Paul Kuhn

Paul Kuhn was born on March 12, 1928 in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany.

In 1936, at the age of 8, he had a public gig at the 'Funkausstellung' in Berlin, playing the accordion. Some years later, he discovered jazz music (which was frowned upon during the nazi time (1933-1945)). In 1944, he was in Paris and had some gigs to entertain soldiers of the Wehrmacht, who still occupied Paris.

After V-Day (8 May 1945), the USA formed an occupation zone in parts of Germany, amongst them the region around Frankfurt. Kuhn was hired by AFN (American Forces Network), he was live on radio almost every day, alone or with his band. He adopted the style and sound of Glenn Miller (1904-1944).

In the 1950s, he arranged and composed entertainment music. Around 1955, he increasingly launched pop songs, sung and played by himself.

His most known hits were Der Mann am Klavier (1954), Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii (1963) and Die Farbe der Liebe (1958 in the charts).

He is known for his work on Drillinge an Bord (1959), Musik ombord (1958) and Männersache (2009). He was married to Ute Hellermann.

In 1968, Kuhn was named head of the entertainment orchestra of Sender Freies Berlin. In 1980, this band was dissolved and Kuhn moved to Cologne and founded his own orchestra.

In 1985 he played him self in the TV movie 'Der Mann am Klavier' ( The man at the piano), together with international singing stars as Marlène Charell, Gilbert Bécaud, Peter Hoffmann and Bibi Johns.

Starting in 2000, he toured with Max Greger, Hugo Strasser and the Big Band of SWR (Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk).

In 2005 he had to undergo heart surgery and in 2007, he was diagnosed with a herpes zoster. In the following years he lost his hearing and his eyesight.

At the end of 2011, Kuhn went to San Francisco to record a CD (The L.A. Session, with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton). The album was released in 2013.