Author / Michael Griener
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Exactly thirty years ago today…
I played my first concert in Berlin, at the Stakkato Festival at Kato in the Schlesisches Tor train station. It was supposed to be a trio with Walter Gauchel and Rudi Mahall, but since Walter didn’t show up, Rudi and I played as a duo, as we had already been doing for 12 years before.…
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Today is the 69th birthday of Gerold Genssler.
Today is the 69th birthday of Gerold Genssler. Most people know him as the maker of excellent strings, mostly for double bass (I think they are currently sold under the name Sonores). For me, however, he is above all the person who lured me to move to Berlin in 1994, which in retrospect was one…
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Today is the 80th birthday of Günter Christmann.
Today is the 80th birthday of Günter Christmann. I can honestly say that without him I would not be the musician I am today.I will be eternally grateful to him for taking me under his wing after I came, almost by accident, to a solo concert by Evan Parker that he organized when I was 15. I…
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I have been lucky
Forty years ago today, I got my first drum set. The first time I sat down to play, I knew immediately that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The story goes like this: When my mother wanted to move to another city, I decided to move in with…
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Apprenticeship
In the dark ages before the Internet, I could occasionally catch the tail end of a long-gone practice: Accompanying musicians on the road as part of the hired rhythm section. This gave me the opportunity to play with the likes of Mal Waldron, Benny Bailey, Mark Murphy, Spike Robinson, Lenny Spivak and a few others…
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I learned how to tune a drum through Paul Lovens
I first heard Paul when I was fifteen years old. He played with Günter Christmann, who often invited him to Hannover for his vario projects. Since Paul usually arrived by train and didn’t bring all his equipment, Günter asked me if I would make my drums available for the concerts. So I came into close…
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Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa is the one who got me started on this journey which changed my whole life. The more I know about him, the more I admire him. In 1980 when I was not even a real teenager I heard “Sing Sing Sing” from the famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert on public radio and was…
