Horst Jankowski (30 January 1936 – 29 June 1998)
was a classically trained German
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
, most famous for his internationally successful
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
music.
Biography
Born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Jankowski studied at the
Berlin Music Conservatory and played
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 ...
in Germany in the 1950s. In 1953 and 1954 he was a member of
Kurt Hohenberger's orchestra, then pianist for singer
Caterina Valente
Caterina Germaine Maria Valente (14 January 1931 – 9 September 2024) was an Italian-French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer. She spoke six languages and sang in 13. While she was best known as a performer in Europe, Valente spent pa ...
until 1955.
Jankowski's fame as a composer of easy listening pop peaked in 1965 with his
instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
"Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt", released in
English as "A Walk in the Black Forest". The tune became a pop hit, reaching #1 on the US
easy listening chart
The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary music, adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on ...
, #12 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and #3 on the
UK Singles Chart.
It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
The track was featured on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's review of the 1960s music scene, ''
Pop Go The Sixties'', broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
and
ZDF
ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...
, on 31 December 1969. It can be heard years before 1965 in episodes of ''
Perry Mason (1957 TV series)
''Perry Mason'' is an American legal drama series aired on CBS from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The Perry Mason, title character, played by Raymond Burr, is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fict ...
''. This track has become a signature song at
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
, being played at the end of each game as the fans leave the grounds. The song also featured as a running joke in the episode
Radio Goodies of the 1970s BBC TV series The Goodies, as the only record possessed by the group's radio station.
''The Genius of Jankowski'' album, released in 1965, was also a million seller.
Jankowski went on to score a string of successful
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
s, but moved on in the 1970s to concentrate more on jazz, including
covers of pop and rock hits. Between 1989 and 1994 Jankowski composed and performed easy listening music for
Sonoton, Germany.
Jankowski died of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in 1998, at the age of 62.
[Thedeadrockstarsclub.com](_blank)
Accessed March 2010
Discography
* ''My Fair Lady Mit Horst Jankowski'' (1964;
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
)
* ''
The Genius of Jankowski!'' (1964; Mercury Records) US #18
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
Allmusic.com. ''passim.''
* ''More Genius of Jankowski'' (1965; Mercury Records) US #65
* ''Still More Genius of Jankowski'' (1966; Mercury Records) US #107
* ''
So What's New?'' (1966; Mercury Records)
* ''And We Got Love'' (1967; Mercury Records)
* ''With Love'' (1967; Mercury Records)
* ''Baby, But Grand'' (1967; Mercury Records)
* ''Piano Affairs'' (1967; Mercury Records)
* ''The Many Moods of Jankowski'' (1968; Mercury Records)
* ''The Horst Jankowski Scene'' (1968; Mercury Records)
* ''Play A Simple Melody'' (1968, Mercury Records)
* ''Jankowski Plays Jankowski'' (1969; Mercury Records)
* ''A Walk in the Evergreens'' (1969; Mercury Records)
* ''Jankowski Meets Beethoven'' (1970; Mercury Records)
* ''Piano on the Rocks'' (1970; Mercury Records)
* ''Jankowskingsize – For Nightpeople Only'' (1970;
MPS)
* ''Jankowskeyboard'' (1970;
MPS)
* ''Jerusalem'' (1971; Rediffusion)
* ''Jankowski Plays Latin'' (1971;
)
* ''Follow Me'' (1972; Intercord)
* ''International'' (1973; Intercord)
* ''Happy Polka'' (1973; Intercord)
* ''Return to the Black Forest'' (1975; Rediffusion)
* ''Yes Sir, That's My Baby'' (1976; EMI Records)
* ''Happy Blue Piano'' (1982;
Sonoton / Intersound)
* ''The Best of Mr. Black Forest'' (1989;
Sonoton / Intersound)
* ''Piano Interlude'' (1994;
Sonoton / Intersound)
* ''Black Forest Explosion!'' (1997;
Motor Music
Motor Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany providing a wide range of music services including music publication, artists management, producing music for films and business and music advertising. Motor Music was founded in 1 ...
)
* ''Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt'' (1998; Mercury Records)
* ''Jankowskinetik'' (2003;
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
)
* ''Jankowskeynotes'' (2004; Universal)
* ''Remember Mr. Black Forest'' (2015; Memorylane / Intersound)
With
Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...
*''
Johnny Hodges and His Strings Play the Prettiest Gershwin'' (Verve, 1958)
See also
*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart
References
External links
Detailed information on Horst Jankowski*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jankowski, Horst
1936 births
1998 deaths
Musicians from Berlin
German jazz pianists
German male jazz composers
Easy listening musicians
20th-century German pianists
Deaths from lung cancer in Germany
Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor people
20th-century German male musicians
20th-century German jazz composers
German male jazz pianists
BASF (record label) artists
Mercury Records artists