From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue May 7, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Axel Zwingenberger
 
AXEL ZWINGENBERGER

Born 7 May 1955, Hamburg, Germany

Boogie woogie pianist.
Zwingenberger has become the best known of the contemporary boogie
woogie players and, according to many, also the best. After receiving
eleven years of formal piano tuition, Axel was becoming disenchanted
with playing the classics and was on the point of giving up his studies
when he discovered boogie-woogie by accident. This happened in 1973
after listening to some old 78 recordings of Pete Johnson which belonged
to the father of one of his friends. With his interest in the piano once again
stimulated, he started to finger out some of the numbers for himself. Real
progress in mastering the style came after he met Hans-Georg Möller,
Vince Weber and Martin Pyrker, and word about the abilities of the four
friends began to spread. The 1975 "First International Blues and Boogie
Woogie Festival" of the West German Radio Station in Cologne turned
out to be their first presentation to a greater audience, soon to be followed
by more, such as Hans Maitner´s annual festival "Stars of Boogie Woogie"
in Vienna.
In 1975, Axel got his recording contract with Frank Dostal's Vagabond label
and their cooperation continues successfully today. Solo albums like "Boogie
Woogie Breakdown", "Power House Boogie" or "Boogie Woogie-Live" (all
featuring many of Axel's own compositions) had a considerable impact on
the junior set of boogie pianists, especially in the German-speaking countries,
but also in Holland and France. Zwingenberger recorded with many American
music legends like Big Joe Turner, Lionel Hampton, Mama Yancey, Sippie
Wallace, Champion Jack Dupree, Jay McShann and others. These recordings
were essential in shaping his personal style and helpful in building his inter-
national reputation. Zwingenberger is a professional entertainer who, by
single-minded determination, talent and love for boogie woogie, is bringing
the music to the attention of a new generation of young fans.

Website: http://www.boogiewoogie.net
CD recommendations: Almost all of his solo CD's are worthwhile, if you can
find them, that is, since the Vagabond label has poor distribution outside of
the German-speaking countries. As an accompanist, he is in splendid form
on the two albums he did with Joe Turner : Let's Boogie Woogie All Night
Long (recorded 22 May 1978) and Boogie Woogie Jubilee : Live recordings
from Big Joe Turner's 70th birthday party, 23 May 1981. The former includes
the glorious "Rock The Joint Boogie", which was mistaken for a late forties
recording by the compilers of the Hoy Hoy 2-CD, which speaks volumes for
its authenticity.