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Es gibt kaum ein besseres Datum für den Launch der Homepage als den 80. Geburtstag des „Spirit of Rhythm“ Rick Abao, ein Künstler der immer versucht hat out of the Box zu denken und zu handeln. Somit blieb er fern ab vom Mainstream und war sicherlich als Musiker ebenso schwierig einzuordnen. Irgendwo im Netz betitelt jemand ihn als „so eine Art Musik Clown“,sicherlich bezugnehmend auf seinen größten kommerziellen Erfolg, die Parodie auf „ein Jäger aus Kurpfalz.“
Rick hätte wahrscheinlich darüber gelacht und es vielleicht mit „if that’s the way you feel about it,than that’s the way you feel about it“ kommentiert, wohlwissend, dass wieso oft im Showbiz – um etwas so einfach und locker aussehen zu lassen es harter Arbeit und einer ganzen Menge Talent bedarf.
Rick, in New Orleans geboren, wuchs mit dem Baisin Street Sound auf. Später nachdem die Familie nach San Francisco umgezogen war studierte er Musik und erhielt 1963 ein Stipendium um bei José Tomas,dem Assistenten von Andres Segovia in Spanien Flamenco Gitarre zu studieren.
Als G.I. kam er dann nach Deutschland wo er bis zu seinem Lebensende blieb. Mit seinem Trio, lange Jahren bestehend aus Fritz Krisse am Kontrabass und Will Lindfors am Schlagzeug absolvierte er unzählige Auftritte, meist in den Jazz Clubs der Republik.
Rick war tief im American Songbook verwurzelt und so war der Blues das Fundament seiner Musik, wobei keine Musikrichtung ausgegrenzt wurde, was zu einer musikalischen Bandbreite von Jazz Standards bis hin zu deutschen Volksliedern führte.
Aber auch der Entertainer Rick Abao war ein echtes Heavyweight. Seine Moderationen waren legendär und er konnte einen Saal nur mit seinem Wortwitz und der Gitarre komplett zum kochen bringen, sodass mancher Stand Up Comedian heute vor Neid erblassen würde. Nicht selten ging es nach der eigentlichen Show noch mit einem Jam weiter, bei dem dann kein Auge mehr trocken blieb.
Der Menschenfreund und Philosoph in Rick, der mit einem ganz eigenen Blickwinkel die Dinge des Lebens betrachtete und damit oft sein Umfeld verblüffte, hat auch auf diesem Gebiet seine Spuren hinterlassen.
Happy Birthday, Ricky Boy. Rest In Peace
„And when I play me some old records
„Rickyboy – where have you been“
brings a tear and a smile back to my face
you’re still the man!
Had we had a little longer
what would have been – well, who knows ?
than again it’s just the way all things must go
I suppose
That’s forever on my mind
forever on my mind“
taken from „Forever On My Mind“ (BaTolba)
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Rick was an artist that always tried to be out of the box which naturally separated him from the mainstream and made it difficult to categorize him properly. Somebody someplace in the World Wide Web called him „some kind of music clown“ probably referring to his biggest hit, the parody of the „Jager aus Churpfalz“. Rick would probably have laughed it off and said something along the lines of: if that’s the way you feel about it, then that’s the way you feel about it – knowing that as usually in showbiz – to make something look easy it takes a lot of skills ,effort and creativity.
Rick was born in New Orleans and grew up on the Basin street sounds. Later, after his family had moved to San Francisco, he studied music and in ’63 was awarded a scholarship that led to him studying flamenco guitar with José Tomas, Andres Segovia‘s assistant, in Spain.
When it was his turn to follow Uncle Sam’s call, his army stint brought him to Germany where he would stay for the rest of his life. After his discharge, he founded his own trio consisting of Fritz Krisse on double bass and Will Lindfors on drums and together they perform numerous shows on the German jazz club scene. His repertoire was deeply rooted in the tradition of the American songbook with the blues being the common ground and at the same time not excluding anything from jazz standards to German folk songs.
His qualities as an entertainer were also top notch. His banter between songs not rarely brought the house down and it usually took him about 2 songs and he had the audience eating out of his hand.
Sometimes the real treat would have to wait until the regular gig was over when someplace a spontaneous jam session would unfold… It didn’t matter if there were five or 5000 people in the room – Rick would reach out to each one of them.
The humanist and philosopher in Rick made him have his own individual take on life, which a lot of times, would surprise his contemporaries. Nevertheless he was not the kind to talk down to anybody or make you feel inferior. He was as real as it gets.
Happy birthday Rickyboy, rest in peace
„And when I play me some old records
„Rickyboy – where have you been“
brings a tear and a smile back to my face
you’re still the man!
Had we had a little longer
what would have been – well, who knows ?
than again it’s just the way all things must go
I suppose
That’s forever on my mind
forever on my mind“
taken from „Forever On My Mind“ (BaTolba)
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