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Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, minimalism and ambient music, and are regarded as characteristic examples of the ECM Records sound.
Early on in Weber’s musical journey, he met pianist Wolfgang Dauner with whom he would work for many years throughout his career. They met while both were playing at the Dusseldorf Amateur Jazz Festival.
Weber joined the band Spectrum alongside musician Dave Pike and Volker Kriegel. He left the band soon after joining because he was "becoming dissatisfied with the rock-oriented direction of the band." He also wanted to experiment with the solid-body electric double bass that he had started playing. He was an early proponent of the instrument, adding a fifth string, which he has played regularly since the early 1970s.
From the early 1960s to the early 1970s, Weber's closest musical association was with pianist Wolfgang Dauner. Their many mutual projects were diverse, from mainstream jazz to jazz-rock fusion to avant-garde sound experiments. During this period, Weber also played and recorded with pianists Hampton Hawes and Mal Waldron, guitarists Baden Powell de Aquino and Joe Pass, The Mike Gibbs Orchestra, violinist Stephane Grappelli, and many others.
Starting with The Colours of Chloë, Weber has released 13 more records under his own name, all on ECM. The ECM association also led to collaborations with other ECM recording artists such as Gary Burton ( Ring, 1974; Passengers, 1976), Ralph Towner ( Solstice, 1975; Solstice/Sound and Shadows, 1977), Pat Metheny ( Watercolors, 1977), and Jan Garbarek (10 recordings between 1978 and 1998).
In the mid-1970s Weber formed his own group, Colours, with Charlie Mariano (soprano saxophone, flutes), Rainer Brüninghaus (piano, synthesizer) and Jon Christensen (drums). After their first recording, Yellow Fields (1975), Christensen left and was replaced by John Marshall. The group toured extensively and recorded two further records, Silent Feet (1977) and Little Movements (1980), before disbanding.
Since the early 1980s, Weber has regularly collaborated with the British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, playing on four of her last six studio albums ( The Dreaming, 1982; Hounds of Love, 1985; The Sensual World, 1989; Aerial, 2005).
During the 1980s, Weber toured with Barbara Thompson's jazz ensemble Paraphernalia.
Since 1990, Weber's touring has been limited, and he has had only two new recordings under his own name: The 2001 release Endless Days is an elemental fusion of jazz and classical music flavors, fitting well the moniker chamber jazz. His main touring activity during that period was as a regular member of the Jan Garbarek Group. On the occasion of his 65th birthday, in March, 2005 he recorded Stages of a Long Journey, a live concert with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and featuring Gary Burton, Wolfgang Dauner and Jan Garbarek. In 2009 ECM also re-released his albums Yellow Fields, Silent Feet and Little Movements as a 3-CD collection titled "Colours".
Weber writes about his experience immediately following his stroke recounting his physical therapy and saying that he thought he would be healthy and able to play again for the upcoming leg of the tour however this unfortunately was not the case and Weber has not been able to play the bass since. He was replaced in the Jan Garbarek Group by Yuli Daniel in the spring of 2007.
In a January 2010 interview with Die Welt, he spoke about his medical condition and future projects.
Weber's latest albums, Résumé (2012) and Encore (2015) comprise solos from his performances worldwide with The Jan Garbarek Group, overdubbed with keyboards/treatments by Weber, sax by Garbarek, and flügelhorn by Ack Van Rooyen.
His autobiography, Résumé, was published in 2015. Résumé. Eine deutsche Jazz-Geschichte, Stuttgart 2015, sagas.edition An English translation by Heidi Kirk - Eberhard Weber: A German Jazz Story - was published in October 2021. Eberhard Weber: A German Jazz Story, Equinox Publishing
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