Vince Weber
Vince Weber is one of the founding fathers of the German Boogie piano scene. He received his first piano lessons at the age of 10. When he was 13 years old, he heard recordings of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Champion Jack Dupree, Taj Mahal and many other Blues and Boogie greats for the first time. Since then, he plays Boogie Woogie and also Blues, which he also sings with deep expression. Several years later, still in his teens, he played at the bars at Hamburg’s harbour. He could be heard in all clubs, until he met comedian Otto Waalkes, for whom he opened the shows at concert tours.
In 1976, Vince received the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis (German Record Award) for his first solo album, "The Boogie Man". This LP was released on Otto’s label "Ruessel Raeckords". All tracks of this album were live recordings, mostly from the Fabrik. Since 1974, Vince played every last Friday of the month at the Fabrik, sold out!
In 1979, he travelled for the first time to the U. S. with Inga Rumpf: "Back to the Roots". In 1980, Vince Weber became the host for the radio program "Blues am Dienstag" (Blues on Tuesday) of NDR station.
In between, he continued to travel in the U. S., visiting Chicago and San Diego. Weber played on festivals and in clubs, a. o. with Big Joe Williams, Abi Wallenstein, James Booker, Chuck Berry and Champion Jack Dupree.
Vince, whose favourite number was the 8, had the idea to celebrate a „Day of the Boogie Woogie Piano“ on 8-8-88, which became the birth hour of the „Hamburg Boogie Woogie Connection“ at the Fabrik. This first wild festival session night turned out to be the germ cell for the numerous Boogie Woogie festivals which trademark today’s Boogie Woogie scene. Until last, Vince, together with me, hosted the annual „Hamburg Boogie Woogie Connection“ at the Fabrik on August 8th. His performance at the 30-years anniversary of the „Connection“ was his last one – final chord of a great musician’s life. „I am on cloud no. 8 and play harp.“
Vince died on February 23, 2020.
The festival will be continued following his idea.