Highdelberg Highdelberg (CD)

(MIG Music) 8 tracks, digisleeve

Guitarist Ax Genrich began his career in 1970 with a brief guest appearance with the German prog-kraut rockers Agitation Free. There he was able to develop his improvisational style, but was then poached at short notice by Mani Neumeier for Guru Guru. Together with bassist Uli Trepte, Genrich and Neumeier celebrated their first major successes and were soon regarded as the new figurehead of Krautrock, releasing a milestone in the genre in 1972 with “Känguru”. After four years and four albums, Ax Genrich's time with Guru Guru came to an end and the string wizard had new plans. The first of these was called “Highdelberg” and became a kind of “supergroup project” of Krautrock: Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru sat on the drums, supported by Kraan bassist Helmuth Hattler, guitarist Peter Wollbrandt and drummer Jan Friede as well as the two keyboardists and electronics specialists Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (both also Cluster and Harmonia). Conny Plank was at the mixing desk. Musically, Ax Genrich explored his new boundaries, moving away from the improvisational style of the gurus and devoting himself more to a well-dosed mixture of progressive rock, pop and kraut. It was not until 1994 that Genrich released a second solo album, “Psychedelic Guitar”, and he is still active today.