December 30, 2011 - It was a sublime evening straight from the Black Forest of Germany played out on the second floor of the newly renovated Fair Grinds Coffee House. Located on Ponce de Leon St. near City Park in New Orleans, the venue was a prime location for an intimate acoustic set.
New patrons and old friends alike found a wooden seat of choice within the prepared semicircle over wood floors under vintage New Orleanian high ceilings. Acoustic guitarist Klaus Weiland walked toward his guitar. The performer greeted everyone and sat down to play. It was not long before man and guitar were the focus of all in attendance, and the artist began to sketch his world within the faces of those enraptured by the command of his instrument.
He was in Bergen-Belsen, a former Nazi concentration camp liberated and utilized by the British to house Germans displaced after the war. Weiland spent the majority of his childhood in England. Known as 'the English boy with the German name', Klaus developed an interest in guitar.
He went on to study with the lead German players of the time. After a stint of lifestyle, gigs and tours, he and his wife decided to leave Germany. Just before Klaus left the country, a friend asked him tp record some music for a guitar anthology. Reluctant, Klaus laid down what he deemed to be a 'throwaway piece', and, when pressed for a name to designate the melody, he jokingly blurted out 'Das Loch in Der Banane' (or 'The Hole in the Banana') and left the country.
It was not until years later that a random stranger found Klaus Weiland busking far from his homeland. The man informed Klaus that his music was famous and beloved in Germany. That 'throwaway piece' left in the care of a friend had gone on to become the recording played on German national television in between regular TV programs, approximately 20 years by the time this happenstance encounter with Klaus.
Nowadays, 'Dash Loch in Der Banane' is taught to new students of guitar, and the man himself is a noted master of his craft. Yet, he assumes no titles, enjoys life, and loves to play.
Fair Grinds onlookers new to Weiland's music and listening to woven stories of this pacifist's life seemed to find themselves blessed somewhere between the man not expecting to find Klaus and Klaus not expecting to hear what he'd heard that day.
Liquid silk emulated from wood and string as the musician crafted multitudes of single notes to music: "Belizean Breeze", "Pebbles", "Crazy Man Michael". Whether original song or credited piece, expression was key, spilling forth in sound and facial gesture.
Yet, who is this man? Watching the faces round the room, I felt as if we shared in the creation of an enigma spawned of technical intricacy riddled with anecdote and spiced with tidbits of life experience. Tales began to weave themselves into the music. Old friends led to evolution of song meanings; a sailboat on the 17th Street Canal blended with bananas adrift down Belizian rivers; naked porch sitting in the Cajun wilderness became a mural for the mind of the listener. It was, in a word, mesmerizing.
The tonal quality and intricacy of melody alone was impressive, but the speed and dexterity of both right and left hand succumbing to the will of the artist pushed this performance over the top. It was the lack of labels and definition for this very performance that allowed a natural evolution throughout the evening and kept the audience wondering...'what will he play...or say, next?'
Purity of musicianship would meet an occasional random note or two and the master, Klaus, would erupt into such laughter! The sheer joy of music was shared and met with the gentle release of minds entrapped in daily woes and uncomfortable wooden chairs.
If you'd like to know what it means to love Klaus in New Orleans, wander Frenchman Street a bit, or take a walk in Jackson Square. You might just find him, and you'll know him by the focus on his face, the smile wavering just in reach of the length of his gray beard, and the hole in the banana logo present on the back of his guitar.
Klaus will be appearing live and in person in Slidell at the Heart Pine Yoga Studio, 2800 Gause Blvd. E. Call (985) 326 - 0965 for directions.
You can find Klaus on YouTube and Facebook. He welcomes friend requests!
It's quite likely you'll meet up with this Texas resident if you attend Renaissance festivals across the Gulf Coast and beyond. He could even be playing his alternate instruments of choice, bouzouki or sitar. May you meet up with Klaus one day, and may he leave you haunted with song.
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