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Passport

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Passport was a German jazz fusion group led by the saxophonist Klaus Doldinger. The band was formed in 1971 and released its first record the same year. In the late 1960s Doldinger had presented his quartet under the pseudonym Paul Nero, playing blues rock and soul. Passport grew out of his commercial project Motherhood. On the first album, as with Motherhood, the then unknown Udo Lindenberg played drums.

Music and breakthrough

The line-up changed often over the years. The group that brought the band European and international fame in the mid-1970s consisted of Doldinger, the drummer Curt Cress, the guitarist and bassist Wolfgang Schmid and the keyboard player Kristian Schultze. With albums produced by Siggi Loch and released by Atlantic Records, and with their live concerts, Doldinger made an impression with catchy melodic lines over a compelling groove. Between 1973 and 1976 the band recorded a soul-influenced, popular jazz. Albums from that period include Hand Made in 1973, Cross-Collateral in 1975 and Infinity Machine in 1976, followed by Iguaçu in 1977 and Garden of Eden in 1979. From 1977 the line-up changed. With Elmer Louis on percussion and Roy Louis on guitar, the music became more Latin jazz-oriented and more graceful. In 2006 Doldinger performed again to mark the band's thirty-fifth anniversary, with Schmid on electric bass.

Influence

Because the band was so influential, it is compared with the American group Weather Report. Passport shows that the jazz rock of the 1970s did not come only from America, and that German musicians made their own melodic version of it.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track from Cross-Collateral and notice the catchy saxophone melody over the tight groove of bass and drums. Hear how jazz and funk meet.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists