HANS HARTMANN Capmanstick / Bass Hans Hartmann, born 1942 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, started playing traditional jazz bass at his canton school. Later, at Z�rich conservatory, he was awarded a prize as Switzerland�s best bassist. During this time he played bass for blues singer Champion Jack Dupree and in bands with Remo Rau, J�rg Grau and Peter Canidiotto. For a while Hartmann toured Northern Europe with pianist Marcel Bernasconi and drummer Beat Kennel. In 1968 he took up a position as regular bass player at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg in a sextet with Hans Koller, Frank St. Peter, and Peter Herbholzheimer. Thereupon, Hartmann formed his own band with Udo Lindenberg on drums and became a member of the German rock band �Guru Guru� between 1973 and 1974. He played and recorded with Polish trumpet player Tomasz Stanko and violinist Zbigniew Seiffert and toured the US with them. A change took place in Hans Hartmann�s life when in New York he discovered the Chapmanstick. Immediately he integrated his new instrument into new projects and simultaneously played as a member in songwriter Hannes Waders band. Henceforth Hartmann lived in Berlin Kreuzberg, to him a place of perfect muslticulturalism. Here he formed the group �Stickstoff� in 1984 and became a founding member of the contemporary jazz quartet �For Free Hands�. Throughout all these years, Hartmann made his mark as an internationally renowned bassist and as one of the world�s best Chapmanstick players. His musical colleagues are spread all over the world.