Klaus Weiss

Klaus Weiss, a drummer from Germany, performed alongside numerous American musicians who had relocated abroad while also directing his ensembles in various formats—trio, quintet, sextet, and big band—from the 1960s into the 1990s. Drawing inspiration from Big Sid Catlett and Buddy Rich, among other percussionists, he turned professional when he reached 16 years old. The Jazzopators marked his initial professional engagements, where he backed trumpeter Nelson Williams and vocalist Inez Cavanaugh. Additional collaborations included time spent in the Klaus Doldinger Quartet as well as performances at Paris’s Blue Note alongside Bud Powell, Kenny Drew, and Johnny Griffin. From 1965 onward, Weiss directed a trio featuring pianist Rob Franken and bassist Rob Langereis; this group accompanied Booker Ervin, cut his debut album under his own name titled Greensleeves, secured victory at the 1966 International Jazz Competition in Vienna, and later claimed multiple Twen Jazz Polls. In the latter part of the 1960s, his activities extended to the Erwin Lehn Big Band, the Bayerischer Rundfunk Jazz Ensemble, and work with Friedrich Gulda. The early 1970s saw him produce around six LPs, many involving a quintet or sextet that incorporated trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, bassist George Mraz, and pianist Walter Norris. Furthermore, he assembled an all-star big band drawn from international talents such as Slide Hampton, Herb Geller, Philip Catherine, and Don Menza for the 1971 live recording I Just Want to Celebrate. Throughout the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, his primary focus remained the quintet, though he also joined tours with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Clifford Jordan, and Horace Parlan and issued numerous albums fronting that same group. Two releases emerged in the 1990s: the trio project L.A. Calling plus the holiday collection A Message from Santa Klaus featuring the NDR Bigband. As his already substantial body of recorded work expanded further, he took up scoring for film and television projects toward the end of his professional life. On December 10, 2008, he passed away suddenly in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Germany, with heart failure cited as the apparent cause.