We recently connected with Katja Rieckermann and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katja, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was a teenager I felt like I wanted to do something creative/artistic but I wasn’t sure what specifically. At that time I didn’t play an instrument yet even though I had a big admiration for music and some of my friends who did play instruments. For some reason I felt like that was out of my reach because my parents didn’t support the artistic ambitions. I listened to a lot of soul and funk music and of course the saxophone was always dominant in that genre so I developed and affinity to the sax. When I saw Al Jarreau perform live in 1983 he had a saxophonist with him: David Sanborn. His sound blew me away and since then I started following his music. He played on everything during those days: pop, rock, jazz, funk, soul…. Finally when I was 20 years old and was visiting a friend in San Jose, California I saw a female saxophonist perform and that’s when I made the decision that that’s what I wanted to do with my life! So when I got home to Germany I bought my first sax and started to take lessons immediately. I had to learn how to read music etc. Everyone thought I was crazy because I had such a late start but I was determined that I would become a professional musician so I practiced every day for hours!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was born in Luebeck, Germany and as I wrote in the section before I started playing the saxophone when I was 21 years old. Even though I had a late start I was able to earn money making music even after a couple of years of playing because I had put my mind to becoming a good player and spent every free moment practicing. I moved to the US after I had been playing for about 10 years to reach for the stars…. I hustled for 4 years, still practicing a lot but also networking all the time until I got invited to audition for Sir Rod Stewart. I got the gig and I ended up touring with him for 14 years from 2001 until 2015. I also have worked with other great artists like Brooks and Dunn, David Foster, Lady Gaga, Nile Rogers, Mary J Blige, Diego Verdaguer, Amanda Miguel, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) etc and I appeared on countless tv shows and even performed for the royal family several times. Even though constantly busy mostly touring I always wrote my own music, released several solo albums and singles and kept performing with my own band in the LA area mostly at the world famous Baked Potato jazz club and also at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz. I think my accomplishment of having become a successful musician even though having started so late in life sets me apart from others and should be an inspiration to others: it’s never too late to start something!!!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being a musician saved me! Music is a friend that’s always around! When I feel blue or lonely, I pick up my instrument and start working on something: could be practicing something in particular, writing a new song or just play…. afterwords I always feel like I have accomplished something and the emptiness disappears.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think it’s important that society keeps supporting live music, especially on a smaller scale. There is nothing more rewarding for a musician to stand in front of an audience (can be 70 or 7000 people) and perform. The energy that’s being exchanged (that goes both ways) is irreplaceable. To me personally it’s my “happy place”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katjarieckermann.com
- Instagram: @katjarsax
- Facebook: fb.me/katjarsax
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katja-rieckermann-71502696
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/KatjaRieckermann
Image Credits
Sven Doornkaat, Paul Gervasi, Michael Strider