Chris Karrer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chris Karrer,c. 2010 | |
| Born | (1947-01-20)20 January 1947 |
| Died | 2 January 2024(2024-01-02) (aged 76) |
| Occupations |
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| Organizations | Amon Düül II |
Christoph Karrer (20 January 1947 – 2 January 2024) was a German guitarist and composer who also played saxophone, violin andoud.
He was a pioneer ofkrautrock, playing and recording with his bandAmon Düül II from 1969 when they released their first albumPhallus Dei.
He wrotefilm scores and played them with the band; the music for Syberberg'sSan Domingo earned them theDeutscher Filmpreis for film music in 1971. From the 1980s Karrer played as a soloist and withEmbryo, a band that combined elements of rock and jazz with music from Africa and India.
Christoph Karrer was born inKempten[1] on 20 January 1947. He played clarinet and saxophone from age 12. After hisAbitur he studied art at theAcademy of Fine Arts, Munich.[1][2]
Karrer co-founded, with Peter Leopold, Dieter Serfas and others, theAmon Düül band and commune in 1967, in the spirit of thestudent movement.[1][3] Arguments about the musical focus caused him to turn toAmon Düül II,[1] playing more advanced experimental music later namedkrautrock, in opposition to German groups only imitating foreign styles.[1] Their 1969 debut album wasPhallus Dei, which featured "abstract" singing and driving percussion. Karrer was one of the first musicians using the violin for rock music.[4] With Amon Düül II, he composed and playedfilm music forRainer Werner Fassbinder'sThe Niklashausen Journey and for Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's filmSan Domingo, which earned Amon Düül II theDeutscher Filmpreis for film music in 1971.[5] The group disbanded in the late 1970s.[1][6]
From the early 1980s, Karrer collaborated withEmbryo, a band for jazz rock and world music.[1][7] 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 termworld music was invented, touring Africa, India and Japan, among others.[6]
Karrer explored the sounds of theoud and its music inspired bySufism,[2] influenced bySivan Perwer,Rabih Abou-Khalil andAbdul Wahab who played with him.[4] He also became interested in therubab.[8] He later focused on theflamenco guitar.[2][4]
Karrer spent the last two decades with his partner and a daughter inKronach. He painted again and worked on an autobiography. He played guitar during readings of literature and lyrics.[8]
Karrer died on 2 January 2024, after aCOVID-19 infection,[2] at the age of 76.[1]
Karrer's recordings are held by the German National Library:[9]
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