Our friend Renald Deppe left on his last journey on Pentecost Sunday. A great loss, which has already been lamented here, but which still hurts and will hurt for a very long time. The P&B loses not only its co-founder, curator and artistic director, but also its intellectual "background". With the opening of the Strengen Kammer in September 2011, Renald found an experimental field, laboratory, workshop..., everything he had always been looking for and what he always wanted: a workshop for the young Austriak scene, which was also allowed to fail. "Lost & Found" and "Brennkammer" were the titles of the series he lovingly, dedicatedly and consistently curated. Through his visionary and supportive programming, the tender little plant became a "hotspot" for the creative, innovative and above all young jazz scene, which was always a special concern of his - as a teacher and as a practicing musician. Many projects were created in the Strengen Kammer, for many musicians this place was/is the gateway to the Jazz & Musicclub. And Renald personally took care of everything on site that was necessary for a successful concert, he carpentered the right frame for every musical picture. He wrote fantastic, funny, clever lyrics and every musician was proud when Renald wrote a few lines about them, but it never remained with a few lines - he often went out and quoted all kinds of things, which always fit perfectly into this very frame. An enviable gift he had there. He rarely missed the opportunity to announce the bands himself, and even then it didn't stop at a few sentences. He always came up with something that didn't seem to be directly related, but after a bit of reflection turned out to be downright ingenious. Much could still be said and written about this wonderful universalist - we still have a number of things in mind, on the one hand to commemorate him, and on the other hand to continue what was begun in his spirit. This also applies to the Strenge Kammer, whose programming and continuation he placed in the competent hands of Peter Herbert during his lifetime. Thankfully, the bassist and composer accepted his offer and will be responsible for content and direction in the future, or he has already taken over the agendas in Renald's place in the near past.

The P&B celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in September. It's a shame that Renald won't be able to join in the celebrations, but we'll be adding a Tuesday "Renald Deppe Special" series of four concerts to "his" program lines "Lost & Found" and "Brennkammer" in September. There will also be a "Tribute to Renald Deppe" on Wednesday, November 29, with many friends and companions.