Vita
Born in 1958, I spent my childhood and youth in Oelnitz / Vogtland. From 1968 to 1974 I learned to play the clarinet and saxophone at the local music school. In 1974 I went to Berlin to study saxophone and flute at the Hanns Eisler University of Music. From 1978 I played with many bands, orchestras and projects, until I founded my first own band, the “Volker Schlott Quartet” in 1985 and started the solo project “Reeds Solo”. In 1982 I started to compose for my own bands and projects. To date, many bands, projects, workshops and compositions have been added (see ‘career’).
Career
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March
- LIT Collogne with Jocelyn B. Smith + Band
- composing for a Christmas Concert at the Berliner Philharmonie February
- Sound Journey SOLO Concerts January
- Recording production vinyl at “Waldhausstudio” (Tangermünde) with FAVO 3
- Holly & 2 Spirits Band for the 65th anniversary of the Eisenach Jazz Club
- Production of “Menschenskind” a song by and with Tom Z.
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December
- a new project and tour „Nordic Fusion Christmas“ with Tobias Morgenstern / Wolfgang Musick / Falk Breitkreuz / Holly Schlott + Heike Matzer
- Fun Horns Christmas tour November
- Handel’s “Messiah” with soloists and big band / Dresden Jazz Days
- Sound Journey SOLO Concerts at churches “warming sounds in cold days” October
- First Sax Workshop at Mallorca (Spain)
- Concerts with Karoline Weidt feat. Holly Schlott at Munich “Unterfahrt” + Leipziger Jazz days September
- Holly Schlott + 2 spirits Band – “Berlin Tour” celebrates music together again after 3 years August
- Workshop with Jocelyn B. Smith at Corfu (Greece) July
- Duo Concerts with Jocelyn B. Smith a.o. “25th anniversary of DGTI” June
- Rhine music festival with Jocelyn B. Smith, Kai Brückner & V.H. Schlott
- Video production “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” feat. Jocelyn B. Smith May
- Concerts with FAVO April
- 65th birthday concert in the “Wabe” Berlin with guests from 45 years on stage
- Awarding of the German Jazz Prize (woodwind category) in Bremen + “Jazz ahead” conference March
- Kurt Weill Festival at Dessau with Jocelyn B. Smith + Band
- Concerts with FAVO (a.o. at “Deutsche Oper Berlin”) January/February
- Sound Journey SOLO Concert Tour
- Musical direction and project management for “Three Days”, the Easter concert in the Memorial Church/Berlin with J.B.Smith + band + project choir
- new concert series in the Petruskirche 4x “Love Light Session” with Joceyn B. Smith + Volker Holly Schlott as musical hosts
- mixer and producer for solo cd of Falk Breitkreuz
- solo cd “warming sound in cold days” (C-melody-sax) recorded in high resolution artifical head stereophony and mix (release 2023 Berlin Petruskirche)
- several concerts „Beethoven meets Cuba“ feat. V.H. Schlott
- FAVO summer tour in Germany and Belgium
- rehearsals and concerts (Dresden, Weimar) with UNIQUE ( sponsored by Musikfonds)
- video production “Shine a light” for 40 Colombian girls commissioned by BATUTA
- Completion of 8 Online-Lessons “New School of Listening” by H.Schlott
- SOS Workshops (Songs of Substanz) with Jocelyn B. Smith at 5 Berlin/Brandenburg schools
- Workshop at the LMA Berlin “New School of Listening” – October
- Holly Schlott as a guest of the series “Feature Ring” Dresden – October
- World premiere of the orchestra “UNIQUE” (diverse, urban, contemporary) – created by Holly Schlott, Berlin – November
- Preparation of ther release tour 2022 – FAVO 3 “Journey Home” ( B,D,NL – 20 concerts)
- Composition plan for a new project “Three Days” with Jocelyn B. Smith + Band + Chor
- CD recordings with FAVO on the outskirts of Berlin in January
- Europe tour with Maria Farantouri and Assaf Kacholi
- Guest soloist at “Beethoven meets Cuba”
- Composition project GTO (Global Trans Orchestra)
- Production by and with Jocelyn B Smith´s “Shine Ur Light” CD
- Concerts with “FeinCost” – an Abdullah Ibrahim project with Reinmar Henschke (p)
- First invitation to the International Transgender Conference in Edinburgh for Holly’s Transsax (C-Melody)
- FAVO tour in Central Asia at the invitation of the Goethe Institute (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan)
- October concerts in Belgium
- Premiere concert in May in Berlin + CD release Holly Schlott- “two spirits” and release tour with new band in September / October in D Interviews in all major jazz magazines about the new Holly Schlott</li
- Goethe tour with FUN HORNS (Central Asia) + 30th Anniversary Tour in Germany (30 concerts)
- Shanghai Jazz Festival with Jocelyn B. Smith + Band, European Jazz Festival in Doha / Qatar with Favo
- Recordings / mix and preparation for the new revelation / extension
- active as producer / arranger and mixer – CD Jocelyn B Smith “Sacred Heart / Vayikra”
- Festival appearances at the “Jandriyah Festival” in Riyadh (SA) + Jordan
- compositions for new project (still incognito)
- FAVO 3 CD released with subsequent and D-Tour (20 concerts)
- Concerts with Maria Farantouri – and premiere concert with Stefanie Hertel in Bad Elster “Vogtland-CD”
- Production of the CD “My Way” and subsequent anniversary tour with Jocelyn B Smith + Band in May (highlight: concert in the sold-out Berlin Cathedral on May 9th)
- further experiences as a producer will follow, i.a. in the genre he has not touched yet: folk music ‘back to the roots’! – Volker, the Vogtländer arranges / produces songs from his homeland with the prominent interpreter St. Hertel (Start July – planned release 2016)
- intensive preparation of the new FAVO-CD feat. Sander De Winne (B) with big D tour in October
- European tour with M. Farantouri in September / October
- Preparation for 30 years of Fun Horns celebration
- Farewell tour of `TALAM 11´ around G.Ullmann
- short stay in N.Y. with opening concert for the exhibition “Four Kings from the Borough of Queens” (The African Museum of Nassaau County)
- 3 further productions for Jocelyn B Smith and “X-Mas” -CD for the Fun Horns (see discography)
- Work as a producer intensifies, the CD “Here I Am” for Jocelyn B Smith is released
- Production of the CD “Symphony of a Capital” for the political magazine “Cicero” on behalf of the Ringier Verlag (an audio book about ‘Sounds of Berlin’)
- Made to order by the two Hamburg composers Detlef Kühn / Maria Sieren “Never Stop Dreaming”
- Production of 3 new CDs including FAVO, FUN HORNS and a release on VINYL in the “direct to vinyl process” in the EMIL BERLINER STUDIO Berlin, completely analog without any post-production
- Start of the anniversary tour “25 years FUN HORNS”
- Europian tour with Maria Farantouri
- Solo and FAVO tour of Eastern & amp; North Africa on behalf of the Goethe Institute
- Composition and premiere of the contemporary witness concert with Jocelyn B. Smith, the DSO and one Contemporary witness choir in the House of World Cultures, Berlin
- Trip to Lesotho + South Africa on behalf of the EED to work with a children’s choir or to build up
- Project FAVO with Falk Breitkreuz (bclar) & Volker Schlott (ss) foundet
- Producer and arranger of various projects including Jocelyn B.Smith, audio book “We – that I in you” + various CD’s
- Concerts with Z. Livanelli (2007/2008)
- Cooperation (China tour “LINK together”) with WuWEI
- Producer and arranger of “ExpressionZZ” (Jocelyn B Smith)
- since 2006 Head of various national and international saxophone workshops
- Start of the cooperation with Jocelyn B. Smith as saxophon player of her band
- Fun Horns (1997 price d.D.S. critique “Der Mond ist aufgegangen”
- Annual Award of the German Record Critics for the CD “Why Not” AMR
- since 1996 collaboration with Mikis Theodorakis and Maria Farantouri (8 CD producers / concerts worldwide)
- Release of a playbook for saxophone “SaxoFun” AMA publishing company
- Lecturer at the HfM “Hanns Eisler” / JazzInstitut
- South America tour with FUN HORNS at the invitation of the Goethe Institute (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile)
- Soloist of the Radio-Big Band Berlin
- Foundation of the Volker Schlott Quartet and FUN HORNS 1986 as well as the REEDS SOLO project
- Basic military service of the NVA in the Musikcorps Plauen
- first compositions and world premiere “1.-3.Saxophonie” for 20 men saxophone orchestra, Frankfurt / O.
- Participation as a musician or composer in over 60 CD productions in various bands and genres (see discography) – national: e.g. Fusion; U. Kropinski Quartet; Jazz orchestra of the GDR; H.Zerbe sheet metal strip; Trio Fiedler-Eitner-Schlott; PAmagieRA; East Berlin Guest Orchestra (2nd prize at the international jazz contest in Hoilaart (B); Ta Lam Acht; Rolf v.Nordenskjöld Orchestra; Joachim Kühn; Baby summer; Herbert Joos – international: New Jungle Orchestra; John Tchicai; Cecil Taylor; Joachim Kühn; Harry Beckett; Pierre DØrge; Simon Nabatov; Toni Lakatos; Bobby Previte; Billy Jenkins and others
- Studies – saxophone / flute at the Academy of Music “Hanns Eisler”, Berlin
- Music school Oelsnitz / V – clarinet / saxophone
- Born in Oelsnitz/Vogtland
Holly
I tried to “translate” my innermost feelings of the past years into musical moods and reproduce them on this CD. Even if there are and must be controversial perceptions and reactions, it was very important to me to stay with myself. It is about “my story”, which, with the exception of two or three very close friends, nobody knew.
The compositions initially had a rather experimental character. In the course of the work, however, the melodic pieces gained the upper hand. It was about juxtaposing melancholic and happy sounds and creating a feeling of well-being.
For me, the result is a kind of “journeyman’s piece”: as a producer, composer, arranger, studio musician, sound engineer and at the same time protagonist. Because yes: it is a studio production in which I played or programmed all the instruments myself. In this way, the music follows a special sound aesthetic that some may find unexpectedly “clean”. I hope for their impartiality and for the depth of the feelings of my story to be received.
After finishing the recordings in August 2017, I should have heard and checked the songs at least several hundred times. There were days when I no longer felt anything in the music that was there initially.
At moments like that, I felt like I was in a long tunnel, at the end of which there was no light. But I absolutely wanted to and had to go through this process of searching, rejecting and finding, because it also very authentically reflects my emotional and musical state of recent years. Therefore I was happy to be able to hand over the music for the very last step, the mastering, to my mentor and very first band leader Wolfgang Fiedler. Now it is time to implement this music live – with a fantastic band, which I will present from 2018.
“To My Orchid”
Arrived?!
There is still a lot of educational work to do – I would like to take part in this. With this CD and with my band. With concerts, after which I get to talk to other people … and enjoy the freedom to convey my inner being to the outside. Some will ask, isn’t it all a bit late? At 60? No, not at all. I saved this job for the next 10-15 years, because I already know everything else …
I would like to thank my family, Jocelyn, Fini and Jonathan + MAFIN. My siblings Günter, Peter, Birgit and Petra. My father Rudi and my mother Ursula (who unfortunately can no longer experience this live). With all my friends and supporters who have accompanied me on this path and hopefully will continue to accompany me from now on. And also for those who don’t understand it yet.
