Biography
German blues and boogie-woogie pianist Axel Zwingenberger entered the world on May 7, 1955, in Hamburg. Eleven years of classical piano training came first for Zwingenberger, who later encountered the playing of Albert Ammons, Meade "Lux" Lewis, and Pete Johnson; those artists supplied an immediate influence. Regular blues concerts and festivals soon followed alongside three fellow pianists, among them the 1974 First International Blues and Boogie Woogie Festival staged for a West German radio station in Cologne and Hans Maitner’s yearly Stars of Boogie Woogie event held in Vienna.
A first recording contract arrived by 1975, yielding the solo albums Boogie Woogie Breakdown, Power House Boogie, and Boogie Woogie Live while also placing Zwingenberger on sessions with Lionel Hampton, Jay McShann, Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Glenn, Joe Newman, Sippie Wallace, Mama Yancey, Champion Jack Dupree, Sammy Price, Ray Bryant, Charlie Watts, Vince Weber, and the Mojo Blues Band, among others. Additional solo releases continue to appear as Zwingenberger tours worldwide and has written several publications on blues and boogie-woogie music and its practitioners.
A first recording contract arrived by 1975, yielding the solo albums Boogie Woogie Breakdown, Power House Boogie, and Boogie Woogie Live while also placing Zwingenberger on sessions with Lionel Hampton, Jay McShann, Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Glenn, Joe Newman, Sippie Wallace, Mama Yancey, Champion Jack Dupree, Sammy Price, Ray Bryant, Charlie Watts, Vince Weber, and the Mojo Blues Band, among others. Additional solo releases continue to appear as Zwingenberger tours worldwide and has written several publications on blues and boogie-woogie music and its practitioners.
Albums
