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Menden, that's the town I grew up in. I have a lot of stories to tell. The ones you'll hear here are about Jazz. Jazz is my life. It fills every space of my existence. It drives me and creates meaning, providing a haven where pleasure reigns. In 1952 I was 16, glued to the radio. Television came later. Once, they featured Bunk Johnson and I was mesmerized. From then, I scoured the shops for all the vinyl I could find. My collection soon became large and, having no other driving interests, I started a club. Nothing fancy but we had fun. Had a band too; the Tower Street Stompers. I was on Trombone. These were great days but I soon realized that I was no Jack Teagarden and concentrated on organizing events.

Iserlohn 1968. I had gained some attention both as a graphic designer and a mover in the Jazz world. I began putting together shows. Good shows. In '72, I brought in Chick Corea among others. With my partner Eckhardt Stuckenschmidt, we did a regular gig for the youth welfare department. I moved up a step and began an independent label. Later I started cooperating with the local jazzclub and I put all my initiatives into having a real club with weekly live jazz, that were the times when "Jazzclub Henkelmann" was born .. next

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Altena, 1969. New Jazz ruled the airwaves and festivals. That's when I first met Heinz Bonsack. Bonsack was a respected tooth-puller by day. But he had a vision for Jazz and how to weld this European form of it to an environment that made it essentially European: Put it in a castle. A medieval castle in this Sauerland city. There were obstacles. The entrenched powers guarding the castle couldn't see the vision. Heinz laid siege. Relentlessly. Opposition crumbled and my sweet Jazz music roared on the ramparts. But the battle was too much for Heinz. He became ill and I didn't have the heart to fight without my friend. I left Altena. No more cool licks would be wasted there..... next

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Balve. Site of Germany's largest natural cave. But Balve had something more. It had Harald Polenz. Harald lured me here and offered a place to bring the festival. "Where should we put the festival?", says I. "In the cave.", says he. Where else? The thing was, well, cavernous. We put 3000 folks in there. We could provide camping and food thanks to the Schutzenverein. However, without the help of countless friends, the task would have been impossible. For 10 years, the festival was held here. Everyone got involved. But, as usual, we pushed it too hard. The elders drew a line in the sand. I left Balve.... next

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Today, 2002. I live in the Turkish town of Bodrum, the ancient Halicarnassus. It was here where I had met my wonderful partner/wife Pinar and setteld Unfortunately the kids are far away. My son Lutz makes quality custom shoes in Germany. Please visit him at rk-schuh.de or kilianshoe.de. My daughter Anke is doing a PhD in Marine Biology in Brisbane. What has become of me? Don't worry. I stay busy. I have an ocean cruising business bluecruise.org and I get involved in other travel-related projects such as bodrum-info.org. I continue to do web design and haven't forgotten my love of Jazz. When in Bodrum, catch my Jazz show on the local radio station. Then we'll cool off in blue waters of the Aegean sea's

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