Attila Cornelius Zoller (June 13, 1927 – January 25, 1998) was a Hungarian
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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
guitarist. After World War II, he escaped the Soviet takeover of Hungary by fleeing through the mountains on foot into Austria. In 1959, he moved to the U.S., where he spent the rest of his life as a musician and teacher.
Music career
Zoller was born in
Visegrád
Visegrád (; german: Plintenburg; la, Pone Navata or ; sk, Vyšehrad) is a castle town in Pest County, Hungary. It is north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the ...
, Hungary. As a child, he learned violin from his father, a professional violinist. While in school, he played flugelhorn and bass before choosing guitar. He dropped out of school and played in jazz clubs in Budapest while Russia occupied Hungary. He fled Hungary in 1948 as the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
was establishing communist military rule. He escaped on foot, carrying his guitar through the mountains into Austria. He settled in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, became an Austrian citizen, and started a jazz group with accordionist
Vera Auer
Vera Auer (later Vera Auer-Boucher) (April 20, 1919, Vienna – August 2, 1996, New York City) was an Austrian jazz accordionist and vibraphone, vibraphonist. She was the niece of Leopold Auer.
Auer learned classical piano but turned to jazz after ...
.
In the mid-1950s, Zoller moved to Germany and played with German musicians
Jutta Hipp
Jutta Hipp (February 4, 1925 – April 7, 2003) was a jazz pianist and composer. Born in Leipzig during the Weimar Republic, Hipp initially listened to jazz in secret, as it was not approved of by the Nazi authorities. After World War II, she bec ...
and
Hans Koller
Antonio Hans Cyrill Koller (12 February 1921 in Vienna – 21 December 2003 in Vienna) was an Austrian jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader.
Koller attended the University of Vienna from 1936 to 1939 and served in the armed forces from 1940 to 1 ...
. When American jazz musicians passed through, such as
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom.
Biography
Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...
and Lee Konitz, they persuaded him to move to the United States. He moved to the U.S. after receiving a scholarship to the Lenox School of Jazz. One of his teachers was guitarist Jim Hall and his roommate was Ornette Coleman, who got him interested in
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
.
From 1962–1965, Zoller performed in a group with flautist
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (inclu ...
Red Norvo
Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His reco ...
,
Jimmy Raney
James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and ...
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ".
Life and career
Scott was born in Phi ...
,
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform music of Afro-Jazz, ...
, Jimi Hendrix, and in New York City jazz clubs in the 1960s with pianist Don Friedman
In 1974, he started the Attila Zoller Jazz Clinics in Vermont, later named the Vermont Jazz Center, where he taught until 1998. He invented a bi-directional pickup, designed strings and a signature guitar series. Between the years 1989 and 1998, he played more and more with the German vibraphonist
Wolfgang Lackerschmid
Wolfgang Lackerschmid (born 19 September 1956 in Tegernsee) is a German jazz musician, bandleader and composer. His main instrument is the vibraphone, but he also plays many other percussion instruments. Lackerschmid grew up in Ehingen and now l ...
. They also did recordings together. He performed with
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
and
George Mraz
George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephan ...
in New York City three weeks before his death in 1998 in
Townshend, Vermont
Townshend is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Townshend family, powerful figures in British politics. The population was 1,291 at the 2020 United States Census, ...
.
Awards and honors
* Lifetime Achievement Award, New England Foundation for the Arts
* ''Message to Attila'', tribute album, coordinated and produced by guitarist
David Becker
David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute.
Career
David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune and toured ...
, featuring Zoller's compositions performed by guitarists John Abercrombie,
Gene Bertoncini
Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist.
Biography
Bertoncini was born in New York City, where he was raised in a musical family. His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. Gene began pl ...
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
, and
Mike Stern
Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, ...
Discography
As leader
* ''The Horizon Beyond'' (Emarcy, 1965)
* ''Zoller Koller Solal'' with Hans Koller & Martial Solal (SABA, 1966)
* ''Katz & Maus'' (SABA, 1967)
* ''Zo-Ko-Ma'' with Lee Konitz & Albert Mangelsdorff (MPS, 1968)
* ''Gypsy Cry'' (Embryo, 1970)
* ''Dream Bells'' (Enja, 1976)
* ''Common Cause'' (Enja, 1979)
* ''The K & K 3 in New York'' with Hans Koller & George Mraz (L+R, 1980)
* ''Jim & I'' with Jimmy Raney (L+R, 1980)
* ''Jim & I Live'' with Jimmy Raney (L+R, 1981)
* ''Conjunction'' (Inner City, 1981)
* ''Jim & I Live at Quasimodo'' with Jimmy Raney (L+R, 1986)
* ''Memories of Pannonia'' (Enja, 1986)
* ''Overcome'' (Enja, 1988)
* ''Live Highlights '92'' (Bhakti, 1992)
* ''When It's Time'' (Enja, 1995)
* ''Lasting Love'' (Acoustic Music Records, 1997)
* ''The Last Recordings'' (Enja, 2000)
* ''Common Language'' (Acoustic Music Records, 2002)
* ''Jazz Soundtracks'' (Sonorama, 2013)
As sideman
With Albert Mangelsdorff
* ''Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends'' (MPS, 1977)
* ''Mainhattan Modern Lost Jazz Files'' (Sonorama, 2015)
* ''The Jazz Sextet'' (Moosicus, 2017)
With
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (inclu ...
* ''
Herbie Mann Live at Newport
''Herbie Mann Live at Newport'' is a live album by American jazz flautist Herbie Mann recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1963 for the Atlantic label.
'' (
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
Our Mann Flute
''Our Mann Flute'' is an album by American jazz flautist Herbie Mann released on the Atlantic label in 1966.Impressions of the Middle East
''Impressions of the Middle East'' is an album by American jazz flautist Herbie Mann recorded for the Atlantic label and released in 1967.The Beat Goes On'' (Atlantic, 1967)
With others
* Gary Crosby, ''Gary Crosby'' (World Pacific, 1957)
*
Klaus Doldinger
Klaus Doldinger (born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards.
Life and work
Doldinger was born in Berlin, Germany, and entered a Düsse ...
, ''Doldinger in Sud Amerika'' (Philips, 1965)
* Klaus Doldinger, ''Jubilee'' (Atlantic, 1973)
* Lajos Dudas, ''Monte Carlo'' (Rayna, 1981)
* Don Friedman, ''
Dreams and Explorations
''Dreams and Explorations'' is the fourth album by pianist Don Friedman which was recorded in 1964 and released on the Riverside Records, Riverside label.
Hans Koller
Antonio Hans Cyrill Koller (12 February 1921 in Vienna – 21 December 2003 in Vienna) was an Austrian jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader.
Koller attended the University of Vienna from 1936 to 1939 and served in the armed forces from 1940 to 1 ...
, ''Exclusiv'' (SABA, 1963)
* Hans Koller, ''Trinity'' (L+R, 1979)
* Lee Konitz & Don Friedman & Attila Zoller, ''Thingin'' (hat ART, 1996)
*
Emil Mangelsdorff
Emil Mangelsdorff (; 11 April 1925 – 20 January 2022) was a German jazz musician who played alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet and flute. He was a jazz pioneer under the Nazi regime which led to his imprisonment. After World War II ...
, ''Meditation'' (L+R, 1994)
*
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom.
Biography
Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...
, ''The Oscar Pettiford Quartet'' (Ex Libris, 1958)
* Oscar Pettiford, ''The Legendary Oscar Pettiford'' (Black Lion, 1975)
*
Dave Pike
David Samuel Pike (March 23, 1938 – October 3, 2015) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He appeared on many albums by Nick Brignola, Paul Bley and Kenny Clarke, Bill Evans, and Herbie Mann. He also recorded extensively as le ...
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ".
Life and career
Scott was born in Phi ...
Tony Scott
Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...
, ''Tony Scott'' (Verve, 1968)
*
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform music of Afro-Jazz, ...
Michal Urbaniak
Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Juda ...
, ''We'll Remember Komeda'' (MPS/BASF, 1973)
Bibliography
* Simon Géza Gábor: Mindhalálig gitár - Zoller Attila élete és művészete. Budapest, 2002.
* Géza Gábor Simon: Immens gut, Attila Zoller. Sein Leben und seine Kunst. Budapest 2003.
* Heinz Protzer: Attila Zoller. Sein Leben, seine Zeit, seine Musik. Erftstadt 2009.
* Géza Gábor Simon: Guitar Forever - Attila Zoller Discography, Budapest 2011