Stampfenbachstrasse 8
1980–1982

During the 50ies and 60ies in the US, there were many well-known jazz clubs that stayed open all year. Except maybe those in the South. They took a siesta in the summer. My musician friends at the time were sort of shaped by the 365 club "Africana" in Zurich. On this vintage matchbook you can see how many sets a day were played. Later, Gerant Hugentobler had reduced the frequency, but still the "Africana", with all the Sunday afternoon concerts added together, must have been a "400 live concerts club".

All over Europe I had visited various such clubs on tours and on my trips from the mid-60s onwards, such as the "Domicile" in Munich, the "Downtown-Düsseldorf", "Jazz Gallerie-Berlin", "Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen", and so on. When we opened the Bazillus music restaurant, it was clear to me that this club would put on concerts all year round.

So, for the first time in my life, I put together a "365 days music program". Little by little, I worked with the first concert agents. These were Wim Wigt in Holland, GKP-Gabriele Kleinschmidt (D), Ulli Blobel (D), Saudades-Thomas Stöwsand in Munich (later Austria) , Vera Brandes in Cologne and many others.  The expensive big names would maybe only one night, but the tour agents all liked it when the bands could play 2-4 days instead of having to travel on the next day. 

Here are a few screenshots of some familiar names that performed in 1980-82:

The musicians were accommodated at the hotel "Goldenes Schwert". On the second floor they had a disco and a restaurant open 'til 2 o'clock  where the musicians sometimes got a late meal. At that time there were almost no pubs where you could go after closing time. Or the musicians ate at our club in the upper part, on the club esplanade. 

Our main income was generated on Fridays and Saturdays evenings with mostly afrobeats, salsa or funk groups. Sometimes I booked these bands for four days. And of course we had the "specials" with well-known formations. Sunday afternoon was reserved for young, unknown CH and local groups. Sunday evening then for well-known Swiss jazz groups. 

The audience consulted our monthly music program. We had many reservations from Southern Germany and also from the rest of Switzerland. 

See also Collections > Programs

For a total of 24 months, a lot of styles from all over were heard at the Bazillus music restaurant: Local-Groups, Swiss bands, European bands, musicians from overseas, even South America and Africa, and also groups from the Eastern Bloc countries and a few from the Far East. 

Shortly after our opening the "Opera House Riots" took place. We just had a well-known musician on stage, when suddenly protesters stormed into the Bazillus to hide from the police. Unfortunately, we had the stage door open for a bit more air, and the police, your friend and helper, knew nothing better than to ignite a tear gas cartridge in the courtyard. There was brief panic in the club. I had to increase the ventilation to 100%.

Christian Rentsch, the music critic of the city newspaper Tagesanzeiger at the time, did not consider the Bazillus a "real" jazz joint. He labelled the program dance&dinner music and remarked it was commercial, flat and boring, and moreover he regretted the absence of the Zurich jazz scene.

Based on this criticism, I then added this concert statistic to the next program.

Because of the very often unfavorable reviews by Rentsch, we had a saying among musicians:

"Have you already been rentsched by Chlönian Glintsch?".

(In Swiss German "chlönen" means "to moan and complain"…)

Overall, there was a spiteful mood in the city and it took about 3 more years until the "Bazillus Hotel Hirschen" would be subsidized (municipal council decision), and until the "Rote Fabrik" and the "Kanzlei-Areal" could be realized after the 80s riots with great support (referendum).

Unrealistic music budget

I had originally submitted a budget for music costs that was way too low and I was under the assumption that the internal financial officers would let me know if I was on or over budget. This was not the case. As a complete layman in bookkeeping, I had no insight into the accounting. One member of this bookkeeping group contacted Commercio Piccadilly AG already in October 1980 without our knowledge…

So at the end of the year there was a deficit of Fr. 120'000.- in the music account. And at the end of 1980 it was also known that the construction costs were way higher than the calculated 430'547.- (letter from Jochen Uhl to me dated March 16, 1981). There were still ideas how we could have better organized the establishment. The most important person, architect Jochen Uhl, then unfortunately dropped out, which we all regretted very much.

Then the new owners, Walter Schoch and Heini Werner from Commercio Piccadilly AG, joined us. Some of the share holders had left Bazillus AG. The new, financially strong owners invited me, Dieter Schärer, Bernhard Uhlman and the landlord Franz Baumberger to stay on.

Heini Werner did not respond to my suggestion to reduce the program. We always suspected later that he was "running us up". The mood was down from the start. Then it was a matter of making a new financial entry or "cutting off" our own shareholding, which was not possible for us "cultural people" and was also not planned internally by the new owners. Anne and I lost 50,000 francs and then had to "pay off" the loan to my parents. Fortunately, our grafic artist "Atelier Kennel-Christiansen" was doing very well. It was painful, but altogether bearable.

The echo in the media was huge. Now the City Hall and the politicians intervened to finally find a safe haven for our Bazillus. This finally led to a new form of cultural operation in the following Bazillus Hirschen: A cultural association subsidized by the city is the tenant, and not people from the restaurant business. 

The Bazillus music restaurant was closed on March 10, 1982 and then transformed into the present "Commihalle". In the new "Commihalle" a new jazz series "Jazz Con Pasta" was introduced.