After playing guitar in various rock and folk bands in the early 1970s, Heiner Windelband found the right instrument for him at the age of 22: upright stature, powerful instead of delicately strung, with a penetrating volume of sound. Every sound demands attention.

But the assigned seat in the back row of an orchestra was not his thing; that’s how he first came to jazz. Various combos served as a field for expression and experimentation. It is typical that he first researched the double bass as an autodidactic and then had himself taught by Sigi Busch – without stopping his research. From the very beginning he was tempted to explore the possibilities and limits of his instrument in a creative and practical way.

This effort went so far that he lent a hand himself to improve the playability of the instrument.