Joachim Palden – AT

Joachim Palden is a pianist who was born on January 8, 1960 in Vienna. Due to his parents' interest in music, he attended blues concerts from a young age and enjoyed listening to blues music through the Ö3 program "Living Blues" and his father's record collection. At the age of 13 he switched from classical piano studies to boogie woogie and visited Vienna's "Jazzland", where he heard black blues musicians live. There he met European boogie-woogie pianists who influenced his musical development.

An important date in Joachim's life was November 27, 1977, when he was voted the best blues pianist at the Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Contest in Zurich. He also formed the MOJO BLUES BAND and recorded three LPs. Playing alongside other musicians like Johnny Shines, J.B. Hutto, Joe Carter, Eddy Clearwater and Sunnyland Slim gave him valuable impulses.

Joachim gave up school shortly before graduation to devote himself entirely to music. In the summer of 1981 he met the Italian singer Etta Scollo in Turin, with whom he began an intensive collaboration. Their first LP, "Be Baba Leba Boogie", was a huge success and the title track's single was in the top 10 of the Ö3 hit parade for a long time. For the second LP, the famous jazz saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis could be won.

After 7 years Joachim left the Mojo Blues Band and performed with Etta Scollo at national and international festivals. In 1987 Etta and Joachim separated and he founded the "JOACHIM PALDEN TRIO" with piano, saxophone and drummer Helmut Mejda. The trio was often reinforced by guests like Oskar Klein, Abi Wallenstein and Henry Heggen from Hamburg/USA, Vince Weber and Dana Gillespie. In the fall of 1990 Joachim was in Chicago for the second time to take part in two LP productions as a pianist.