Hermann Szobel

Hermann Szobel is a former pianist and composer. He produced and recorded one Jazz Fusion album, titled "Szobel," at the age of 18, demonstrating, in the words of a "Down Beat" reviewer (9 September 1976), "a conception and technique far in advance of most musicians twice his age." According to the artist biography included with promotional copies of the album, Szobel was born in Vienna in 1958[1] and was "a child prodigy who began his classical training at the age of six" who "spent the majority of his practicing hours on pieces by Chopin." The bio states that pianists Martial Solal and Keith Jarrett were two major influences on his work. "Szobel" features extremely complicated compositions comparable to those of Frank Zappa.[2] The music is jazz-based but contains elements of rock and Western classical music. Szobel's impressive piano virtuosity is noticeable throughout the album. The other musicians on "Szobel" are Michael Visceglia on bass, Bob Goldman on drums, Dave Samuels on percussion including marimba and vibraphone, and Vadim Vyadro on tenor sax, clarinet, and flute. Obscure even when it was released (on Arista Records) in 1976,[3] "Szobel" was issued on CD by Laser's Edge in 2012. Hermann Szobel disappeared from the music world after this album.

Katarzyna Kozyra, the Polish artist, met him in Jerusalem while working on her project called "Looking for Jesus",[2][4]a movie about people with a condition known as Jerusalem Syndrome. Szobel agreed to record the conversation, but you cannot see his face in Kozyra's movie. He would live like a homeless man, eating what he could find in the streets, but still being an artist. Kozyra bought a few of his paintings.

References
  1. "FM4 Schnitzelbeats: The mystery of Hermann Szobel". fm4.ORF.at (in German). 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  2. Greene, Christopher R. Weingarten, Brittany Spanos, Suzy Exposito, Mosi Reeves, Kory Grow, Keith Harris, Reed Fischer, Richard Gehr, Maura Johnston, Joe Levy, Andy Greene; Stone, Rolling (2016-07-14). "40 Greatest One-Album Wonders". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. "Sensible Nonsense: The Vanishing of Hermann Szobel". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. "Looking for Jesus". Internet Movie Database.


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