Volker Kriegel -

Volker Kriegel (Dec. 24, 1943 — June 15, 2003) was a German jazz-rock guitarist, composer, and bandleader who emerged from the Frankfurt jazz scene and debuted as a leader with the 1968 Liberty album With a Little Help from My Friends. He recorded with the Dave Pike Set from 1968 to 1972 and released a run of albums for MPS, including Spectrum, Inside: Missing Link, and Lift!. Kriegel formed Mild Maniac Orchestra in the mid-Seventies and co-founded the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble, which sustained a parallel recording and touring career into the Nineties.

Background

Volker Kriegel was born December 24, 1943, in Darmstadt, Germany. The family moved to Wiesbaden in 1953 for his father’s work as a surveying engineer at a state ministry. Kriegel acquired his first guitar in 1957 and taught himself the instrument. He formed his first trio around 1959–60 and played jazz cellars in Wiesbaden and Mainz.

The Volker Kriegel Trio entered the ninth German Amateur Jazz Festival in Düsseldorf in 1963 with bassist Helmut Kampe and drummer Dieter Matschoß. Festival judges named Kriegel best young guitarist, and SWF recorded the trio for radio. Kriegel completed the Abitur at Goethe-Gymnasium in Frankfurt in 1964 and entered the University of Frankfurt for sociology. He studied with Theodor W. Adorno and joined the Frankfurt Jazzkeller circle around Albert and Emil Mangelsdorff.

Festival juries named Kriegel best soloist at the 1964 Düsseldorf event and best guitarist at the 1965 international amateur festival. Kriegel made his first professional studio recording on January 13–14, 1966, for the Ingfried Hoffmann album From Twen With Love. He joined Klaus Doldinger at the 45th NDR Jazzworkshop in April and recorded Swingin’ Oil Drops with Emil Mangelsdorff on September 24.

Kriegel recorded Doldinger Goes On with the Klaus Doldinger group on March 17–18, 1967. He led a Mainz radio date that May with vibraphonist Claudio Szenkar, bassist Dieter von Goetze, and drummer Peter Baumeister. Kriegel joined Joachim and Rolf Kühn for Metronome sessions on February 17–18, 1968, then appeared on television in March with the Gustl Mayer group Sound Constellation. His quartet played the 11th German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt that month, followed by a May appearance with trumpeter Jimmy Owens at the 57th NDR Jazzworkshop.

Kriegel recorded four pieces in Cologne in June 1968 with bassist Peter Trunk and drummer Cees See under producer Klaus Doldinger. He cut three further studio titles in Frankfurt with vibraphonist Claudio Szenkar, bassist Günter Lenz, and drummer Peter Baumeister under producer Siegfried E. Loch. Kriegel recorded the seven studio masters for the Liberty debut With a Little Help From My Friends.

Discography: