Werner Lüdi (April 22, 1936 – June 21, 2000) was a Swiss

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician ( alto- and

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

) and author.

Biography

Lüdi was born on April 22, 1936 in

Poschiavo Poschiavo (, , , ) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bernina Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons in Switzerland. History Poschiavo is first mentioned in 824 as ''in Postclave'' though this comes from a l ...

. He spent the early years of his life in

Val Poschiavo Val Poschiavo (, , ) is a valley in the southern, Italian-speaking part of the Swiss canton of the Grisons. The main town is Poschiavo. The valley is known for its distinctive microclimate that supports a diverse agricultural landscape, ranging ...

and spent his youth in Landquart, where he played

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"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 (mou ...

in a band. He became familiar with

cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music inspired by bebop and big band that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and a lighter tone than that used in the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz of ...

and played baritone saxophone in Tone Schädler's band. In 1958, he moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, where he participated in

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s. In jam sessions, he got to know

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his m ...

, but he could not contact at first with a band of

modern jazz Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

. In 1964, he made a tour as an alto saxophonist with Gunter Hampel's band for one year and then, he went to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where he made jam sessions with Pierre Favre. Then, he came back to Switzerland in 1966 and started to work as a photographer in a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

office and

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

in an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

. In 1981, Lüdi came again to jazz scene and founded the group Sunnymoon with

Stephan Wittwer Stephan Wittwer (1 March 1953 – 18 September 2024) was a Swiss experimental musician, improvisor and composer. Earlier, his main instruments were electric and classical guitar, amplifier and recording studio, but in later years, his instrument wa ...

, Fredy Studer and Léon Francioli. In 1984, Hans Koch, Martin Schütz, Timo Fleig and Lüdi played

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

in this group. Later, Koch, Schütz, Lüdi and

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

performed together. At the end of 1980s, he played with

Mani Neumeier Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru. Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, Neu ...

, Wädi Gysi and the trumpet player Mich Gerber as the group ''Blauer Hirsch''. He has performed also with Brötzmann's ''Märzcombo'',

Butch Morris Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. ...

Sainkho Namtchylak Sainkho Namtchylak (, , born 1957) is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She has been resident in Vienna, Austria since 1991. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing (khöö ...

Peter Kowald Peter Kowald (21 April 1944 – 21 September 2002) was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist. Career A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with many European f ...

, William Parker, Saadet Türköz, Burhan Öçal, Peter Conradin Zumthor and Daniel Seiler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludi, Werner 1936 births 2000 deaths Swiss jazz saxophonists People from Poschiavo 20th-century Swiss journalists Intakt Records artists