Helmut Brandt

Helmut Brandt (January 1, 1931 in Berlin – July 26, 2001 in Stuttgart) was a German jazz baritone saxophonist and bandleader.His style was heavily influenced by Stan Getz and Gil Evans. Brandt sang in a church choir as a boy, and played violin from age ten before learning saxophone and guitar at a conservatory.He began playing professionally in 1950 and led his own group by 1954.Through the end of the 1950s he worked in a Berlin radio dance band, and played in the orchestras of Lubo D'Orio and Kurt Widmann.His Mainstream Orchestra was popular in Berlin in the 1970s. Brandt died of a heart attack in 2001.