To Be -

To Be was a German jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album on Brain in 1977. Five years later, the band issued a second eponymous album on MMG.

Members: Peter Franken (drums, percussion), Claus-Robert Kruse (keyboards), Rolf Köhler (bass), Lemmie Lembrecht (drums, percussion), Peter Weihe (guitar), Manfred Thiers (bass, 1982)

Background

To Be emerged in Hamburg in early 1977 as an instrumental jazz-rock project initiated by keyboardist Claus-Robert Kruse, a classically trained pianist with earlier stints in Cavern Cats, Wonderland, and A.R. & Machines. Kruse assembled a lineup drawn largely from the same studio and live network surrounding Reichel, including drummers Peter Franken and Lemmie Lembrecht and percussionist–bassist Rolf Köhler.

Lembrecht appeared on 1972–74 albums by Frankie Dymon Jr., Excalibur, and Schippe & Kohl. He concurrently backed Reichel on Echo and AR3, both alongside Köhler, who also did stints with Kin Ping Meh, Randy Pie, Dirk Steffens, and Helmuth Franke. Franken backed Reichel on Autovision and Erholung and played alongside Kruse on N°1 by Wonderland Band, the A.R. & Machines precursor. Guitarist Peter Weihe, then a relative newcomer, joined the group shortly before recording began.

To Be (1977)

To Be released their self-titled first album in April 1977 on Brain.

The album emphasizes extended instrumental interaction, balancing tightly composed motifs with ample space for improvisation. Guitarist Peter Weihe and keyboardist Claus-Robert Kruse alternate lead figures and layered interplay, trading angular phrases and sustained textures across shifting meters. Drummers Peter Franken and Lemmie Lembrecht form a dual-percussion backbone, with bassist Rolf Köhler anchoring the low end through steady, articulated runs that reinforce the ensemble’s rhythmic architecture. Kruse wrote four of the six tracks; Franken and Weihe each contributed one.

A1. “Samba for Heino R.” (8:36) – Franken
A2. “Flügel” (4:10) – Kruse
A3. “Is It Liebman’s Song?” (6:52) – Kruse

B1. “Tell the Truth” (8:34) – Kruse
B2. “Glücklich” (5:46) – Weihe
B3. “Communication” (6:36) – Kruse

To Be recorded the album at Studio Maschen in November 1976. Volker Heintzen engineered and co-produced the sessions alongside the band, with oversight by Kuno Dreysse. Phonodisc GmbH handled the lacquer cut. Tina Kenneweg designed the cover, and Peter Manojlovic supplied the back cover photo. Metronome manufactured and distributed the release, which first appeared with label prints lacking a label code.

During this period, To Be also contributed as backing band to Guitarland 2 by Helmuth Franke & Friends, released in 1977 on Selected Sound. They appeared on Tuchel & Stantin (Nature, 1977) and backed Scottish singer Ian Cussick on his 1978 self-titled album, issued on Eurodisc and Arabella. Köhler played on subsequent albums by Blonker and (with Weihe) Tollhouse. Weihe later surfaced in Känguru.

In 1981, Claus-Robert Kruse reformed To Be as a trio with Lembrecht and ex-Randy Pie bassist Tissy Thiers.

To Be (1982)

To Be released their second self-titled album in 1982 on MMG.

Claus-Robert Kruse wrote seven of the nine tracks and arranged the entire set, shaping a more concise, studio-refined variant of the band’s earlier jazz-rock format. Guitar is absent this time, placing greater focus on Kruse’s keyboard voicings and tonal contrasts, with bassist Tissy Thiers and drummer Christian Lembrecht locking into an interwoven rhythm structure that underpins each track with a steady but flexible foundation. Kruse interacts dynamically with Lembrecht’s percussion layers and constructs harmonic tension across shifting modal sequences.

A1. “Borneo” (4:22) – Kruse
A2. “Donna Wetter” (1:20) – Charlie Parker
A3. “I Can Guru” (4:20) – Kruse
A4. “Strange Escape” (4:53) – Kruse
A5. “Kalimba” (3:50) – Kruse

B1. “Tanzbär” (4:15) – To Be
B2. “Gentleness” (4:25) – Kruse
B3. “Tittomatic” (5:02) – Kruse
B4. “Cadre” (4:50) – Kruse

To Be self-produced the album in April 1982 at Emston Studio in Münster with engineer Karl-Heinz Trapp. Maske Musik GmbH issued and copyrighted the release, with distribution handled by Verlag Pläne GmbH.

Discography: