Roger Radatz

Roger Radatz (drums, lead vocals),

came into contact with swing and jazz music at a very early age, since his father worked as a musician. But it was not until he met up with the leading Berlin-based "White Eagle Jazz Band" that he began to appreciate the rather rugged and earthy musical style of New Orleans jazz.

Drummer Trevor Richards gave him his first lesson in New Orleans drumming. Roger then went to New Orleans and there he got to know some of the greats of New Orleans jazz: Louis Nelson, Kid Thomas, Willie & Percy Humphrey – and drummers Cie Frazier, Louis Barbarin, Chester Jones and above all Freddie Kohlman!

Together with the "White Eagles", Roger toured Germany and Europe with Kohlman, giving him an extensive opportunity to study Kohlman's style of drumming. Since Freddie Kohlman's death, Roger Radatz has been of one of the few drummers keeping Kohlman's typical sound and beat alive.

Further tours followed (with Benny Waters, Louis Nelson, Alton Purnell, Kid Sheik, Mighty Flea Connors, Sammy Rimington and others), and this gave him the professionalism he needed to put his own band together.

He founded Roger & The Evolution® in 1986 and since then has dedicated himself mostly to the music of Louis Prima, who Roger knew during his stay in New Orleans. He has been on friendly terms with Sam Butera since 1992 and over the years has visited him at many concerts in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Miami Beach.