Michel Hausser (7 February 1927 – 25 January 2024) was a French

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 ...

vibraphonist The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vib ...

Biography

Hausser was born in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

on 7 February 1927. He played

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

as a child and taught the instrument in his early twenties before switching to vibraphone in 1948. Initially, he studied the instrument classically, but by the mid-1950s was working as a sideman, playing during that decade for Eddy Barclay, Christian Chevallier, Henri Crolla,

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

Stephane Grappelli Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (headdress) A stephane (''ancient Greek'' στέφανος, from ''στέφω'' (stéphō, “I encircle”), '' Lat.'' Stephanus = wreath, decorative wreath worn on the head; cr ...

, Roger Guérin,

Bobby Jaspar Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer. Early life Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up the ...

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano sa ...

, and

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

. In 1964 he formed his own trio ensemble with bassist Jacky Samson; his drummers for this venture included Jean Guérin,

Franco Manzecchi Franco (Gian) Manzecchi (September 10, 1931, Ravenna – March 25, 1979, Konstanz) was an Italian drummer. Biography Manzecchi's older brother Gino was also a trumpeter and drummer. He moved from his hometown Ravenna, Italy, to Bologna, then t ...

, and Teddy Martin. Later in the 1960s he worked with

Georges Arvanitas Georges Arvanitas (June 13, 1931 – September 25, 2005) was a French jazz pianist and organist. Life and career He was born in Marseille, a child of Greek immigrants from Constantinople. At the age of four he began studying piano and initially ...

and

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

. In the 1970s he moved to Germany, where he became a professor in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

. Hausser died on 25 January 2024, at the age of 96.L’Alsacien Michel Hausser, emblématique musicien de jazz, est mort

References

Sources

*Michel Laplace, "Michel Hausser". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hausser, Michel 1927 births 2024 deaths French jazz vibraphonists Vibraphonists People from Colmar Musicians from Haut-Rhin