Alcatraz is a Progressive Jazz Fusion band from the German underground scene.
A quite obscure band coming from Hamburg in the early 70s and active until 2002, composed of five members: RUEDIGER BERGHAHN (Vocals), KLAUS HOLST (guitar), KLAUS NAGURSKI (Flute and Sax), Ronald Wilson (Bass) and JAN RIECK (Drums and Percussion). They were used to play in small places and started with covers of TEN YEARS AFTER, VANILLA FUDGE and also URIAH HEEP and BLACK SABBATH, but later they started been heavily influenced by more jazz oriented bands, in particular SOFT MACHINE. What results is a mixture of heavy rock, Canterbury with long improvisations as typical of Krautrock. Their debut album is the most well known. They stopped for long time after that but came back in the late 70s with a number of new and more challenging releases.
- Rüdiger Berghan / piano, vocal
- Klaus Holst / guitar
- Klaus Nagurski / flute, Tenor saxophone
- Ronald Wilson / bass
- Jan Rieck / drums, percussion