Max Greger (; 2 April 1926, in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
– 15 August 2015, in Munich) was a German
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 ...
musician, saxophonist,
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
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 conductor. He recorded over 150 records in jazz and
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
.
In 1948 he founded his first
sextet
A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...
with musicians, including
Hugo Strasser
Hugo Strasser (April 7, 1922, Munich-Schwabing - March 17, 2016, Munich-Trudering) was a German swing and jazz musician, composer, clarinetist and big band leader of the Orchester Hugo Strasser (Hugo Strasser Orchestra) since 1955. The orchestr ...
. In 1959 his orchestra was the first western orchestra to tour the Soviet Union. In 1963 he put together an orchestra for
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 ( ...
.
[
His son, Max Greger Jr. and grandson, Max Greger III, are also musicians.][
]
Selected albums
* ''European Jazz Sounds'' (1963), Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
History
1916–1929
Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...
267 918, 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 ...
829 257-2
* ''Yakety Sax'' (1964), Polydor 237 374
* ''Maximum'' (1965), Brunswick, Polydor 825 703-2
* ''Ball Paré'' (1965), Polydor 237 483
* ''Tanz mit mir'' (1965), Polydor 249 034
* ''Eine kleine Tanzmusik'' (1966), Polydor 249 066
* ''Greger in the Night'' (1966), Polydor 249 103
* ''Greger in Rio'' (196?), Polydor 249 112
* ''Live – „Tour de dance“ with 28 Hits and Evergreens'' (196?), Polydor 249 273
* ''In the Mood for Dancing – 28 Glenn Miller
Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...
Evergreens'' (1969), Polydor 249 315
* ''Sunshine Starshine'' (1969), Polydor 2371 009
* ''Gaudi in Bavaria'' (1970), Polydor 2371 046
* ''Max Greger plays Glenn Miller'' (1970), Polydor 2371 047
* ''Olympia-Dancing ’72'' (1971), Polydor 2371 153
* ''Sax-Appeal'' (1971), Polydor 2371 197
* ''Trumpets Trumpets Trumpets'' (1971), Polydor 2371 198
* ''Hits marschieren auf – Folge 1'' (1972), Polydor 2371 286
* ''Strictly for Dancing'' (1972), Polydor 2371 317
* ''Hits marschieren auf – Folge 2'' (1973), Polydor 2371 379
* ''Tanz und trimm dich fit'' (1973), Polydor 2371 433
* ''Tanz ’74'' (1973), Polydor 2371 434
* ''Hits marschieren auf – Folge 3'' (1974), Polydor 2371 485
* ''Trimm und tanz dich top-fit'' (1974), Polydor 2371 513
* ''Tanz ’75'' (1974), Polydor 2371 526
* ''Max, du hast das Tanzen raus'' (1975), Polydor 2371 570
* ''Soft-Ice Dancing'' (1975), Polydor 2371 589
* ''Top-fit in den Schnee'' (1975), Polydor 2371 607
* ''Tanz ’76'' (1975), Polydor 2371 609
* ''Tanz mit mir – Folge 2'' (1975), Polydor 2371 630
* ''Auf geht’s'' (1976), Polydor 2371 684
* ''Alles tanzt auf mein Kommando'' (1976), Polydor 2371 692
* ''Tanz mit mir – Folge 3'' (1976), Polydor 2371 694
* ''Die Tanzplatte des Jahres ’77'' (1976), Polydor 2371 720
* ''Die Tanzplatte des Jahres ’78'' (1977), Polydor 2371 820
* ''Die Tanzplatte des Jahres ’79'' (1978), Polydor 2371 921
* ''White Christmas'' (1979), Polydor Spectrum 551 299-2
* ''Tanz ist Trumpf – The Dancxe Party of the Year'' (1980), Polydor 2372 040
* ''Mach mal wieder Tanztag'' (1980; Sales: + 250,000; DE: 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 ...
), Polydor 2475 728
* ''Klassisches Tanzvergnügen'' (1984), Polydor 817 857-2
* ''Max Greger und sein Enzian-Sextett'' (1984), Polydor 821 650-2
* ''Supertanzmusik'' (1984), Polydor 823 687-2
* ''Traumzeit – Max Greger senior and junior and 100 enchanted violins '' (1986), Polydor 831 476-2
* ''Oscar-Melodien zum Tanzen'' (1987), Polydor 833 009-2
* ''Lovebird'' – The Saxy Feeling-Sound (1988), Polydor 833 921-2
* ''Evergreens im '' (1988), Polydor 835 916-2
* ''Tanzen ’89 – Today & Traditional'' (1988), Polydor 837 316-2
* ''Mambo-Jambo – Tanzen im Latin-Sound'', 1989, Polydor 837 929-2
* ''Tanzen ’90'' – Today & Traditional, 1989, Polydor 841 166-2
* ''Tanzen ’91'' (1990), Polydor 843 932-2
* ''Zauber der Berge'' – Max Greger and his Golden Bavaria Orchestra (1990), Polydor 843 933-2
* ''Laßt uns tanzen – Die klassische Tanzplatte'' (1991), Polydor 849 021-2
* ''Tanzen ’92'' (1991), Polydor 511 071-2
* ''Sax in Love'' (1992), Polydor 513 040-2
* ''Tanzen ’93'' (1992), Polydor 513 992-2
* ''Eine Reise ins Glück – in Billy Vaughn
William Vaughn, popularly known as Billy Vaughn (born Richard Smith Vaughn, April 12, 1919 – September 26, 1991) was an American musician, singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records.
Biography
Vaughn was bor ...
Sound'' (1993), Polydor 519 911-2
* ''Tanzen ’94'' (1993), Polydor 519 912-2
* ''together'' – Greger und Greger (1995), Polydor 529 156-2
* ''world wide hits'' – Greger and Greger (1996), Polydor 533 508-2
* ''swingtime'' – Max Greger and the (1998), Polydor 559 855-2
* ''Night Train – Swing & Jazz Forever'' (1999), Polydor 543 393-2
* ''Happy Birthday! Max Greger'' 1980ths – 40 Hits, 2-CD compilation with 11 new titles (2006), Koch Universal
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, N ...
06024 9876941
* ''Hallo, kleines Fräulein'', Compilation 1958 - 1965, „Jazzclub“-Reihe (2007), Universal 06024 9845696
* ''Greger's Groove Party'', Compilation 1965 - 1973, „Jazzclub“-Reihe (2008), Universal 06007 5307296
Recognition
*1987: Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...
[
*2012: ]Bavarian Order of Merit
The Bavarian Order of Merit () is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people".
The or ...
"Hervorragende Verdienste um den Freistaat Bayern: Ministerpräsident Seehofer zeichnet 70 Persönlichkeiten aus."
, 10 October 2012
* There is a memorial plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...
with his handprints and signature in Berlin-Mitte
Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district.
Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...
References
External links
*
Max Greger
at the Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greger, Max
1926 births
2015 deaths
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
German jazz bandleaders
German jazz saxophonists
20th-century German saxophonists