Around 125 people filled out the chapter house of the former monastery of Inzigkofen at 10.30 this morning to celebrate the 80th birthday of His Highness Duke Carl Gregor (born 14 March 1933 in Remplin) where a Jazz Matinee was held to mark the occasion. Performing at the matinee was the group the “Jazz Matics” with Annemarie Wolf (vocals), Norbert Langhammer (piano), Thilo Müller (trumpet), Juri Kolytschew and Rudi König (bass), Hermann Jaksche and Duke Carl Gregor (drums).
Prior to the performance the mayor of Inzigkofen, the county archivist Edwin Ernst Weber and Duke Carl Gregor all delivered speeches to those in attendance, this was then followed by 2 hours of jazz music. At the conclusion of the performance a meal was served in the cloister of Inzigkofen attended by 45 guests. Amongst those in attendance were Their Highnesses Duke Borwin and the Duchesses Alice, Marie Katharina and Irene.
In the 1950s at his parents’ home the Prinzessinnenpalais in Sigmaringen, Duke Carl Gregor turned a spare room into a rehearsal room filled with hundreds of Jazz records which the duke and his fellow musicians spent hours listening to. This ultimately led to the creation of the Jazz group JC Amateurs in 1954 which was at the time the only Jazz band in the whole of Upper Swabia. In addition to being a performer, at university musicology formed part of Duke Carl Gregor’s studies and he has gone on to author of a number of works on Jazz music. His love of Jazz has earned him the nickname the “Jazz Duke”.
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