ecuador, Spain, Yougoslawia, Tunesia and many other corners of the world. From these trips I always brought back instruments, records, scents and sounds (tones & shades!). Because of „globetrotting while earning“ I had  the priviledge of ‘not having to’, not to make any concessions, that is, to accept only work I liked to do and and „capture the ultimate SOUND“…

1981 I was offered to do some music for a local film. I rented a mixing desk and an 8-track half-inch recorder, yet another seminal experience. I was close to most of the members of the anvantgarde-band „Débile Menthol“, the Swiss exponent of the ‘Rock in Oposition’ movement. The band was to record the first album for Chris Cutler’s indie label RecRec. Often working with drummer Gilles „Dizzi“ Rieder, we recorded many ambiances requested for little commissioned jobs (movies, jingles). We designed many instruments ourselves or took to sounding objects to obtain genuine sounds, making tracks with kitchen utensils, canalisation tubes, drills and more. The age of sampling was not yet born, so we worked with splicing tapes and loop them.

1982, I joined a band from Geneva („Code“) as keyboarder and got me one of those ‘wonder-synths’ (Sequential Circuits‘ „Prophet 10“). The band was built around a genuine actor/poet/singer as frontman (Dominique Stehlé) and a gifted guitar-virtuoso/tunesmith (Yves Roth). After 3 weeks of rehearsals, we received some offers and toured 80 gigs in less than 3 months. Sadly enough, Dominique decided not to continue the band and it was out of question to replace the man. A pity, there’s only very little footage of this rocking unit
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MqrveTUhDzE
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1983 was a year of lots of work as sales-rep in order to stock up the financial belt. I was considering my own studio… On august 1st, Dominique committed suicide. Enough reason to force the barn-studio-issue… Dominique’s departure saddened me to an extent never to play live again (I picked it up only a decade later by playing  Hammond with/for Rico).

1984, after returning from Colombia, I accompanied  „Débile Menthol“ behind the iron curtain for several weeks in the context of a ‘culture exchange’. What a great misunderstanding!: some cultural offices of Hungary and Switzerland wanted to ‘swap’ bands. Hungary settled for their most popular hard-rock-copy-cat band („Pandora’s Box“) to visit Switzerland and Switzerland put its choice in the hands of RecRec who sent the most weirdest avantgarde band „Débile“ to Hungary. It was agreed that the Swiss band would first support Pandora’s Box on a Hungarian tour and then Pandora’s Box would do the same in Switzerland. What a great time! It felt like a scene in the Blues Brother movie: hard to ‘bypass’ all those beercans and -bottles… The crowd (infatuous followers of Pandora’s Box and hard-rock-fans) thought we were putting them on… We had a great time!

1985, I continued to experiment laying down tracks, ‘building’ instruments, play sessions, program synths and/or produce friends while preparing the start of a more sophisticated studio.

1986, the studio was ready (a 16 track one inch tape machine, mixing board and some humble peripherie – all genuinly analog…). I released my first LP with a choice of work from the past 5 years and founded the „Mensch Records“ label at the same time.

1987 I released the second LP „Manoeuvres d’Automne“. Often working as live-engineer, I done the stage monitoring for a little local reggae-band. I invited them to come and record with me and release a maxi single. I had no prior encounter with reggae and I didn’t know the who’s who at all in that domain (the only reggae experience I ever witnessed was back in ‘81: LKJ performing a capella with three dancers), so I decided to check things out and took the next possible flight to Jamdown (Jamaica). The second day after my arrival in Ocho Rios I met the late producer W. „Jack Ruby“ Lindo who introduced me to the real thing. One day, we went for a rehearsal of three guys somewhere behind Port Maria up in the hills. Another time Ruby took me to Kingston’s Dynamics Studio to witness the recording of a session with Sly & Robbie. In short: I dived deeply into the pulsating reggae-heart in Jamaica and met a lot of incredible musicians, buying loads of records and learning the intricate who’s who in reggae (if ever that’s possible…).

One evening in Oracabessa outside Ocho Rios, I witnessed that extraordinary phenomenom of thousands and thousands of fireflies blinking about. I was mesmerized. In particular when I started to inquire, i.e. what these scarabaes meant to people.
I got the ignition to launch a concept for an extraordinary journey into differences within cultures. My fascination for the bugs came like ‚heritage‘ since my father was an enthomologist and I already knew quite a bit about butterflies and bugs.

Eventually I met this great man from Wareika: Rico. Bucking up with him and finding a mutual liking, Rico was to become yet another seminal encounter as much as Eddie Boyd was 20 years earlier. I told Rico that he’d be welcome in Switzerland… and after 2 months, we went back to Switzerland, finishing a.m. reggae band’s recording (now fronted by Rico), and recorded a couple of naïve little riddims and scetches about the experiences and fascination of Jamaica and its firefly, the Peeni Waali.

1988, early in the year, I flew back to Jamaica again. I recorded more music and overdubbed the riddims I had prepared. Amongst the friends Rico recommended to me where percussion player Leon „Scully“ Simms and Robbie Shakespeare. While shaping a tune at Music Works down Slipe Road 56, Dean „Big D“ Frazer was just finishing a session there and hung around a bit after. He joined the party and blew us all away with his trademark sax playing: a song was born from out of everybody, free like an impro, original like nothing was premeditated, hence the title „A no nottn’“… The dice was cast, I took the bait and was hooked ever since to this wonderful world of people, country, idiom, paradigm, rythm-carrier that is reggae. I was amazed of the parallels with blues and often wondered how come I was never turned on way earlier to reggae as much as I was to blues. But this time I enjoyed the experience even more because I was more mature and active enough to meet so many musicians that invented it. Blues had a kind of ‘legacy feel’, something ‘old’ whereas reggae appeared fresh. Amongst the players I met was Leroy „Horsemouth“ Wallace who’d become a dear friend in the future and prevented me from a lot of trouble by making me dig even deeper into Jamaica. Rico also introduced me to an old friend of his, Felix „Deadly Headly“ Bennet. After 2 months I returned from Jamaica to CH with plenty new music on tape and moved location from Neuchâtel to settle in the eastern part of Switzerland, in Jenins. At the same time, I enrolled for two years at the office of the advertising company I was working for as a freelance. Travelling became tiring…
Rico still being in Switzerland, he came over frequently to record for me and one evening (at his birthday), he’d come in with long time buddy from back the Jazzland-days, Jerome Van Jones. It was a very old dream of mine to record Duke Ellington’s „Satin Doll“ with Jerome. Now with my ‘new’ discovery of reggae plus my apetite of experiment and new ventures, it seemed apropriate to do „Satin Doll“ in reggae. We took advantage to do „Blue Moon“ the same night, too.

1989. Knowing that Rico had played on most of Linton K. Johnson’s albums – I’ve sent Linton a cassette with some tracks we were working on, asking if he would come to Jenins and join in. Linton answered that doors might be arranged to open… At the same time, Swiss TV approached me for a „Legalize It“-show where they wanted to include some Swiss-Jamaican-music-connection. Question was of Rico with that little amateur-reggae-band but Rico was tired to lace the shoes of the amateur band and back to Jamaica, so we arranged for LKJ and the Dub Band to fit in this open door… Eventually, after a soulful meeting with Linton and the charismatic Dennis Bovell, „Beacon of Hope“ clicked into place…
In august I met Lee „Scratch“ Perry who lived in Switzerland and was eager to find a ‘weirdo’ open enough for all kinds of experiments. Obviously he found his way to Jenins. He stayed for some 3 weeks. We experimented a lot, had a lot of fun. Scratch recorded some 10 tunes but none was fit for release really. One day Scratch offered to voice one of my riddims. I was surprised and mused, it would have to have a connection with Peeni Waali, with light. We ploughed through some older tapes and found a riddim (from „Manoeuvres d’Automne“) that he liked and that could be re-shaped. Jenins being close to Liechtenstein, Scratch rapped about „Liecht (light) & Stein“…
The album „Peeni Waali“ took shape now. Some tunes date back as far as 1981 from when I was in Jeddah („Scarab“) and making that filmmusic „Paper Mensch“ – a cynical ‘elegy’ to office jobs. Eventually, enough tunes were together to release an album in

1991 and continued to worship the ‘old contacts’, building up the ‘second serve’.

1992 I went back to Jamaica yet again over new year’s. Although the stay was musically fruitful, I experienced the darker side of Jamaica, got robbed 2 grand! To have been deprived of all existential means was an incredible experience! People encouraged me to stay and accomplish my mission: finishing the recordings I had planned. I became kinda „one of them“, having no money, and I was flabbergast to realize that it was only then that I discovered the „real“ Jamaica, the country of poor people helping out as much as they can. What a warmth from all them people. I fed on pineaple and sometime Jack Ruby’s Brother who continued to run the „people’s restaurant“ in Ocho Rios, that is, he ran a successful fish-barbeque, would offer me a fish from time to time. Eventually I made my way back sound and safe with a lot of good music in the can.

1993 I moved again from Basel to Weite where I live today. Selling in proper terms became more and more irrelevant, while the genuine making/creating/inventing/producing new music for the sake of „looking inside“ grew to a predominant occupation up until today.

1994 was marked by plenty sessions. Getting to know LKJ better through the years, naturally I met the players from the band, e.g. Steve Gregory and the fantastic (well underrated) guitarist John Kpiaye, one of my favourite guitarists.
Shortly after the reeds sessions with Steve, brass-woman-extraordinaire Shirley A. Hofmann clicked into the picture and many a tune ‘bellied up’ (hornswise) the ever present trombone of Rico.
On an ill-fated project that can be part of one’s itinerary, I had to cast a set of skilled accompanying musicians which I found in the trio L’Art de Passage from Berlin who backed Swiss troubadour Linard Bardill. The meeting and working with Rainer Rohloff (guitar), Stefan Kling (piano) and Tobias Morgenstern (acordion) was a revelation for all! The relations with these brilliant „mercenaries“ made us quickly forget the initial bread and butter job, and we genuinly „grew together“ enjoying the making of Music, i.e. the musicians were only too happy to make music for kicks while they were here and thus added their talents to the ongoing Peeni Waali project.
In this run, violinist Helmut Lipsky from Montreal, Canada clicked into place, too. Highly skilled, classically trained (a pupil of Izaak Perlman), Lipsky liked the vibe here and was happy to do violin stunts extraordinare…(„Elemental“)!
Getting to use accordion extensively, I finally ‚casted‘ a local hackbrett player to enlarge the spectrum of productions further in an „exchange of energy“ (you play on mine, I’ll play on yours). Eventually, from those first steps a long lasting musical relation developed (first producing Roland Schiltknecht’s solo effort „Tunsch“ and then combine our efforts on „Sha“).

1995 saw the venue of Taj Mahal. I was in the making of a blues rendering, a tribute to my musical mentor Eddie Boyd. However, Eddie passed away before I finished the tune. While I was recording the bass with Dennis Bovell, I told him the original plan and mentioned on the side, that I’d have to abandon the idea, because the only voice that I could imagine ‘substituting’ Eddie – if ever – would be someone like Taj Mahal. Now Dennis knew Taj, count two and two: next time, Taj toured in Switzerland he came over and „Blues for Eddie Boyd“ was in the can…
The same year I got married to Astrid and our son Linton-Linus-Maurice was born on july 25th.

1996 I released the CD „Kulu Hatha Mamnua“, a re-release of my first two LP’s (1986 and 1987).
Steve Gregory recommended his old friend Georgie Fame to do some hammond licks in some of my tunes. I knew Georgie works with Van Morrison as much as Steve did. And Georgie was the first British bloke to play with Rico as far back as 1962…
Listening back to the organ takes of Georgie Fame, I thought, the stake could be put even higher, so I called Barbara Dennerlein. We’d set the logistics and a few days later, Barbara came over and sure sank in that organ solo!
When I mixed the Sudanese/Egyptian band ‘Sharkiat’, I’ve got to know this fantastic qanun player Hossam Shaker. He took to it immediately, improvised to it for fun and of course, I miked him up and he joined the party with yet another touch.
While recording an album for Bolot & Nohon from Altai, a similar situation ocured. I suggested they’d bring in their throat vocals on the one harmony riddim („Sleep Dub“) to accentuate even more the ‚monotony‘ but enhance a trance. „Strekosa’s (Peeni Waali in Altai language) Chant“ was also a welcome change to all the complicated scoring and intricate musical structures of many of the other tunes.
I did an awful lot of work that year. Much of it for others. 6 CD’s were to be released from that work. Consequence didn’t wait too long: I fell severely ill with a spooky vertigo that struck me down into a state of vegetable for a good 2 months (couldn’t walk anymore, hospital and all). Tobias came all the way from Berlin just to kick my ass and tell me: get up, man, and walk – while Linton phoned once a week to the house and cheered up my wife and the kid – bless, mate, still – 25 years after!
Time to slow down, then. I decided to focus much more on the creative, productive side than to hustle for a little sale, leaving more freedom to get to the essence of music making: what’s there to be achieved (rather then what’s there to gain…). Since

1997 I’m a house-man, leaving me still some freedom to work in the studio. I recorded the first solo-album of acordion-acrobat Tobias Morgenstern. Lee Perry came again, too, and wanted me to produce some tracks for him in exchange of voicing another track for me („Nice Time in Swiss“).
I released the ‘second serve’ of Peeni Waali („The Return of…“) on september 4th. In autumn I was honoured by hosting and recording LKJ and the Dennis Bovell Dub Band, recording the album „More Time“.

1998 saw the 10th Mensch Records release „Morgenstern“ and plenty of work for yet another Peeni Waali round.

1999 I went shortly to London to do a session there with Eddie „TanTan“ Thornton, Johnny T., Rico, John Kpiaye and Steve Gregory, finishing a few more tunes for a new venture, the closing act of a twelve-year scetch-book / composition cycle, to finish off with a ‚trilogy of Peeni Waali’…
I’ve also just re-released the first Peeni Waali album (1991) as „The Dawn of Peeni Waali“. In august, our second son Andri-Dennis-Rico was born. Yet another reason to seek the outdoor of mere business. Still…

The new century started with the release of „The Eve of Peeni Waali“ and sign of the times for troubled water. As it so happens, you get to know your family when the rose war starts. One bad seed can spoil the whole wheat… i.e. a sister went bonkers, and I enrolled to prevent the worst, which took its toll on health. Plenty difficult moments prevented steady progress on the music agenda, so I joined a local band („Gumbo“) and enjoyed the simpler life of rythm’n’blues, romp and stomp live just for fun…

In 2002, I tried out some recordings and mixing of „Gumbo“ and done ‚alimentary‘ work like a project for a language-school in Liechtenstein or speaking telephone-horoskopes while preparing  the upgrade to harddisk-recording.

In 2003, we were rudely kicked out of the house we lived in for 10 years. We had 12 days to pack and leave! Pure chaos, no alternative place to go, all our belongings bomb-shelled in 20 different locations… In may, after 20 days of hobo and camping, we were lucky enough to find a place for rent again, so at least the kids get back to normal. The house didn’t hold enough space to set up a working facility (for making music) and it was rude being locked to do „nothing“.  However, I was given the challenge to compile an „LKJ in concert“ project from some 20 shows around the world.
But in autumn, I was finally able to buy a house with a barn for the new studio, which was built for the most part of 2004.

In early 2005, I was invited by Lars Hollmer to play accordion with him for a gig in the village of Weite.
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2005 has also seen the arrival of Khan Bogd, a 10 piece ensemble from Mongolia to record 2 CD’s. It was a real treat to host these fine musicians from so far. I always enjoy to see a band play and record them. In particular, when the music is fresh and the band ready to play without tedious overdubs and technical mumbo-jumbo. Ever since the studio was functional again I continued tracks for „Sha“.
At the end of the year, I started to record short stories and little poems written by Astrid Schröder, the mother of our two sons.

2006 sees the release of „Sha“ and „Besinnungslose Zeiten“, the album with Assi’s words… There was also a great recording session of rootsical music from Uganda (two CD’s for the Face Music label), and some more mixing/producing work.

2007 was an intense time of enlarging the barn and the atelier with a bright, inviting guest-room for eventual indoor-recording. Besides some sessions with Betty Legler and Hubert Osterwalder, some work for a local band, there was this neat remake of White Noise’s „Hidden Dreams“ with Heinz Vetsch. The keyboards on „Hidden Dreams“ where brilliantly harboured out by Hybrid Kid (…) Morgan Fisher.

An award from Spectrasonics (most excentric production…) may give a hint, what kind of productions we cherish… (t’was very sweet to have been directly adressed by Spectrasonics director and creative mastermind Eric Persing…).

2008 I made the music for two films, one of which was for the non-violent communication centre „Metapuls“.
Then I had the pleasure to record and mix two CDs with/for the Mongolian ensemble Khan Bogd again. This time as a quintet.
For our birthdays (…) Steve Gregory came for a creative stay and blew his genuine trademark on six pieces I’m working on for fun:
– In summer, my elder son had to do some housework in music and I helped him working out a rap (a cool cover of Fanta Vier’s „Die da“). For fun I recited him the final stanza of an austrian cabaretist’s rap („Opern-Boogie“) which I still knew by heart since my early teens, which left him puzzled and which triggered the desire to harbour out an ambitious „tribute to Georg Kreisler„. Sadly enough on Christmas Lars Hollmer passed away. R.I.P.

2009 Due to lack of people I tried to convince/invite to participate in that Kreisler-venture, I abandoned the plan and focused rather on having a joyful noise with Alan Kushan, with whom we laid down the foundations in  for an incredible „buffet“ of scents, flavours, tones and shades for me to dwell in for the next humpty weeks/months/years, to „build up“ another journey of just joyful noise (Alan’s secret wish probably being to see a sequel to „SHA“… – but I wasn’t ready to go for another CD ever again…). In any case, Alan conveniently klicked in the place for some extraordinary solos on some isolated works, amongst which a „just for fun“ cover (in reggae) of Simon Dupree & the Big Sounds‘ „Kites“ or the Amsterdam Klezmer Band’s wonderful „Son“ piece. Just before my old buddy Heinz Vetsch left us in summer (R.I.P.), there was yet another cover left unfinished on the workbench, this time a piece of political activist Robert Wyatt (with fantastic contributions again from Morgan Fisher).
Record sales going down the drain since several years now, it strengthens my position/conviction (since 1997), that making music here means much more than vile commerce, so I announced „officially going out of business“. Of course, I will continue all the more and all the more unfestered by expectations, speculations/gamblings, mercantile considerations. It is very pleasant to realise this potential totally „in the shade“. What comes, comes when it’s good enough.
So I continue to make that film music for the movie that’s not been made yet… – of which I put together a private edition/release CD AGR 016: „Music for the blind – with booklet for the deaf“…

2010 marked the start of a new aera, really, because the rose war finally untangled the family bonds and freed me of sinister relatives, still keeping best contacts with one brother…
Anyway, Alan Kushan came back again and stayed for 3 months, subrepting me to going at it again! I tailored a body to some of Alan’s scetches/demos and clearly a new challenge triggered my enthousiasm: to make a CD with a main vocalist for once. The pieces grew and grew and the vocal became more and more „just“ one more instrument. The „extra-content“ it carries are abrasive lyrics against the shit-stem. Read more about this new album „Shab Tab“.
In autumn I underwent a private quantum-leap in personal consciousness… I could explain it for you, but I can’t understand it for you…
…suffice it to say, that it turned out to be incredibly forward for the music…
I discovered that I wasn’t interested in music!
A big shock in the beginning, but then it’s been a challenging gift, and I found out, that after all it’s the   s o u n d    I’m after, and always have been! I been fooled into studying music only to find out that music is just a kind of „waste product“ of this huge thing which is sound….
And all the musicians of one sort (e.g. raga musicians, jazz-ers, rockers, classiquers etc.) think, only their music is the „only good“ music… Yet, all these musics are always and only one tiny tip of the block, the block of sound we haven’t seen in the slightest way in its entity.
Probably „sound“ is more like a dimension. Like „time“…
We make music out of sound and we make present and past out of time. More likely out of non-comprehension what these dimensions really are. We know that they affect us, like reality, but yet reality must by far not be a „truth“.
Anyway… it leads me to a much more deep comprehension of the little I know and of the zillion possibilities there is to making music.
I can perfectly relate now why I was never „successful“. I’ve always liked most any kind of music.  I never had a band with a single style. And if so, only very briefly, because I’d move on to different styles. I’d get bored to repeat an achievement (if that is possible at all).
Finding interest in any kind of music, my own stuff doesn’t fit in one single style of music, I can’t surrender to a drawer (for the sake of a steady public?…).
I use whatever element apeals, is at hand, pleases, intrigues. Each day brings a new sound. Each period (e.g. each recorded „data-sheet“ of such momentary infatuations) represents just a little glimpse of the stage I was at while meeting these new musicians, having travelled that country, heard that sound etc.
And the next „data-sheet“ might baffle the previous possible „followers“. I’m not surprised today that a lot of reggae-afficionados doubt my roots (…sick…), feel they are betrayed because I don’t reproduce the drawer reggae like it ought to be reproduced (like they perceive reggae) etc.
And each recorded „data-period“ was only and ever just a comma… just a joyful noise…
Such transcendation made me discover new ways of making music. I tend to leave the „safety belt“ of structured, arranged, controlled „output“, I loosen the Johnny Controlletti syndrom to accept whatever sound is given to me in a single circumstance. There is no need to „shape“ or „blue-note-ify“ anything. Music cannot even be really canned. It’s a moment of present, made past with a forthcoming sound. I enoy more and more the loose making music, hooking off „secure paths“, hooking off power (and its plugs), hooking off the craving to reproduce what was planned, to get exposure, recognition, admiration (…) etc.
In

2011 came an invitation sort of to play piccolo within a little marching band in Basel, which was to end sometime in 2013 due to lack of rehearsing (I was simply not requested anymore)…
Reading a superb fantasy-novel by Walter Moers („The City of the dreaming Books“, i.e. „Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher“) which triggered the idea to make a film-music to it (one of those films that are yet to be made…). When Alan revisited, I started to build up some videos with him, based on – or rather tailored to – the story of this novel. I contacted Moers and we stayed in touch ever since. The film of the book altogether was shelved. Very sad, but I continued to make music „on that inspiration“ anyway which triggered another fantastic encounter.
In the meantime I abandoned completition of the related videos, too, although there were some fun moments:
ZamonArie
http://youtu.be/zeBvbBrZS8U
Shama Ninja Pan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYIT14tOjrk
Mother of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJfpYrkYQo
From Mahab to St-Saens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2VOu-xIvJU
Shab Tab (original)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiI38FbjnLI

2012 No. 17 of my „recording catalogue“ was released: „Shab Tab“ for my 60st birthday – basically only the 17th page of my guest-book, of who’s been passing here to leave a pleasant sound.

2013 in february, I discovered the great trio „Hadouk“ and went to see them in Paris, to invite french wind-instrument-maestro Didier Malherbe. While orchestrating more of such pieces for „Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher“, Didier let me film a little „for fun“-solo on Shab Tab, which then became the Shab-Tab 2013 edit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ywZT6Bei0
The fun of making videos also led me into another adventure: practicing as usual in the morning, I was playing a piccolo piece called „Lumpesammler“ and at some point, LKJ would step in from his guest-room and said, he liked the piece, too, and could well imagine to do (and play) a bass-line to it…
This then would wind up into another fun video, but most people from Basel’s „carnaval diaspora“ advised me not to pursue with this „wacky“ idea, because maybe the composer of the piece wouldn’t like it at all, and there was some reservations about the musical ‚correctness‘ (harmonically), which revealed to be pure bollocks and sheer resentment… I still pursued the undertaking and contacted the great and fantastic drummer, Ivan Kym, to write a dedicated drum-score for my „adaptation“. What I didn’t know at the time, was, that Ivan was best friends with the composer, and – of course – would immediately communicate this to the originator, hence, in

2014, at the „Morgestraich“ (the opening act of the carnaval in Basel) the composer of „Lumpesammler“ leaped at me in the streets, all dressed up with mask an all the rest of it, and said: „don’t change a thing on that piece, we must get in touch“… and off he was (we were both fifing and on the move)! Soon after the carnaval, I met this fantastic person (an incredible flute player and flabbergasting maestro) and we started to crank the video up with more wackyness…
Lumpi’s nei Goschdym
http://youtu.be/7zmJm5-9o9s
…even ventured a dub-version of it:
„Rasta Lumpi“
http://youtu.be/pvL28v6eCeA

In summer, I disbanded „Gumbo“ within a last „goodbye concert“. Friends filmed it from which I culled three videos:
Unfinished (dedicated to Pascal Cuche) & Forgotten
http://youtu.be/kuNPkN3TF88
Game
http://youtu.be/CDx_cj08bdA
Altfrangg
http://youtu.be/sbTMQqUqYRA

Passing a coupla of medical upheavals (…), I still missed not to be part of a band anymore, i.e. play at Basel’s carnaval. Hence, Lumpesammler’s maestro/friend ventured, I should write my own little march (he helped me with invaluable instructions, scoring, lay-out etc.) and see what happens then.

2015 I went to the carnaval just to check out the scene. Meeting plenty new people and great players, it all seems to pick up momentum in a mellow steady flow. Kartharsis! Period… Eventually, the hype of a „new guy“ is coming up with a „new tone“, i.e. a new piccolo piece written for the extraordinary new bass-piccolo (a wonderful instrument), circulated. The mouth to ear „propaganda“ catapulted me into a new band „the yellow teckels“, with whom I would pick up momentum and learn yet another ten pieces…
Then, this – my first – piccolo piece had it’s premiere in Basel, in November…
https://youtu.be/2h1UaSbfk-M
The saddest moment in some ways this year, was to learn that, on my birthday, my friend and mentor Rico had passed after a year’s struggle to cope with health problems. He made so many thousands of people happy with his great sound. R.I.P. Astonishing „coincidence“ (I’m happy, I don’t „believe“ in anything particular, and particularily not in coincidence): so Rico died on my birthday, was born on oct. 17th, the day my mother died, while my mother was born on july 13th which is the day my other mentor – Eddie Boyd (see above) – was born!

2016
I started to write a follow-up to last year’s „enfant terrible“ and launched a virtual instructor page, where you can rehearse with music-minus one_like tracks for each piccolo…
The target is to release more cool piccolo music (not necessarily only my own creations) and „expand“ the musical horizon, if there is such a thing at all.
Particularily with the arrival of the Bass Piccolo, masterfully manufactured by wizard Tom Aebi, the piccolo music of Basel receives a new „wing“ to its music with that mellow sound, much less shrieky than the traditional ear-buster-piccolos. It’s really cool to write low counter-points that become their own individual „first voice“ within the traditional 3 to 4 voiced mode so far…
However (sadly enough), the „milieu“ of Basel’s piccolo players (the „Teig“) is – for the majority – more dedicated to the event (of the carneval) itself than to the focus of practicing the instrument…
As a „side-event“, I was given the privilege to enter the writer’s guilde: Archie Patterson of Eurock, (an on-going good relation since over 30 years), published some thoughts (namely about sound) in his american 2015 publication. He calls my writing-debut „free source grammar“ (which is meant to be!)…
articles\AboutSoundLastEdit.doc

2018
The first Piccolo-tune („Fuudyblutt“) reaches no. 1 at the Swiss Championships (in Bulle)… Eurock plans a full-length feature and commissioned a clip, which son Andri made
https://youtu.be/sU0PJn3t6Ds

2019

reaching the „third age“, severe changes propelled „recycling“ or better necessitated a reassessment of several themes. Health, relations, lick wounds, finding peace, surrender, yet all the while creating, the inner flame to provide joy, the sole „reason“ to live…
Hence the music atelier’s been revamped more or less „from scratch“ in that technically the workbench migrated from „fixed“ desktop daw (mac) to „mobile“ laptop (PC). With son Andri an advanced training course (for electronic music) staged a new venture: blend the „old“ way of making music (analog recording sessions) with electronic computing. A new concept started to dawn…

2020
In the process of that ‚inner ways‘ (meditation, Ayahuasca ceremonies and more), a strong urge to forgive my old ghosts and demons, I soon will re-insert a musical chapter here, but the new musical concept is keeping me too much at grips for the time being. Suffice it to mention that new musics ought to emerge from that very bright vision / concept / teamwork… moreover, the first LP „Kulu…“ is going to be released on vinyl by french label „Décale“ with a bonus cassette (!) of outtakes from the same sessions… new fife music is also in its very finishing process and I just put together a „tribute to“_video of Kamau Brathwaite (R.I.P.) with an  unreleased recording of LKJ (from the beginning of the century)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhE0orPEkOI

Unfortunately my dream to go fishing someday with Henry sadly ended with his passing (R.I.P.)