Manfred Johannes Leuchter (born 15 June 1960 in

Würselen Würselen (, Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ) is a town in the borough of Aachen (district), Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Würselen lies north of the city of Aachen in the immediate vicinity of the tripoint of Belgium, ...

, Germany) is a German

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

ist, composer, pianist and producer of various

musical genres This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise more specifi ...

. His stylistic influences include rock and pop, jazz and

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, as well as

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Armenian music, Kurdish music, Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypriot ...

. In the early 2000s, and invited by the German

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

, Leuchter toured with his jazz band in India, Romania, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon. Following encounters with local musicians, he performed and recorded with the

Hewar Hewar ( ar, حوار "Dialogue") is a jazz fusion band from Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jum ...

jazz fusion band from Syria or with

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

player Driss el Maloumi in Morocco. Leuchter lives and works in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

, Germany, and also lived for extended stays in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, Morocco. In addition, Leuchter works as a

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

for various artists, such as German singer-songwriter

Reinhard Mey Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born 21 December 1942) is a German "Liedermacher" (literally "songmaker", a German-style singer-songwriter). In France he is known as ''Frédérik Mey''. By 2009, Mey had released 27 German albums, and generally ...

, for whom he has produced various albums and played in live concerts. Further, he is also a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

as well as composer of music for theatre productions.

Lineup

*Duo: Manfred Leuchter (accordion); Ian Melrose (

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...

, whistles) *Trio: Manfred Leuchter (accordion); Afra Mussawisade (percussion); Florian Zenker (guitar) *Quartet: Manfred Leuchter (accordion); Steffen Thormählen (drums, percussion); Antoine Pütz (electric bass,

guembri The sintir ( ar, سنتير), also known as the guembri (), gimbri or hejhouj or Garaya in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body carv ...

); Sebastian Pottmeier or Heribert Leuchter (bass, alto, soprano saxophone)

Discography

Manfred Leuchter on discogs
*''Theaterkompositionen'' (1999) * ''Sparito'' (2000) * ''Arabesque'' (2001) * ''Nomade'', with Heribert Leuchter (2003) * ''Pas de Trois'', Trio with Afra Mussawisade and Karim Othman-Hassan (2004) * ''Space'' (2004) * ''Zina'' (2006) * ''Nine days of Solitude, The Damascus Session'' with

and

Lena Chamamyan Lena Chamamyan ( ar, لينا شماميان, hy, Լենա Շամամեան; born 27 June 1980) is a Syrian-Armenian singer-songwriter known for her soprano voice and unique style, which fuses jazz, Middle Eastern folk music and Western classica ...

(2007) * ''Vis à Vis''(2008) * ''Kein schöner Land'' (2011) * ''Carpe Momentum'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Manfred Leuchter personal story in English

Manfred Leuchter on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuchter, Manfred 1960 births Living people German accordionists German male composers German jazz musicians German record producers People from Würselen 21st-century accordionists German male pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century German male musicians