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The Boogie Woogie Company (Germany - Allemagne)

The “ roaring sixties “ brought new ideas and new experiences in music and also led to a deeper remembrance of the powerful roots in Jazz and Blues. This movement was very productive and led also to the rediscovery of a style which seamed to be dead- the BOOGIE WOOGIE,a music popular in the third an fourth decade of 20th century. The revival of this music is with no doubt the merit of the activities of the German band BOOGIE WOOGIE COMPANY, Cologne In summer of 1964 the creative and charismatic Boogie – player LEO V: KNOBELSDORFF and Modern-Jazz- Guitarist ALI CLAUDI and a rhythm group came together for a jam session at the “ Kintopp Saloon “ of Cologne. This turned out as the birth of a new concept: a Boogie band with masterly performing soloists. The extraordinary success of this session led to the foundation of the BOOGIE WOOGIE COMPANY with Leo v. Knobelsdorff (piano) Ali Claudi (guitar and vocal) Heinz Grah (bass) Kalle Hoffmeister (drums) Within a few months this band became extremely popular, and concert- offers increased very quickly. The musicians played on international festivals, clubs and appeared in radio-shows and on TV. Thus the activities of the BOOGIE WOOGIE COMPANY helped the Boogie- style to a new popularity. Numerous young piano-players profited of this preparatory work. This band did not copy the originals. It succeeded in combining the ideas of the traditional Boogie with modern elements of Jazz, creating a contemporary Boogie- band- style, powerful, rich in details, and versatile. More than 2800 concerts since 1964 prove this successful concept. Today the members of the band are: ALI CLAUDI (guitar and vocal), CHRISTOPH OESER (piano), KALLE HOFFMEISTER (drums) , PAUL G. ULRICH (bass and vocal) Founder Leo v. Knobelsdorff left the band in 1989 due to his age, but still stays in friendly contact. Bass player Heinz Grah left the band as well in1989. In a lot of concerts the band works with the excellent Boogie- player MARC GALPERIN replacing C. OESER

website : www.bwc-cologne.de/

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