Gerhard Illi

His career as musician

The first steps

Gerhard Illi was born on November 6th 1949 under the sign of Scorpio and with Scorpio in the ascendant. Before reaching the age of one and a half Illi smashed his first tin drum – an experience which was to lead to him being captivated by percussion instruments for the rest of his life.  After a succession of toy drums he bought a second-hand military drum at the age of 12, and later replaced it with a genuine Basel Drum.  Thus equipped, he played in every single Lucerne carnival bar none, and over the years came to lead the “Gagugger”, one of the most renowned carnival bands of the time. Around the same period he first discovered the ‘drum kit’, and with it, went on to form part of the dance band known as “Les Canards”.  Due to their success he was able to buy a new “Ludwig” drum set which still forms the basis of his kit today.  With the realisation that commercial dance music imposed limits on his individual creativity, Illi soon left “Les Canards” and began experimentation in other musical directions. Over the next few years Illi immersed himself in the local Jazz and Rock scene until, in 1970, he won Silver Medal for best free jazz drummer at the Zurich International Jazz Festival.

 

The learning years

Encouraged by this success, Gerhard Illi decided to broaden his musical horizons.  Conscious of the limitations imposed by self-teaching, he enrolled in the “Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst” (University of Music) in Graz and over the next three years studied the fundamentals of jazz drumming with Manfred Josel, was introduced to the wonders of collective improvisation by Eje Thelin, and developed a crucial understanding of sound through the electronic music classes of Gösta Neuwirth.  Illi understood sound to be the elemental unit of music, and the drum kit (once detached from its purely rhythmical function) served for Illi as an independent medium for harmonic and melodic creativity.  Graz proved not just to be a place of study, but also as a place to encounter and exchange other musical ideas.  During his time there Illi played with a host of fine musicians including; Leszek Laszlo, Radu Malfati, Dieter Glawischnig, Wolfgang Engstfeld, Johannes Faber, Christoph Lauer, Martin Rüegg, Hans Hartmann and Jan Jankeje amongst others.  Hoping to put the things he learned into action Illi moved to Düsseldorf in 1974.  Together with Bernd Köppen (piano) and Uli Weiche (bass) he formed “Unit”, an innovative re-interpretation of the classical piano trio.  Together they performed concerts in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. During this same period Illi played as part of “Synthesis”, which comprised the electronics of Klaus Röder (ex- Kraftwerk), the wind instruments of Axel Petry, Uli Weiche on bass and himself on drums. In 1976 he formed “Die Musikantenkünstler vom Hochniederrhein”, a multimedia orchestra which broke through the frontiers between music, performance, theatre and circus (Tanztee in the Jazz Festival at Moers, Dada Jubilee at Wuppertal with WDR3 television, and 2 months touring through Italy and France, etc.). At the same time he did free-lance work for various bands and also recorded for radio and television with “Die Musikantenkünstler vom Hochniederrhein”, “Unit” and as a trio with Radu Malfatti.

 

Towards self realization

In 1979, fed up with all the paperwork that being the manager of so many bands entailed, Gerhard Illi broke off from his career in Germany and travelled through Southern Europe, spending a year performing as a musical clown.  Finally he resurfaced in the South of Spain with a new drum show and, loyal to his conviction that it is important to have no prejudices with regards the audience before which he plays, Illi travelled the country playing in innumerable clubs and discotheques. As a result of the direct contact with his audiences Illi’s musical expression continued to improve.  At the same time he continued to expand his musical knowledge by playing with a variety of bands such as, “Los Piratas del Sur”, with whom he learned a number of classical Spanish dances.

In 1987 Illi settled in the small Andalusian village of Castaño del Robledo (Huelva). Here, during a brief period, he created the pure rock band ‘KÉdKÉ’ with Emiliano Vázquez, and made three short tours playing Blues with Hary Wetterstein. Later, after meeting Eduardo Polonio y Eduardo Fuentesal in 2001, Illi was invited to the “Confluencias” festival in Huelva where he was confronted once again with contemporary improvised music and his musical circle began to close. Yet more musical experience was gained through a period of travel in India, Nepal, Morocco, Thailand and Bali and thereafter he retired to his small “Chestnut” studio to fully dedicate himself to his latest project, “From Illinoise with Love”. The purchase of an electronic drum-set allowed Illi to complete his world of sound and thereafter he dedicated himself to refining the art of story-telling with drums. In 2002 he released a CD called “From Illinoise with Love – Concerto for Lily” and two years later released a follow up DVD, entitled “Lily goes to Cortegana”. He collaborated on two editions of “Free and Tapas” at the “Confluencias” festival which featured on a double CD by the Junta de Andalucía. He also played at the “LEM” festival of Barcelona in 2004, “Sensxperiment” at Lucena also in 2004, Huelva’s “Confluencias” festival in 2005 and the “Programa de Fomento y Cooperación Cultural 2006”, organized by the provincial government of Seville. Finally in the Monumento in Castaño del Robledo on August 23rd 2006, Illi premiered his "Concierto para una Catedral Inacabada" (“Concert for an unfinished cathedral”). Here, his concept of integrating acoustic drum sounds with the sounds produced by an electric drum kit and sampler was first revealed to the public. He performed this concert among other places at the "Festival de jazz la Universidad de Seville 2007" and at the "Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada 2007". In the autumn 2007 he gives his educational concert „The drum set and his evolution in the modern music” in 20 andalusian theatres within the “ABECEDARIA” program of the Junta de Andalucía.