Klaus Doldinger

Klaus Doldinger launched his career by taking up piano studies in 1947 and adding clarinet five years afterward, performing with Dixieland ensembles throughout the 1950s. By 1961 he had established himself as a modern tenor saxophonist, collaborating with leading American visitors and expatriates that included Don Ellis, Johnny Griffin, Benny Bailey, Idrees Sulieman, Donald Byrd, and Kenny Clarke while leading sessions for Philips, World Pacific, and Liberty. Best known for directing the strong fusion outfit Passport across the 1970s and 1980s, he began an extended run of Atlantic recordings in 1970 that placed his tenor, soprano, flute, and occasional keyboards in front of an electric rhythm section. Beyond scoring European films such as Das Boot and numerous television projects, Doldinger continued performing into the late ’90s, at times revisiting his hard-bop origins, yet his lifelong residence in Europe has kept him underrecognized in the United States.