THE STORY OF "HP" BRACK  

Hans Peter "HP" Brack 

E-Bass and Kontrabass

Much before starting to play the Blues with the Diggers, Hans-Peter (HP) began playing electric bass as a teenager in various teenage rock garage bands around the Boston, Massachusetts area in the late 1970s. In 1980, he received a scholarship to attend a summer program for high school students at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While still in high school, he continued studying bass privately with Professor White Browne  of the Bass Department at Berklee. After graduation from high school, HP began playing in general business or GB bands (weddings and private parties) around New England and studying bass as a performance major at Berklee. While at Berklee, HP began playing acoustic bass. At Berklee, Hans-Peter studied also with Professors Bruce Gertz  and John Repucci  of the Bass Department there and also privately with Thomas “Tiny” Martin of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

While still a student at Berklee, HP became the house bassist for the “Jazz at Noon” series at Jasons, a popular nightclub and restaurant in downtown Boston. Jazz at Noon featured a different guest artist each week followed by an open jam session. Through this work, HP got his first experience working with many of the top names in Boston jazz including saxophonists Dick Johnson and Ted Casher, trumpeter Richard Hollyday, trombonist Phil Wilson , pianists Bob Winter  and Al Vega, and singers Gray Foxx, Rebecca Parris , Arlene Rae, and Joan Steele. Around the same time, HP toured New England as part of a show band backing local comedian Rick Starr and also played with the Boston Conservatory Jazz Ensemble and Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra gave concerts  featuring such international artists as cellist,  Yo-Yo Ma .

Soon thereafter, HP began playing with Stan McDonald and his Blue Horizon Jazz Band . According to New York Time jazz critic John Wilson, on Stan McDonald, “A superb clarinetist and soprano saxophonist … a gloriously full bodied Bechet stylist”. HP stayed with Stan and the BHJB for about 10 years until leaving for Europe in 1993. With the BHJB, he played all of the top Boston jazz clubs and also for the Down East Jazz Festival (Camden, Maine), the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse (Syracuse, New York), the Cape Cod Jazz Society, the Columbia County Jazz Festival (New York), and the Pennsylvania Jazz Society. During the summers, the group toured Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, and Martha’s Vineyard. For sometime the BHJB appeared on a live weekly broadcast from Ephraim’s on WTTP radio (Framingham, Massachusetts). The band was also featured in a live studio radio broadcast on the Music America program on WGBH radio (Boston, Massachusetts). Some of HP’s recordings with the BHJB were reviewed by several national jazz magazines including The Mississippi Rag and Traditional Jazz Today.

Other highlights of HP’s time with the BHJB include playing at a reception honoring Prince Charles at the 350^th anniversary of Harvard University in 1986, together with the Pointer Sisters and other artists at the Polaroid Corporation 50^th Anniversary Festival, and for the first congressional election campaign of Joe Kennedy of the Boston Kennedy clan. The BHJB also performed in concerts featuring special guest artists including pianist Butch Thompson of the Prairie Home Companion radio show, banjoist Jimmy Mazzy , and singer Natalie Lamb.

While still in Boston in the early 90’s, HP also spent a few years as the bass player with pianist Henry “Thins” Francis and his Swing Legacy.

After moving to Zürich in 1993, HP soon became the bassist for English trombonist Don Long and his All Stars whenever they spent several months each year in the Casa Bar in the Niederdorf section of Zürich. HP stayed with Don until leaving for the Netherlands in 1999, and during this time he also played with the Gospelujah Singers and several Swiss jazz bands including the Dixie Jumpers, the Mellowtones, and the Jazzburgers.

HP stayed in the Netherlands until returning to Switzerland in 2002. In the Netherlands, he played with the jazz groups de Jazz Herren, Take Five, and the saxophone quartet Quatre van Die. These groups were featured at the Philip Morris Jazz Weekend (Bergen op Zoom, NL), the Breda Jazz Festival (Breda, NL), and on the “Passie” program on Dutch National Radio NCRV (channel 4).

"When he is not playing with Diggin The Blues, HP is also featured with several other groups around the Zürich area including the Swan Big Band of Horgen and the Dixie Jumpers from Regensdorf." 

Hans-Peter Brack’s Discography:

Classical Jazz Variations, The Blue Horizon Jazz Band, 1986, BH003

Innside Track, The Blue Horizon Jazz Band, 1993, BH004

Portrait of the Swing Legacy, The Swing Legacy, 1992

A Real Love Strong, Stan McDonald, 1994, BH005

This Little Light, The Gospelujah Singers, 1996, ALC 9606L

MORE PICS OF "HP" COMIN SOON