Attila Cornelius Zoller (June 13, 1927 – January 25, 1998) was a Hungarian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist. After World War II, he escaped the Soviet takeover of Hungary by fleeing through the mountains on foot into Austria. In 1959, he moved to the United States, where he spent the rest of his life as a musician and teacher.

Music career

Zoller was born in Visegrád, Hungary. As a child, he learned violin from his father, a professional violinist. While in school, he played

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

and bass before choosing guitar. He dropped out of school and played in jazz clubs in Budapest while Russia occupied Hungary. He fled Hungary in 1948 as the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was establishing

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

military rule. He escaped on foot, carrying his guitar through the mountains into Austria. He settled in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, became an Austrian citizen, and started a jazz group with accordionist

Vera Auer Vera Auer (later Vera Auer-Boucher) (April 20, 1919, Vienna – August 2, 1996, New York City) was an Austrian jazz accordionist and vibraphone, vibraphonist. She was the niece of Leopold Auer. Auer learned classical piano but turned to jazz after ...

. In the mid-1950s, Zoller moved to Germany and played with German musicians

Jutta Hipp Jutta Hipp (February 4, 1925 – April 7, 2003) was a jazz pianist and composer. Born in Leipzig during the Weimar Republic, Hipp initially listened to jazz in secret, as it was not approved of by the Nazi authorities. After World War II, she be ...

and

Hans Koller Antonio Hans Cyrill Koller (12 February 1921 in Vienna – 21 December 2003 in Vienna) was an Austrian jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader. Koller attended the University of Vienna from 1936 to 1939 and served in the armed forces from 1940 to ...

. When American jazz musicians passed through, such as

Oscar Pettiford Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. Jazz bassist Christian McBride called Pettiford "probably the most imp ...

and

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

, they persuaded him to move to the United States. He moved to the U.S. after receiving a scholarship to the

Lenox School of Jazz The Lenox School of Jazz was a summer programme of jazz education from 1957 to 1960, at the Music Barn in Lenox, Massachusetts. Faculty included Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Giuffre, Percy Heath, Larry Ridley, Connie Kay, Jim Hall, Ralph Peña, Max ...

. One of his teachers was guitarist Jim Hall and his roommate was

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

, who got him interested in

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

. From 1962 to 1965, Zoller performed in a group with flautist

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

, then Lee Konitz and

Albert Mangelsdorff Albert Mangelsdorff (September 5, 1928 – July 25, 2005) was a German jazz trombonist. Working mainly in free jazz, he was an innovator in multiphonics. Early life Mangelsdorff was born in Frankfurt on September 5, 1928, as the son of the book ...

. Over the years, he played and recorded with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...

Jimmy Raney James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) a ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in P ...

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin music (genre), Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group mod ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, and in New York City jazz clubs in the 1960s with pianist

Don Friedman Donald Ernest Friedman (May 4, 1935 – June 30, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. He began playing in Los Angeles and moved to New York in 1958. In the 1960s, he played with both modern stylists and more traditional musicians. Early life Fr ...

In 1974, he started the Attila Zoller Jazz Clinics in Vermont, later named the

Vermont Jazz Center The Vermont Jazz Center is a school for jazz founded by guitarist Attila Zoller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Zoller started the center as the Attila Zoller Jazz Clinics in 1974. The center was renamed Vermont Jazz Center when he incorporated the busi ...

, where he taught until 1998. He invented a bi-directional pickup, designed strings and a signature guitar series. Between the years 1989 and 1998, he played more and more with the German vibraphonist

Wolfgang Lackerschmid Wolfgang Lackerschmid (born 19 September 1956 in Tegernsee) is a German jazz musician, bandleader and composer. His main instrument is the vibraphone, but he also plays many other percussion instruments. Lackerschmid grew up in Ehingen and now liv ...

. They also did recordings together. He performed with

Tommy Flanagan Thomas or Tom Flanagan may refer to: * Thomas Flanagan (bishop) (1930–2019), American Roman Catholic bishop * Thomas Flanagan (Irish politician) (died 1980), Irish civil engineer and politician * Thomas Flanagan (priest) (1814–1865), English Ro ...

and

George Mraz George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stepha ...

in New York City three weeks before his death in 1998 in

Townshend, Vermont Townshend is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Townshend family, powerful figures in British politics. The population was 1,291 at the 2020 United States Census, ...

Awards and honors

* Lifetime Achievement Award, New England Foundation for the Arts * ''Message to Attila'', tribute album, coordinated and produced by guitarist

David Becker David Becker (born October 20, 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute. Biography Becker began his musical life on the trumpet and won the "Outstanding Achiev ...

, featuring Zoller's compositions performed by guitarists John Abercrombie,

Gene Bertoncini Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist. Biography A native of New York City, Bertoncini grew up in a musical family. His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. His brother Renny (1934� ...

, Peter Bernstein,

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

, and

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''The Horizon Beyond'' (

Emarcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cli ...

, 1965) * ''Zoller Koller Solal'' with

& Martial Solal (SABA, 1966) – rec. 1965 * ''Katz & Maus'' (SABA, 1967) – rec. 1966 * ''Zo-Ko-Ma'' with

& Albert Mangelsdorff (MPS, 1968) * ''Gypsy Cry'' (Embryo, 1970) * ''Dream Bells'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...

, 1976) * ''Common Cause'' (Enja, 1979) * ''Jim & I'' with

(L+R, 1980) – rec. 1979 * ''The K & K 3 in New York'' with

(L+R, 1980) – rec. 1979 * ''Conjunction'' (Inner City, 1981) – rec. 1979 * ''Jim & I Live'' with Jimmy Raney (L+R, 1981) * ''Memories of Pannonia'' (Enja, 1986) * ''Overcome'' (Enja, 1988) – live rec. 1979 & 1986 * ''Live Highlights '92'' (Bhakti, 1992) – live * ''When It's Time'' (Enja, 1995) – rec. 1994 * ''Lasting Love'' (Acoustic Music, 1997) * ''The Last Recordings'' (Enja, 2000) – rec. 1997–1998 * ''Common Language'' with Helmut Kagerer (Acoustic Music, 2002) – rec. 1995 and live rec. 1997–1998 * ''Jazz Soundtracks'' (Sonorama, 2013) – rec. 1962–1967

As sideman

With

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

* ''Doldinger in Sud Amerika'' (Philips, 1965) * ''Jubilee'' (Atlantic, 1973) With

* ''

Dreams and Explorations ''Dreams and Explorations'' is the fourth album by pianist Don Friedman which was recorded in 1964 and released on the Riverside label.

'' (Riverside, 1965) * ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

'' (Prestige, 1966) With

* ''Exclusiv'' (SABA, 1963) * ''Trinity'' (L+R, 1979) With

* ''Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends'' (MPS, 1977) * ''Mainhattan Modern Lost Jazz Files'' (Sonorama, 2015) * ''The Jazz Sextet'' (Moosicus, 2017) With

* '' Herbie Mann Live at Newport'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1963) * '' My Kinda Groove'' (Atlantic, 1965) * '' Our Mann Flute'' (Atlantic, 1966) * '' Impressions of the Middle East'' (Atlantic, 1967) * ''

The Beat Goes On The Beat Goes On, or variants, may refer to: Music Albums * ''The Beat Goes On'' (Herbie Mann album), 1967 * ''The Beat Goes On!'' (Sonny Criss album), 1968 * ''The Beat Goes On'' (Vanilla Fudge album), 1968 * '' The Beat Goes On: The Best of ...

'' (Atlantic, 1967) With

* ''The Oscar Pettiford Quartet'' (Ex Libris, 1958) * ''The Legendary Oscar Pettiford'' (Black Lion, 1975) With others * Gary Crosby, ''Gary Crosby'' (World Pacific, 1957) *

Lajos Dudas Lajos Dudas (; born February 18, 1941, in Budapest, Hungary) is a German-Hungarian jazz clarinetist and composer. Biography Dudas studied at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He then appeared on con ...

, ''Monte Carlo'' (Rayna, 1981) *

& Don Friedman & Attila Zoller, ''Thingin'' (hat ART, 1996) *

Emil Mangelsdorff Emil Mangelsdorff (; 11 April 1925 – 20 January 2022) was a German jazz musician who played alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet and flute. He was a jazz pioneer under the Nazi regime which led to his imprisonment. After World War II an ...

, ''Meditation'' (L+R, 1994) *

Dave Pike David Samuel Pike (March 23, 1938 – October 3, 2015) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He appeared on many albums by Nick Brignola, Paul Bley and Kenny Clarke, Bill Evans, and Herbie Mann. He also recorded extensively as l ...

, '' Manhattan Latin'' (Decca, 1964) *

, '' Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands'' (Impulse!, 1966) *

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

, ''Tony Scott'' (Verve, 1968) *

, ''

Soul Burst ''Soul Burst'' is an album by American Latin jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader recorded in early 1966 and released on the Verve label.

'' (Verve, 1966) *

Michal Urbaniak Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, making ...

, ''We'll Remember Komeda'' (MPS/BASF, 1973)

Bibliography

* Simon Géza Gábor: ''Mindhalálig gitár - Zoller Attila élete és művészete''. Budapest, 2002. * Simon Géza Gábor: ''Immens gut, Attila Zoller. Sein Leben und seine Kunst''. Budapest, 2003. * Heinz Protzer: ''Attila Zoller. Sein Leben, seine Zeit, seine Musik''. Erftstadt, 2009. * Simon Géza Gábor: ''Guitar Forever - Attila Zoller Discography'', Budapest, 2011

References

External links

Attila Zoller discography
at JazzDiscography.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoller, Attila 1927 births 1998 deaths 20th-century guitarists ACT Music artists Black Lion Records artists Enja Records artists Free jazz guitarists Hungarian jazz guitarists Hungarian male guitarists Hungarian male jazz musicians