1590 people live in Zauner’s Innviertler home community of Diersbach. This means that during the INN tones, Zauner and his audience triple the population every year for three days. In 1986, the trombonist founded this jazz festival, which has long been renowned throughout Europe, rather by accident in the neighboring community of Sigharting. The festival has been held every year since 2002 (this year from July 22nd to 24th) at his own Diersbacher Hof.
Zauner was born in Passau in 1959. Back then, farmers still had to pay for births in hospitals, and Passau was the cheapest hospital, says Zauner. His parents ran a 16-hectare farm including pig breeding with 300 animals. This was the cultural environment in which Zauner grew up with his older sister. There was little art, there wasn’t a record player at home – what for: Da Bua takes over the yard, end of the debate.
Zauner’s door opener to music was a harmonica, with which he annoyed his father. From 1994, against his father’s will, he also converted the pig farm into organic farming.
At the agricultural school in St. Florian, his teacher Franz Wall deepened his enthusiasm for music, which had meanwhile increased on the piano. He went to Vienna to study veterinary medicine and was also employed at the Vienna Music Conservatory. By now he had specialized in trombone. He did not complete his studies – “nevertheless I was lucky enough to be able to play with a number of greats in the jazz world.” Among others with world star Gregory Porter, whom Zauner not only brought to the district along with many others, but with whom he also joined Zauner’s ensemble “Blue Brass” recorded the CD “The Great Voices of Harlem”.
Despite his success as a musician, organizer, Brucknerhaus curator and organic farmer, Zauner has remained this Innviertler with an oversized heart. Turbo-capitalism, the exploitation of resources, the restlessness of the world – all this emaciates this philanthropic soul, who never forgets who helped at the bar or as a parking lot attendant.
Source: Nachrichten
