Pitt Linder

Swiss musician, recording engineer, radio-host, PA-builder etc. from Basel. Wolfgang E. (Pitt) Linder was born in Bern on 8 April 1924. Studied violin and clarinet at the Bern Music Conservatory, before discovering the tenor saxophone and American jazz which he helped introduce to Switzerland through orchestras and bands. He started out to play in some local Basel Jazz combos together with his brother Albert Linder in the early 50s. His first Rock & Roll record (Heartbreak Hotel b/w Minor Rock by Die Rock & Rollers) came out as a vinyl 45 back in ca. 1956/1957 on Tell Records. By 1957 he would become a recording artist for Grammoclub Ex Libris. From 1957 on until ca. into the early 1970's Big Pitt Linder would also be hosting his own weekly radio show on the national Swiss Basel Radio, where he would usually play some music by his own bands, mixed with lots of music by other bands. He used to record and a t times conducted hundreds of records for Ex Libris, and some other labels. Those records were usually recorded at Landgasthof Riehen (Basel), or at Radio DRS, Basel. His firm Linder Electronics, Basel, installed sound systems in discos, auditoriums and concert halls. The PA-system from the first Swiss Rolling Stones concert in Zürich was built by Pitt Linder. His undertaking used to be called "Linder Electronics" back then. Linder Electronics existed from the early 60s until around the mid '80s. Pitt Linder used to build the PA's for most of the local Basel Beat-bands from the 60s in order so that they could play in bigger venues. By the mid-60s virtually nobody would remember him as an old Jazz, and Rock & Roll musician anymore, but he built the PA system for the Montreux Jazz Festival. Later on towards the late 80s he moved to New Jersey, USA, to become a famous recording engineer (for mostly classical music) in New York City. He designed and installed the sound and light system for the Swiss Pavilion for the World Expo in Tsukuba Japan (1985). The last 14 years of his life were spent in Victoria BC Canada where he enjoyed hiking and the renowned classical and jazz community. He was a friend to the Victoria Conservatory of Music, who established a Pitt Linder Memorial Fund for young musicians after his death at the age of 94 on 1 December 2018.