Andreas von der Meden - banjo & guitar
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Andreas ("Andy") started not only his acting career as child, but he also began to play the drums for the Oimel Jazz Youngsters at age 12. Andy then switched to banjo and guitar and performed as a soloist with some of the leading Oldtime Jazz bands in North Germany at the time.
Only 16 years old, he got the unusual and honorable chance to put together an All Star formation to accompany guest soloists at NDR Jazz concerts. This gave him the chance to meet Jazz giants like Albert Nicholas, Peanuts Holland, Toots Thielemans, Fatty George, Rolf Kühn, to name a few.
From 1960 to 1961 Andy played in Berlin for the famous City Stompers, together with Gerhard Vohwinkel, but then decided to make acting, once again, his main profession. This did not keep him from making Jazz music in the years to come with the Steamboat Stompers and others.
In 1969 he became a new member of the Old Merry Tale Jazzband, before, in 1986, he followed Addi Münster to form his own branch of the OMTJ. Since 1997, Andy shared his position as the OMTJ´s banjo player with Jürgen Hintsche.