Hellmut Hattler is a German jazz and bass player. Hattler took much of his influence from Jimi Hendrix. As a child he learned to play the violin, and in the 1960s played the guitar. Joining Peter Wolbrandt's band marked the debut of his changeover to the bass. In May 1971 with the Wolbrandt brothers Peter and Jan, and Johannes Pappert he founded the pop group Kraan whose early style of Krautrock developed later towards fusion, combining elements of both rock and jazz. Hattler has toured and recorded with many international musicians of the genre including Michael Brecker, Kai Eckhardt, Billy Cobham, Joachim K�hn, Ernie Watts, Alphonse Mouzon, and Nippy Noya. [More at Wikipedia]

April 12th, 1952 in Ulm (Age 72)