80. The number stands there as if chiseled in stone. A birthday with numbers as round as a slowly closing circle. A life lived. Joe Haider has filled a more than exciting chapter in the book of German jazz history, something that can be said with complete justification. The guy is certainly a milestone on the piano too. However, he is also one of the most overlooked and not listened to. Is he also an innovator? If you think that real innovation lies these days in resisting the oversized gripping arms of the spirit of the times uncompromisingly, then yes. And a role model? Musically in every respect. In other respects, however, the birthday boy even has doubts himself, at least in terms of his past. But one thing is certain: Joe Haider is without a doubt an original and a creator of a certain style. He is one of the most important German jazz musicians of the postwar period.
