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Ingfried Hoffmann | |
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| Born | January 30, 1935 Szczecin, Poland |
| Genres | Jazz |
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| Formerly of | Klaus Doldinger Quartet |
Ingfried Hoffmann (born January 30, 1935) is a German jazz organist, pianist, trumpeter, arranger and composer. He has recorded for Columbia, Philips, Polydor, and Verve. In the 1960s, Hoffmann worked extensively with tenor saxophonist Klaus Doldinger. He has also composed music for German television, including music for the German version of Sesame Street and Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt .
Hoffmann was born on January 30, 1935 in Szczecin, Poland. His interest in music started when he was a baby [1] , as he is the brother of Ludwig Hoffmann, who was a German classical pianist. He was ten years older than Ingfried, and died in 1999. Hoffmann played at his first concert when he was twelve years old, performing The Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach [2] . He studied at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf and the Cologne University of Music, and studied musicology, philosophy, and psychology [3] .
Hoffmann's earliest recording is titled Ingfried's Boogie / Bumble Boogie, which he recorded in 1956 with Attila Zoller, Johnny Fischer, and Rudi Sehring [4] . He had known German saxophonist Klaus Doldinger since the 1950s, and he played in his band The Feetwarmers [5] . In 1962, Hoffmann became a member of the Klaus Doldinger Quartet as the band's Hammond organist and pianist. The band recorded several albums including Jazz Made In Germany, which received international acclaim, and Blues Happening, and performed live frequently throughout the 1960s [6] . The Klaus Doldinger Quartet disbanded in 1970. For Doldinger's 70th birthday in May 2006, Hoffmann performed with him once again in various German cities [7] .
During the mid-1960s, Hoffmann founded and led his own big band, which was named the Ingfried Hoffmann Big Band. The band's ensemble consisted of musicians such as Manfred Schoof, Volker Kriegel, and Helmut Kandlberger [8] . They performed at the Jazz Am Rhein Festival in 1967 [9] .
In 1963, Hoffmann released his first solo album titled Hammond Tales, which he recorded with René Thomas, Helmut Kandlberger, and Klaus Weiss [10] . He also released From Twen With Love in 1966, which was recorded with guitarist Volker Kriegel, Peter Trunk, Pierre Cavalli, and Rafi Lüderitz. This album, on which Hoffmann only plays organ, interpreted several theme songs from James Bond films, along with a few original compositions by Hoffmann [11] . In 1969, Hoffmann released Swinging Bach-Organ, on which he interpreted several songs by Bach on organ [12] . During the 1960s, he also recorded for Lucky Thompson [13] , Rolf Kühn [14] , and Don Paulin [15] . He founded the band Steel Organ in 1969, which consisted of himself, Helmut Kandlberger, Philip Catherine, and Garcia Morales. The band toured in Europe, South America, and North Africa [16] .
In 1969, Hoffmann recorded two albums under the alias Memphis Black. He released Soul Club and Soul Cowboy under the name, and he played only the organ on them [17] . He also arranged and composed music for Manfred Krug's album Da Bist Du Ja, which released in 1979 [18] .
In 1970, Hoffmann retired from the jazz scene and since then, he has worked in composing and arranging music for television shows and films. He composed the soundtrack for the 1972 television adaption of Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt by WDR, which is based on Boy Lornsen's novel of the same name. The show's soundtrack got its own release on LP and CD in 2002 [19] .
Hoffmann became the musical director for Sesamstraße , the German version of Sesame Street, in 1972. He composed the show's theme song, "Der, Die, Das", and would often re-arrange or entirely re-compose songs from Sesame Street for the German version because he didn't like most of the original songs from the American version [20] . Although he liked some of the American music, it inspired him to make them even better [21] . Hoffmann's work as the musical director for the show is considered to be the largest composition commission in German television history [7] . Labels such as Poly and Europa released Sesamstraße LPs and CDs with songs composed by Hoffmann featured on the show [22] .
Hoffmann contributed to the soundtrack for the 1966 film Playgirl. The soundtrack was written by Peter Thomas, and Hoffmann played Hammond organ in several songs. The Klaus Doldinger Quartet, in which Hoffmann played organ, also recorded songs for the soundtrack [23] . In 1979, Hoffmann also composed music for Hallo Spencer and wrote the title music for the show [7] . He was the musical editor for Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1975 film Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht (Like a Bird on a Wire) [24] , where he also made an acting cameo in the film, portraying himself as a barpianist [25] . Hoffmann also arranged and composed music for Impressions de la Haute Mongolie, a 1976 film directed by Salvador Dalí and José Montes-Baquer [26] . In 2017, 41 years after the film's release, Hoffmann was featured in a documentary titled Raymond Roussel: Le Jour de Gloire, which was about the film and Raymond Roussel, the film's subject [27] . In 1990, he composed the music for Der Hammermörder, which is a film that is loosely based on the true story of serial killer Norbert Poehlke [28] . In 1996, Hoffmann wrote the music for Das Phantom Der Oper, a German musical based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera, with lyrics written by Karl Heinz Freynik [29] .
Later in his life, Hoffmann got involved in composing music for operas aimed at children. He composed the music for Vom Fischer und seiner Frau, which premiered at the Cologne Opera House in 2010 [30] . In 2016, Hoffmann also composed the music for children's opera Die Heinzelmännchen zu Köln, which premiered at the Cologne Opera House, celebrating 20 years of the Cologne Children's Opera. He described his music for it as a "cheerful jazz opera for children", with a small jazz ensemble performing the songs [31] .
Hoffmann currently resides in a villa, which is situated directly on the Rhine in Rodenkirchen, Cologne. He has his own recording studio there [32] .
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)1969 gründete er seine eigene Band, Steel Organ, mit der durch Europa, Südamerika und Nordafrika tourte.
Die Musik, die die Amis darin hatten, fand ich größtenteils scheiße.
In Wahrheit war die Musik der Amis zum Teil gut, was mich jedoch wiederum beflügelte, es noch besser machen zu wollen.
Tobias van de Locht visited Ingfried Hoffmann at his villa directly on the Rhine in Cologne-Rodenkirchen, where the composer also maintains his impressive recording studio.
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