Werner Dies (January 15, 1928,
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
- February 5, 2003) 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 ...
tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, guitarist, composer, and arranger.
Dies was an autodidact on guitar and saxophone, and studied clarinet and composition starting in 1947. From 1947 to 1955 he played guitar in the dance band of
Willy Berking
Willy Berking (22 June 1910 – 21 May 1979) was a German orchestra conductor, trombonist, and composer.
Career
Berking studied music (piano and composition) in Düsseldorf and then in Berlin, where he formed his first big band at the age of 18 ...
, and was a member of the bands
Hotclub Combo and
Two Beat Stompers. He also led his own ensemble, which went on a tour of Yugoslavia in 1955. From 1955 to 1965 he was a member of
Hazy Osterwald
Rolf Osterwald (February 18, 1922 – February 26, 2012), better known as Hazy Osterwald, was a Swiss jazz bandleader, trumpeter, and vibraphonist.
Osterwald began his career as a pianist. He arranged for Fred Böhler in the late 1930s and join ...
's sextet, and also worked as a
session musician
A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
and arranger. He toured with
Joe Turner and, in 1968,
Charly Antolini.
He had a hit in Germany in 1954 with "Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten", the German-language version of the song "
The Little Shoemaker
The Little Shoemaker" is a popular song based on the French song, "Le petit cordonnier", by Rudi Revil. The original French lyric was written by Francis Lemarque (page in French). The English language lyrics were written by Geoffrey Claremont ...
". This spent eight weeks at #1 on the German hit parade starting in October 1954. He also wrote a treatise on clarinet improvisation, published by
Schott in 1967. He later worked for
Howard Carpendale
Howard Victor Carpendale (born 14 January 1946) is a South African-German singer living and working in Germany.
Carpendale is a pop singer who sings most of his songs in German. His 1979 song ''Nachts, wenn alles schläft'' had been among the ...
,
Adam & Eve,
, and other singers, and produced
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 with his own ensemble, the Werner Dies Sax Band. He produced the group
Bläck Fööss
The Bläck Fööss ( ) are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. From 1973 to 2003 Werner Dies was producer of the music group.
Name of the band
The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group pr ...
from 1973 to 2003.
References
*
Carlo Bohländer Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
and Karl-Heinz Holler: ''Reclams Jazzführer''. Stuttgart, Reclam, 1977.
*Bielefelder catalog Jazz, 2001.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dies, Werner
German jazz saxophonists
German male saxophonists
1928 births
2003 deaths
Musicians from Stuttgart
German jazz clarinetists
German jazz bandleaders
20th-century German saxophonists
20th-century German male musicians
German male jazz musicians