Chris Karrer
{{Short description|German guitarist and composer (1947–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Chris Karrer
| image = Chris Karrer (1d).jpg
| caption = Chris Karrer, {{circa|2010}}
| alt = Three-quarter view of man with strong features, wearing a tigerskin-print headscarf, tied at the back
| birth_place = Kempten, Bavaria, Germany
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|01|20|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|01|02|1947|01|20|df=y}}
| death_place =
| occupation = {{Ubl| Guitarist | Oud player | Composer }}
| organizations = Amon Düül II
| website =
}}
Christoph Karrer (20 January 1947 – 2 January 2024) was a German guitarist and composer who also played saxophone, violin and oud.
He was a pioneer of krautrock, playing and recording with his band Amon Düül II from 1969 when they released their first album Phallus Dei.
He wrote film scores and played them with the band; the music for Syberberg's San Domingo earned them the Deutscher Filmpreis for film music in 1971. From the 1980s Karrer played as a soloist and with Embryo, a band that combined elements of rock and jazz with music from Africa and India.
Biography
Christoph Karrer was born in Kempten{{cite news |title=Bayerischer Weltmusiker: Chris Karrer gestorben |url=https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/chris-karrer-ist-gestorben-gruendungsmitglied-von-amon-dueuel,U0JMkt3 |access-date=3 January 2024 |publisher=BR |language=de |date=3 January 2024}} on 20 January 1947. He played clarinet and saxophone from age 12. After his Abitur he studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.{{cite news |last=Wagner |first=Dirk |title=Tod eines neugierigen Musiksuchers |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/chris-karrer-nachruf-amon-dueuel-ii-gitarrist-oud-1.6327866 |access-date=4 January 2024 |newspaper=Süddeutsche Zeitung |date=3 January 2024 |language=de}}
File:Amon duul july 22 1972 billboard.png advertisement]]
Karrer co-founded, with Peter Leopold, Dieter Serfas and others, the Amon Düül band and commune in 1967, in the spirit of the student movement.{{cite web |last=Write |first=Alex |title=Amon Düül-Mitbegründer Chris Karrer gestorben |url=https://munichcityofmusic.de/amon-dueuel-mitbegruender-chris-karrer-gestorben |access-date=9 January 2024 |publisher=Munich |date=3 January 2024 |language=de}} Arguments about the musical focus caused him to turn to Amon Düül II, playing more advanced experimental music later named krautrock, in opposition to German groups only imitating foreign styles. Their 1969 debut album was Phallus Dei, which featured "abstract" singing and driving percussion. Karrer was one of the first musicians using the violin for rock music.{{cite news |last=Wagner |first=Christoph |url=https://taz.de/Chris-Karrer/!1519833/ |title=Scheibengericht |date=20 February 1995 |newspaper=Die Tageszeitung |access-date=4 January 2024 |language=de}} With Amon Düül II, he composed and played film music for Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Niklashausen Journey and for Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's film San Domingo, which earned Amon Düül II the Deutscher Filmpreis for film music in 1971.{{cite web | url = https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/08/002/0800265.pdf | title = Antwort der Bundesregierung | date = 4 May 1977 | website = German Government | access-date = 8 January 2024 | language = de | page = 14}} The group disbanded in the late 1970s.{{cite news |last=Wagner |first=Christoph |url=https://taz.de/Gerade-eben-nicht-deutsch/!1608361/ |title=Gerade eben nicht deutsch |date=16 July 1993 |newspaper=Die Tageszeitung |access-date=8 January 2024 |language=de}}
From the early 1980s, Karrer collaborated with Embryo, a band for jazz rock and world music.{{cite book |title=The crack in the cosmic egg: encyclopedia of Krautrock, Kosmische musik & other progressive, experimental & electronic musics from Germany |last=Freeman |first=Steve |author2=Alan Freeman |page=112 |year=1996 |publisher=Audion |isbn=978-0-9529506-0-8 }} The group had begun in the late 1960s as one of the first to combine elements of rock and jazz, and had integrated ethno-musical influences before the term world music was invented, touring Africa, India and Japan, among others.
Karrer explored the sounds of the oud and its music inspired by Sufism, influenced by Sivan Perwer, Rabih Abou-Khalil and Abdul Wahab who played with him. He also became interested in the rubab. He later focused on the flamenco guitar.
= Personal life =
Karrer spent the last two decades with his partner and a daughter in Kronach. He painted again and worked on an autobiography. He played guitar during readings of literature and lyrics.{{cite news | url = https://www.fraenkischertag.de/gemeinde/kronach/chris-karrer-verstorben-art-316175 | title = Chris Karrer verstorben | date = 8 January 2024 | newspaper = Fränkischer Tag | access-date = 9 January 2024 | language = de}}
Karrer died on 2 January 2024, after a COVID-19 infection, at the age of 76.
Discography
- with Amon Düül II
- with Embryo
=Solo=
Karrer's recordings are held by the German National Library:{{cite web | url = https://portal.dnb.de/opac/simpleSearch?reset=true&cqlMode=true&query=intRef%3D13491404X&selectedCategory=any |title = Publications with Chris Karrer | website = German National Library | date = 2024 | language = de | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Chris Karrer LP (1980) with Curt Cress
- Dervish Kiss (1994) with Sivan Perwer and Rabih Abou-Khalil
- Sufisticated CD (1996)
- The Mask CD (1997) with Mani Neumeier and Christian Burchard
- Grandezza Mora CD (1999)
=Collaborations=
- Missus Beastly (LP 1970) with {{ill|Missus Beastly|de}}{{cite web| url = http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13640 | title = Missus Beastly | website = progarchives.com | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Fitzcarraldo (LP 1982, CD 2005) with Popol Vuh{{cite web| url = http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=6243 | title = Fitzcarraldo | website = progarchives.com | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Patchwork (CD 1999) with M. T. Wizzard{{cite web| url = https://www.blick-aktuell.de/Berichte/Slaves-to-the-Rhythm-257699.html | title = "Slaves to the Rhythm" | website = blick-aktuell.de | date = 20 March 2017 | language = de | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Dunarobba (LP 2000) with Militia{{cite web| url = https://materiali-sonori.myshopify.com/products/militia-feat-b-l-reininger-chris-karrer-arlo-bigazzi-dunarobba-lp | title = Dunarobba | website = materiali-sonori.myshopify.com | date = | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Temporale (CD 2005) with Alhambra{{cite web| url = http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13534 | title = Temporale | website = progarchives.com | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- PSY (2008) with Guru Guru{{cite web| url = https://www.rocktimes.info/Archiv/gesamt/g/guru_guru/psy.html | title = Guru Guru / PSY | website = rocktimes.com | date = 2008 | language = de | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
- Portrait (2009) with Uli Trepte{{cite web| url = https://www.rocktimes.info/Archiv/gesamt/t/uli_trepte/portrait.html | title = Uli Trepte / Portrait | website = rocktimes.com | date = 2009 | language = de | access-date = 8 January 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{discogs artist|Chris Karrer}}
- {{AllMusic|id=mn0000106110}}
- {{imdb name|1296141}}
- [https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Chris%20Karrer Chris Karrer] music.metason.net
- [http://www.thing.de/delektro/artikel/eng/ad2/ad-yeti-yogi.html Amon Düül 2] (interview) thing.de
- Edwin Pouncey: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106200851/https://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/60/ Communing With Chaos] thewire.co.uk 1996
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karrer, Chris}}
Category:German male guitarists