He wrote a large number of musical works, and his fans, lovers of live music, filled huge concert halls. James Lust was on stage until recently, because it was there that he felt at home, among his favorite admirers of his talent.
Biography
Hans Last was born on April 17, 1929 in Bremen. He inherited his musical talent from his father, who played drums and bandoneon (a kind of harmonica). Having decided to repeat the musical fate of his father, in 1943, James Last (a pseudonym for Hans) went to the army music school in Frankfurt am Main. For music-loving James, this was the only way to start a music education. At school, he learned to play the bassoon and double bass, although he passionately dreamed of playing the clarinet.
During the war, the school was destroyed, students transferred to another army music school Bückeburg. The double bass teaching instrument was preserved among the studied musical instruments, but his desire to study the clarinet was not fulfilled again. A tuba appeared in the musical schedule.
This turned out to be a success for Last, as he realized that this instrument could be perfectly combined with drums and accordion. Unfortunately, Last’s music was initially similar to marching, and the improvisation, which he later fell in love with, had to wait a while.
Professional musician
In 1945, in the biography of James Last, new events occur related to the return to Bremen after completion of training. As a professional musician, he and his brothers Robert Last and Kai Werner in 1946 began working in the orchestra created on Radio Bremen. In addition, they toured a lot. During the tour, Last gets acquainted with folk melodies, collects them, and processes them in a new way. At this time, James composed his first musical composition for the film "The Hunters."
Thanks to his outstanding talent, a nineteen-year-old man creates his first Hans Last String Orchestra. He invited the violinist Helmur Zakharia to the orchestra, with whom he goes on tour in Europe.
Jazz is a big passion
In addition to his work in a dance orchestra, James Lust was passionate about jazz. Thanks to American radio stations, I met with a new musical style - American jazz. He imitated his idols Chubby Jackson and Danish Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen quite successfully. In the years 1950-1952, James Lust was elected the best jazz bassist by The Gondola men's magazine. A year later, he attracted the attention of such well-known colleagues as Paul Kuhn, Max Greger and Fred Bunge.
In the biography of James Last, another event is participation with other jazz musicians in the creation of German All Stars. And in 1953, a concert at the jazz festival in Frankfurt. Thanks to the unusually good interaction, the concert at Telefunken came out as a long-playing album.
The use of a tape recorder, in which the load duplicated individual parts of the string several times, was new for that time. Therefore, it seemed that there were much more musicians than in reality. It was a sensation in music.
Personal life
The biography of James Last in 1955 was supplemented by information that he married Waltrude from Bremen and moved to Hamburg-Langenhorn. The reason for the move was his new contract work as a bass player with the NWDR Dance Orchestra. In 1957, the Last family grew, a girl was born, who was named Rina (Catherine), and a year later another replenishment, this time the wife made James happy with her son, who was named Ron (Ronald).
Finally, the arranger
In the early 60s, James Last wrote arrangements for the Last Becker ensemble and the Bremen Radio Orchestra. Many musicians collaborated with Polydor, and James Last was soon invited to collaborate with this record company. The recorded two records did not bring him satisfaction.
However, known for his continuous releases, he releases up to 12 albums a year. He continues to work on music all the time, being in search of something unique and new, such as arrangements of famous melodies. James Last created his orchestra in 1964. In 1965, Polydor released Non Stop Dancing 1965, an album that became popular and had real, overwhelming success. It was this year and on this disc appeared the pseudonym Hans Last - James. Polydor, without notifying the author, changed his name. As it turned out later, this was a prerequisite for the implementation of the project in the international market.
Tours and awards
James Lust is becoming one of the favorite and popular arranger musicians. The biography of James Last in the 70s is full of constant tours. In 1972, James Last made a long tour of the Soviet Union.
And in 1974, he gathered 60,000 spectators for a charity concert in Berlin in front of the Schöneberg town hall, which was fully broadcast on television. After that, the tours took place around the world. With his orchestra, James Lust performed in East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, England and Ireland, Scandinavia, Holland, gave guest performances in the GDR. Conventional concerts on tour over time have turned into real high-class shows!
In 1977, James Lust wrote his popular song, Einsamer Hirt (The Lone Shepherd). In 1980, he moved to Florida with his family and created a recording studio there, releasing new albums.
In 1991, he was awarded the ZDF, a special prize for many years of international success. In 1995 he was awarded the honorary award Echo 1994 Life Award. In 1996, James Last released two new recordings filled with Russian tunes and current hits. In the same year, for the first time in 10 years, he again went on a tour of Germany. 1997 was a difficult year for James flipper, after 42 years of marriage, his beloved wife Waltraud died.
In 1999, Last celebrated its 70th birthday, in the summer he married Christina Grunder, who is 30 years younger than him, and continued the big European tour with almost 50 concerts. 150,000 tickets sold were the testament to the most successful tour in 1999.
In one of his interviews, James Last said:
... I just compose music coming from my heart, music that I love myself. And when I see, millions of people like me, listening and hearing this music, that I want to convey to them that I am really happy ...
The result of the musician’s activities is his original albums, which have been distributed in numerous editions around the world. And their author received an infinite number of awards and titles. The discography of James Last consists of more than two hundred of his most famous works, including:
- Non Stop Dancing.
- James Last in Holland.
- Live in Europe.
- Christmas Dancing.
James died on June 9, 2015, at the age of 86, and was buried in the Olsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.