It was a wonderful opportunity to hear good Jazz, enjoy great food and superb wines.
In the Parkhotel on the shore of Lake Tristach in East Tirol.
Surrounded by Mountains, directly at the foot of a perpenticular wall of rock, steep and high enough to scare you a bit, stands this 4 star hotel, owned and operated by an energetic, hardworking and knowledgable, super friendly Josef ( Peppi ) Kreuzer.
He not only runs the finest establishment for miles and miles, but also possesses a good voice which he uses freely to act as the vocalist for the band he hires to entertain his guests.
No wonder, that his hotel is full to capacity, and in spite of the dining room being "sold out",
there is excellent, efficient service. The quality of the food is beyond compare.
What a joy it is to experience the results of the combined labour of a real enterpreneur and his skilled staff.
The reason for our visit there,( it's a 2 and 1/2 hours trip over 200 km) was because my old friend, Charly Reicheneder, played there with a wonderful quartett of excellent musicians.
The musical leader of this group is its pianist, Otto Reischmann. A pianist of the old school, who can elicit soulful melodies from his keyboard or hard driving rhythms...whichever the tune calls for.
Gerhard Bucher blows a mean Trumpet and Fluegelhorn, and a gentle Flute.
Charly Reicheneder, my old and trusty friend, on the Tenor Saxophone can blow a soulful ballad which makes you close your eyes and dream a bit, only to be electrified by the most raucous riffs this side of Coleman Hawkins.
Then there is Mandy Plzak on his Double Bass, underlining the melodious structure and driving the band rhythmically in the absense of a drummer.
And last but not least...can I believe this, the owner and general manager of the Parkhotel Tristachersee, takes the wireless microphone and sings all kinds of melodies out of everybody's song book. There are Italian Songs, "come back to Sorento", there are Jazz tunes, and there are sentimental Carinthian melodies. all offered in a smooth voice, slightly reminiscent of Tony Bennet.
The band played without interuption until midnight and when they finished you were left with a sense of regret. You wanted more of the good stuff.
Tired, we fell asleep in a luxurious room on comfortable beds, to wake up the next morning for a lavish breakfast. (If you want to control your weight, this is not the place to do it.)
We decided to drive home the long way around. Through the Lesach- and the Gail valley, over a couple of snowfree mountain passes and through the lovely Rosental (Valley of the roses) until, some 4 hours later and after a leisurly drive we arrived back home in good old Bleiburg.
Above here and below you will find some pictures taken during this lovely two days.
