Urs Hirz, one of my childhood friends, knew that I was looking for a rehearsal room on our street Wirzenweid in Zurich-Witikon. His mother agreed to let us use her drying room once a week. Her husband was away on business a lot and I think she quite liked that bit of commotion in the house. Sometimes she even offered tea and cake. Urs timbered a simple "stage" and a carpet was added. The first musician was the piano player Richard Motschmann, who gave me a snare, a high-hat and a cymbal. Art Ringger from the «Africana-Club» joined in with double bass, and from Untere Eierbrechtstrasse I was joined by alto player Peter Rechsteiner. Peter lived next door to Harry Pfister (as), who led a jazz big band. Moreover, Pfister had been a jury member at Berner's "National Amateur Jazz Festival" in Zurich since 1951. Probably Rechsteiner took music lessons from Pfister.

Harry contacted me. He asked me if his big band could rehearse at my place. He needed a rehearsal place and also a new drummer. So, without me even able to read one tired note, he invited me to play in the band. Harry said; "Beat, you just have to swing, emphasize well, and don't speed up; nothing else!". They kept me. It was good practice, also because I got to meet adult musicians outside my family. At the Africana, a couple of cats found out that I had this rehearsal place in Witikon. So a few musicians from the scene came from the Africana to jam. E.g. the then already dangerous "verbal bully Guy Barrier" (later hardcore activist "Rote Steine-Fraktion"), who was taken with Shepp, rasped cheeky notes into the round and played against the concrete wall, because he could hear himself better… and Dominique Grandjean, (later to become famous with the song "Campari Soda"), owned the first white plastic alto sax in the city, one like Ornette Coleman…

The painter H.R. Giger (see last portrait photo) also came to visit and sat down at the piano. He liked it progressive, like McCoy Tyner, approximately.

But in this cellar I also learned to play properly in and with a band. Drummer Mani Neumeier was asked by pianist Marcel Bernasconi if he knew a young drummer. From Remo Rau, Mani knew that Hans Kennel had a cousin who played percussion. After he had contacted me, he came und was standing  in front of the garage door of my "Witiker club" with the bass player Hansruedi Roth. Marcel thought I was good enough and we started to practice Marcel's repertoire. There were many compositions by Monk among them, but also many well-known standards from that time. In 1965 we left these premises and the rehearsals afterwards took place in Bernasconi's parents' house in Erlenbach.

After 1964 I was painting this "stage impression", which Urs Hirt would not give back at the end, saying it was his compensation for the carpentry of the stage … I wish I had this original in my archive today!