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In his childhood he was trained on the piano. As a 16-year-old student, he played piano in the Black Clan school orchestra. Later he learned to play the trumpet. In 1940/41 he was trained in harmony and composition at the Bern Conservatory by Albert Moeschlinger. After graduating from high school, he became second trumpeter in Fred Böhler's formation. Afterwards, military service briefly interrupted his music career. He then started in Jeo Grandjean's orchestra. From 1943 he played again in Fred Böhler's newly founded big band. The following year he played music as first trumpet in saxophonist Eddie Brunner's band "Original Teddies", which was previously led by Teddy Stauffer.
In the same year he formed his own professional jazz band. Shortly afterwards, due to an increase in members, it became a nine-piece orchestra with singer Kitty Ramon. In 1947 he expanded the formation to a 12-man big band and then to 16 members. A year later, Osterwald founded the later legendary Hazy Osterwald sextet, which debuted at the "International Jazz Festival" in Paris, where renowned jazz artists such as Charlie Parker also performed. The initial band members included Ernst Höllerhagen (clarinet), Sunny Lang (bass), Gil Cuppini (drums), Pierre Cavalli (guitar), Francis Burger (piano). Osterwald's sextet quickly achieved international success - also through their humorous stage show. The musicians performed in major European cities, such as Stockholm and Lisbon. From 1954 onwards the film was attractive.
The Hazy Osterwald sextet appeared, among other things, in the film "A Little Big Journey" (1954). The big musical breakthrough in the entertainment genre came in 1959 with the hit "Criminal Tango". The following year, Hazy Osterwald was no longer able to quite match the previous year's success with the so-called Konjunktur Cha Cha, the second big hit "Go with the Konjunktur", which deals with the economic miracle, as well as with the title "Panoptikum" ( 1960). In 1961 the feature film "The Hazy Osterwald Story" was made with Gustav Knuth, Eddie Arent and Peer Schmidt, which showed the band's success story. At the beginning of the 1960s, television audiences were able to see the band leader in his own show. Until 1979, Hazy Osterwald went on tour with his sextet. During this time he renamed his band "Hazy Osterwald Jetset".
After a break, the musician began playing jazz again in 1984 under the new band name "Hazy Osterwald and the Entertainers". Hazy Osterwald played the classic jazz percussion instrument vibraphone. In 1984 he was awarded the Prix Walo. In 1985 Osterwald married the actress Eleonore Mathilde Schmid. The couple settled in Lucerne. In 1999 he published his biography "Criminal Tango". In 2009 he was awarded the Swiss Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award for his life's work.
