- Jo Ment
Jo Ment (born 1923; died 2002) was a German musician. Born Jochen Ment in 1923, he became a successful musician in
Hamburg , Germany, showing proficiency onaccordion andsaxophone . In the 1950s, he became a member of theNDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or North German Radio) Big Band, then under the direction ofAlfred Hause ; his fellow bandmates includedBert Kaempfert ,James Last ,Horst Wende andLadi Geisler . He also toured with Hause's popular tango orchestra. Ment was active as a session musician inHamburg , playing for many popular recording acts. He was also a charter member of theJames Last Orchestra , although he did not actually tour with Last until the 1980s.During the 1960s, the big band pop sounds of
Bert Kaempfert andJames Last became popular throughout Europe and eventually around the world. Many imitation acts sprang up, and Jochen Ment led one of them. Signed to the GermanAriola label, he recorded under the name Jo Ment and used many of the same musicians as Kaempfert and Last. Ment's albums were not as original as those of his mentors, but they were popular and sold well.In the 1980s, the big band pop sound lost popularity. Ment discontinued making orchestral recordings and became a permanent touring member of the
James Last Orchestra , playing accordion and percussion. He was regularly featured as an accordion soloist on the popular live numbers "Biscaya" and "Jigs and Reels". Ment remained a member of the Last band until shortly before his death.
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