Kai Warner was the stage name of Werner Last (27 October 1926 – 9 July 1982), a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

and musician, and the brother of

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...

and Robert Last, also musicians.

Biography

Born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Warner took piano lessons from Ernst Weelen and received theory instruction from the

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

and Engelbert Humperdinck student Richard Bulling. After the war, Werner Last appeared as a trombonist along with his brothers Hans (bassist, later known as

) and Robert Last (drummer) in Bremen music halls and in the American clubs in the vicinity of Bremerhaven. At this point, he was discovered by the composer and manager Friedrich Meyer and hired for the newly formed dance orchestra of Radio Bremen. The Last brothers became well known as members of the Last-Becker Ensemble. Warner Last found his first success as an arranger. After the disbandment of the Bremen dance orchestra in 1948, he played for a time in a 12-man band, then went to seek his fortune in the USA. Before this, he married the 18-year-old Hjördis Harlow, an American of Norwegian descent. From this marriage came two sons, Steven and Warner. In the USA, Warner had to make his living as a casual labourer for several months before he was admitted into the New York musician's union. As a trombonist, he belonged to several renowned big bands. As well, he studied music theory at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with Schillinger professor Rudolf Schramm. In 1958, Warner Last returned to Germany and arranged numerous film scores. In 1966 he signed a contract as a producer with

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

; he discovered and produced Renate Kern. As Kai Warner, he started his own orchestra, which included many musicians who played with James Last (such as his brother Robert Last, who had already played drums on the earliest James Last sessions). In 1975, Kai Warner switched from Polydor to

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

. Besides his LPs like ''Pops For Minis, Happy Together, Goldtimer 1 and 2'', his name is forever linked with the ''Go-In'' series, which continued later on Philips under the name ''Go-In Party''. He died in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

aged 55.

Discography

Kai Warner: * ''Pops For Minis'' (

, 1967) * ''This Is Kai Warner'' (Polydor, 1968) * ''Swing Out '69'' (Polydor, 1969) * ''So In Love'' (Polydor, 1969) * ''Go In Folge 3 - 28 Spitzenschlager Zum Tanzen'' (Polydor, 1969) * ''Met De Postkoets Door Nederland'' (Polydor, 1971) * ''Music For Two'' (Polydor, 1971) * ''Hi-Fi-Stereo'' (Polydor, 1971) * ''Wer Recht In Freuden Tanzen Will'' (Polydor, 1971) * ''On The Road To Philadelphia'' (

, 1975) * ''Swingin' Johann'' (Philips, 1975) * ''Dance To The Beatles'' (Philips, 1976) * ''Polka Wie Noch Nie'' (Philips, 1977) * ''It's Country Time'' (Philips, 1980) Kai Warner Singers: * ''Happy Together'' (Polydor, 1967) * ''Go In'' (Polydor, 1968) * ''Happy Together Again'' (Polydor, 1968) * ''Go In II - 28 Spitzenschlager Zum Tanzen'' (Polydor, 1969) * ''Romantic Songs'' (Polydor, 1970) * ''Love Songs'' (Polydor, 1970) * ''Happy Songs'' (Polydor, 1970) * ''Christmas Party International'' (Philips, 1975) * ''Zum Tanz Marsch Marsch!'' (Philips, 1976) * ''A Glass Of Champagne'' (Philips, 1976) * ''25 Famous Instrumental Worldhits'' (Philips, 1977) * ''Dance Party'' (Polydor, 1978) * ''Oriental Nights'' (Philips, 1978)

References

External links

*Website http://www.grandorchestras.com/kaiwarner/index.html * Kai Warner https://www.munzinger.de/search/go/document.jsp?id=00000014176 in

Munzinger-Archiv Munzinger-Archiv is a German Publishing, publisher and online encyclopedia based in the Baden-Württemberg city of Ravensburg. The content of the archive includes entries about people in politics, business, culture, sport, music and society, abou ...

* Kai Warner NB {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Kai 1926 births 1982 deaths 20th-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians Easy listening musicians German light music composers Last-Becker Ensemble members Musicians from Bremen (city)