The origin of Mhdb & the autobiography (extract 1 from Mozart had the Blues)
The origin of Mhdb, session bands & amateur musicians. Prior to establishing 'Mozart has the blues' in 1991, I - my name is Wolfgang Billmann - had played on countless sessions, in addition to my regular bands. For example, I drummed on a jazz session, where a classical female vocalist sang with a tight vibrato in the smoky jazz piece "Blue Monk", or on a rock session, where a Heavy Metal guitarist and a piano student rocked Mozart's arias. I see 'Mozart has the blues' and myself as an amateur to semi-professional. And by this, I don't mean the musical standard, but rather as Mr. Ziegenruecker expressed it (1): "An amateur musician..." is someone, "...who plays with joy and enthusiasm, ...but not as a main profession...," and further, that "many innovations up to stylistic inventions" come from amateur musicians. I still experiment with stylistic innovations, just as I am now doing with 'Mozart has the blues'. This band first took shape, when, from 1991 on, I subsumed the ever-changing session groups, that had continuously existed in addition to my main music groups, under the name 'Mozart has the blues'. In 1994 a relatively stable trio emerged from this and then a duo, after the guitarist ran away due to the band's experimental sound. In 1997, on my fiftieth birthday, I decided to restrict myself to my own bands such as 'Mozart has the blues' or 'Bambulete'.
Wolfgang Billmann (voice, steeld, d), Kulmbach, June 2003.
Thanks to Dr. Thorolf Linke (2)
The autobiography as a piece of history. Everyone is part of history. In
1997 I presented my autobiography to a small, also formerly familiar circle, to
take stock on my 50th birthday (3). You will find
an update of it here, which also analyzes the pre-history of 'Mozart has the
blues', above all from the viewpoint of the history of drums. This biography reflects some stages of
the history of the Federal Republic of Germany and deals with the approximately
fifty global and epochal centers or metropolises in the context of
globalization. For example, important milestones are: occupation troops and AFN
influence around 1960; protests and scepticism of the movement of 1968, ascent
of Beat and Rock Music in the 60s; nostalgia of the 1970s-80s, the rediscovery of
Modern Jazz, the back-to-the-roots Rock or the radicalism from Punk Rock on,
mass unemployment again; the Berlin Wall before, then German reunification in
the 90s, loss of the niche existence of the Federal Republic of Germany;
'September 11'; globalization, internet, computer-related change. Today bands are no longer pure
live bands, but a mixture of live performance and computer-generated playback.
Some are even entirely virtual bands. Both real and virtual bands have songs on the internet charts.
And musicians from all kinds of globally far-flung places can now simultaneously
play together over the internet and thus virtually form bands, for example, at
Ejamming.com (4). 'Mozart has the blues' have taken
all this into account and perform as a live, virtual and beginning e-jam band. But from
the outset, this has been only a means to an end, i. e. to analyze the
approximately fifty global and epochal centers or metropolises: where the history of
mankind has concentrated up to now; or where the majority of people have
globally and traditionally lived; and to analyze how live music, percussion or
even jazz have come about; and thus giving rise to Ethno and experiments, experimental Jazz and Rock, Mozart and
Blues.
Genealogy. The quality of the information available on the internet is not guaranteed. For example, it cannot be said with any certainty that the musicians on the internet, called Billmann, are related to one another (5). And it would be too expensive to carry out a genealogical investigation into this. For me personally (born & raised in Berlin) and in the paternal line (Billmann), it results in the following. In the Nuremberg-Fuerth region, the name Billmann appears first in the 16th century (Andreas Billmann, 1587-?, Reuth/Forchheim, north of Nuremberg-Fuerth) and is concentrated there around Siedelbach/Market Erlbach (west of Nuremberg-Fuerth, Johann/Hans Billmann, 1612-93, the name Billmann occurs over the approx. period 1610-1950), Gunzendorf/Emskirchen (north of Siedelbach/Market Erlbach, the name Billmann occurs over the approx. period 1740-1830) and Hellmitzheim (north west of Nuremberg-Fuerth, the name Billmann occurs over the approx. period 1790-1880). The Billmanns of Hellmitzheim were certainly related to me, both in the family and the musical sense (6). Before that, until about 1800, maybe three Wolfgang Billmanns lived in the Nuremberg-Fuerth region. It is not certain, that they were related with me. The frequency of the first name can be explained by the fact, that only a few first names were familiar at the time (Johann = John, Georg = George, Andreas = Andrew, Leonhard, Wolfgang, ...). Regardless of this, the name Billmann previously existed in the region of Switzerland/Alsace/Rhineland-Palatinate (... Elizabeth Billmann, 1700 ? ...), which may have been derived from Switzerland and the name Buehlman/Biehlmann found there, while in the Nuremberg-Fuerth region (Franken/Bavaria) Billmann possibly came from Puhilmann and maybe Poehlmann. Whether the name Billmann developed by migration to the other main regions (Mannheim-Heidelberg, Aachen-Recklinghausen) or in each region independently from one another, such as social or professional tasks, is unclear. So Billman (with one 'n') could have evolved by immigration and adaptation to the English spelling - frequently in the U.S. -, but also as a socio-professional designation, possibly transferred from the English military.
_____
(1)
Amateur
musician:
- Peter Wicke, Kai-Erik und Wieland Ziegenruecker,
Handbuch der populaeren Musik, 4. Aufl., 6.-8.
Tausend, 2001, p. 29, Amateurmusiker
- Or: "Musik kann ich
nicht beurteilen, ... ich kann nur von der Wirkung sprechen, die sie
auf mich macht ..." (Goethe to Mrs. Unger, in: Claus Canisius, Goethe
und die Musik, 1998, p. 121) and how I use it
(2)
Dr. Thorolf Linke,
http://innotopia.thlinke.eu, March 2010, closed March 2011
(3)
Autobiography, March 2010:
- Wolfgang
Billmann, 'Mozart hatte
den Blues', past internet
versions, for example, March 31, 2001...
(4)
...
T
German - More info - Mozart
had the Blues, extract 1, 2,
3 -
Mozart has the blues -
Contact... - Mhdb
- A-Z