Ernst Höllerhagen (October 5, 1912 in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

– July 11, 1956 in Interlaken) was a German jazz reedist.

Career

Höllerhagen played violin as a child. At the age of 13, he played in live orchestras accompanying silent films. In 1929, he trained as a clarinetist at the

Cologne University of Music Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

and played in dance orchestras. In 1930, he played clarinet and alto saxophone with Max Tichauer and Sam Wooding. In 1931, he played with Bruno Miller. In 1932, he played with Jacques Alban and was praised by critics as the best saxophonist in Germany, dubbed the European

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

. Höllerhagen held Goodman in high esteem as a professional role model. After seeing Höllerhagen perform at a concert in Copenhagen, Goodman himself would later praise Höllerhagen as the best clarinetist Goodman had heard in Europe. Throughout the 1930s, he played with Dutch bands including those with

Melle Weersma Melle Weersma (January 22, 1908, Harlingen - September 14, 1988, Putten) was a Dutch composer, arranger, and bandleader, who played in jazz, light music, and symphonic styles. Weersma played in the late 1920s with The Electorians, and then in th ...

, Jack Hylton,

Marek Weber Marek Weber (24 October 1888 – 9 February 1964) was a German violinist and bandleader. Early life and education Born in Lviv (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Weber moved in 1906 to Berlin and studied at the Stern Conservatory. C ...

and

John Ouwerx John Ouwerx (8 March 1903 – 13 January 1983) was a Belgian jazz pianist and composer who in 1927 played the first European performance of George Gershwin's '' Rhapsody in Blue''. Classically trained at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, he trave ...

, played with the German band

Goldene Sieben The Goldene Sieben ("Golden Seven") was a German jazz ensemble. The Goldene Sieben was created in 1934 as the house band for the Berlin-based label Electrola. Henri René picked its initial members from noted local ensembles, but by 1935 the group ...

, and also worked with

Kurt Engel Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

, Coleman Hawkins (1936),

Kurt Hohenberger Kurt Hohenberger (April 28, 1908 in Stuttgart – July 15, 1979 in Kernenstetten) was a German jazz trumpeter. Hohenberger was a member of the Goldene Sieben from 1934 to 1939, and he performed and recorded with his own group in Berlin, which hel ...

Juan Llosas ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

, and Teddy Stauffer (1939). He continued playing regularly in the 1940s, both with his own ensembles and as a sideman for Philippe Brun,

Eddie Brunner Eduard "Eddie" Brunner (July 19, 1912, Zurich - July 18, 1960, Zurich) was a Swiss jazz reedist and bandleader. Brunner learned to play clarinet, piano, and tenor and alto saxophone, and began playing professionally in the early 1930s with Rene D ...

, Willie Lewis, and

Hazy Osterwald Rolf Osterwald, better known as Hazy Osterwald (February 18, 1922 in Bern – February 26, 2012 in Lucerne) was a Swiss jazz bandleader, trumpeter, and vibraphonist. Osterwald began his career as a pianist. He arranged for Fred Böhler in the ...

.Rainer E. Lotz, "Ernst Höllerhagen". '' 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 U ...

. During World War II, he moved to Switzerland and joined Lewis' band. He later set up his own band with former members of Stauffer's orchestra, from its

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

: Buddy Bertinat (piano), Gene Favre (bass) and Polly Guggisberg (drums). From 1947 until his death in 1956, he played with Osterwald. In 1949, he performed in Osterwald's sextet at a jazz festival in Paris, France called the ''Festival International 1949 de Jazz''. There, he met Charlie Parker. He also submitted recordings with Lewis and Hawkins. Höllerhagen described his 1936 meeting with Hawkins in Switzerland as his most important professional encounter in the music industry. In total, he recorded more than 550 tracks with Swiss record label Elite Special.

Personal life

Like many jazz musicians to live in Nazi Germany, Höllerhagen held disdain for Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He was once imprisoned by the Gestapo for several days for making a joke mocking the Nazi salute. He would later migrate to Switzerland to evade Nazi oppression. He married and had a daughter. However, their marriage fell apart. His wife divorced him and left with their daughter to move to the United States. Höllerhagen suffered from depression as well as medical problems including a heart attack, nerve inflammation, and partial facial paralysis. Distress from these conditions influenced him to commit suicide by hanging.

References

German jazz clarinetists German jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists German jazz bandleaders German male jazz musicians 1912 births 1956 deaths Goldene Sieben members 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century saxophonists {{Germany-musician-stub