|
 New
Orleans - As a boy growing up in western Germany just after World War
II, Elmar Hoff's musical options were limited to the German folk and
country tunes broadcast over domestic radio. When he was 12, however, he
heard Fats Domino sing "Jambalaya" broadcast from a ship in the North
Sea.
From that moment on, "I've had a New Orleans influence," Hoff said. And
while his father, an opera singer, might have initially disapproved of
his son's new love for jazz and blues, that lucky encounter with Fats
via pirate radio would end up paying dividends for Hoff, German music
fans, and scores of New Orleans musicians, artists and students.
Hoff would go on to serve 25 years as head of the German Cultural
Department, developing and running Jazzfest Gronau -- one of the
country's largest jazz festivals -- for 20 of those years.
His home would become a virtual shrine to New Orleans music, filled with
posters and other artifacts, and with the help of fellow German and
longtime friend, Thomas Gerdiken, aka "The German Piano Prince of New
Orleans," they would form alliances with local musicians and help bring
those acts to Germany.
"They're great people, and they're really committed to New Orleans,"
said Alfred Caston of Jamalar Entertainment, a Ninth Ward-based booking
and production company specializing in gospel, jazz, and roots music.
"It's not about the money with them; it's strictly about promoting the
culture."
"Elmar is one of the best promoters we have ever worked with," said
Floyd Turner, director of the West Bank-based Friendly Travelers gospel
group. "There was never a problem, no kind of worries, very nice and
cordial, and whatever the agreement is, he sticks to it. I have nothing
but positive things to say about Elmar."
That cultural promotion extends into other arts as well. At a French
Quarter Fest nearly 10 years ago, Hoff met painter and native Algerine
Matt Rinard (Gallery Rinard, 738 Royal St.), a relationship that has led
to numerous shows in Germany for the local artist.
"It's given me a lot more recognition, and it also helps with
credibility when you're doing things across the pond," Rinard said. "And
it also helps widen my audience."
After Hurricane Katrina, however, Hoff's love for New Orleans' culture
took on a new urgency. Virtually hours after the storm, Hoff, with the
help of Lillian Boutte, founded Help New Orleans, an organization that
has raised approximately $600,000 for the city and its artists and
musicians.
The group's main goals are to "go to work for the people of New Orleans,
for the musicians and for the painters," Gerdiken said. "and to get
things in the press and mass media to inform people about the situation
here, because all sorts of people in Germany think New Orleans is
rebuilt and everything is fine."
Gerdiken, who joined Help New Orleans in 2007 and is the organization's
first German musician-activist, has been collaborating with Hoff since
1989, when he sent Hoff some tapes of his New Orleans-influenced music.
Hoff responded by inviting Gerdiken to open for none other than Fats
Domino at that year's Jazzfest Gronau. Needless to say, Gerdiken
admitted to a sleepless night prior to that performance.
On the day after this year's Jazzfest, Hoff and Gerdiken were at the
city's famous Deutches-Haus to present a check to the New Orleans
Musicians Clinic for more than $9,000, the fruit of more than 10 benefit
concerts held in Germany this past year by Help New Orleans, including
one at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Germany's official museum. Since 2005,
Help New Orleans -- with the help of Hoff's local Rotary Club in Germany
-- has contributed over $40,000 to the organization that provides
healthcare and social welfare services for local musicians.
"It's not only that the fact that they raised money for us, it's the
fact that we know that people all over the world really care," said
Bethany Bultman, president and co-founder of the Musicians Clinic. "It
means so much to the musicians and it means a great deal to keep our
sprit, keep us going, because a lot of days it just seems overwhelming."
And for Hoff and Gerdiken, there is no sign of any impending letup in
their commitment, as they are already planning something big for New
Orleans' 300th birthday . . . in 2018 |
