DISSIDENTEN

1981: DISSIDENTEN are founded by Uve Müllrich, Marlon Klein and Friedo Josch in Berlin, Germany.

1981/82: Following a one-year tour of Asia, the group decides to move to India. Upon invitation from Maharaja Bhalkrishna Bharti of Gondagaon they live and work at his palace in Madja Pradesh in central India. The first album Germanistan is mostly recorded here in collaboration with the Karnataka College Of Percussion and their charismatic female singer Ramamani. This project with American saxophonist Charlie Mariano receives attention far beyond the borders of India.

1983: After a tour of North Africa, the group sets up camp in Tangier, Morocco, The group becomes friend of the American composer and author Paul Bowles (The Sheltering Sky) who introduces DISSIDENTEN to some of the most outstanding Moroccan musicians. DISSIDENTEN 's second album Sahara Elektrik is produced together with the Moroccan cult group Lem Chaheb in Tangier with the help of Abdessalam Akaaboune, one of the most influential powers behind the musical scene in Morocco.

1984/85: The track Fata Morgana becomes a hit in Spain and Italy and becomes a top dancefloor success. 250.000 Spaniards see and hear the band during a three-week tour. John Peel features the group in England, and the 'dissimania' that had originally broken out in southern Europe spreads via the United Kingdom to North America, especially Canada. Sahara Elektrik makes it to the top of the Canadian independent charts. A European tour follows. 1986: After establishing themselves as intercontinental musical pioneers, DISSIDENTEN move back to Tangier. Their success in the Arabian countries soon takes on such frenetic dimensions that they decide to move their headquarters to Madrid/Spain, where Life At The Pyramids is produced and released in the same year.

1985: Besides Marlon Klein was invited by Jasper van't Hof to join the Euro-African Project Pili Pili. Since than he produced several Album of Pili Pili and toured worldwide with this project ( Montreux Jazz Festival ) In 1987 he produced the album Be In Two Minds featuring Angelique Kidjo and Manfred Schoof.

1987/88: DISSIDENTEN play major cities in the United States and Canada to promote Life At The Pyramids. The opening gala of the 1988 New Music Seminar in the New York Palladium marks the ultimate North American breakthrough.

1989: DISSIDENTEN On their fourth album Out Of This World, the group cooperates with some brilliant North African musicians: Apart from the string section of the Royal National Orchestra of Morocco, the album also features Cherif Lamrani and Mahmoud Saadi, members of the legendary groups Lemchaheb, Jil Jilala and Nass El Ghiwane. The production takes place in Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier and Madrid.

1990: Out Of This World is released worldwide on Sire/WB in January. After nearly a decade, DISSIDENTEN 's home-base is moved back to Berlin. From here they set out to promote Out Of This World with live-concerts around the world. In Canada they start filming and recording for a project on native American Indian music which due to immense demand for live-concerts has to be delayed, even though the group regards this work as one of their most important future-projects.

1991: The album Live In New York is released, finally making the historic performance recorded during the1988 New Music Seminar available to the public. The rest of the year DISSIDENTEN spend in Canada start filming and recording for a project involving native American Indian music.

1992: finds the group travelling between Berlin, Bombay and Bangalore in Southern India to complete work on the album The Jungle Book. DISSIDENTEN meet again with many friends they had made almost ten years ago with their first Indian Album Germanistan. By now, most of them have become reknowned artists of their own, like Trilok Gurtu and Ramesh Shotham.

1993: The Jungle Book is released, and DISSIDENTEN are touring to promote the album around the globe. Top European radio DJ's vote the album into second place amongst 800 productions in their annual World-Music-Charts.

1994: Europe's Techno/Trance-Guru Sven Väth creates a powerful remix for the single-release of Jungle Book Part II from the album and thus introduces the "Love Generation" to the global sound of DISSIDENTEN . Which happens to be a perfect introduction for the European part of their world-tour beginning in the fall of 1994 and being continued in 1995. After finishing the tour, Marlon Klein remains in Los Angeles for the rest of 1995 to produce the latest two album of American singer Gary Wright -Human Love and First Sign of Life- (featuring ex-Beatle George Harrison on vocals & guitar)

1996: In spring, DISSIDENTEN return to Italy for the last leg of their Jungle Book tour. During the rest of the year, Friedo Josch is involved with various album-releases for DISSIDENTEN's own company Exil Musik. Marlon Klein produces the next album Instinctive Traveler, featuring Uve Muellrich's daughter Bajka on vocals. This is the first time English language vocals can be heard on a Dissidenten album.

1997: Instinctive Traveler is released worldwide in spring. Several international festival shows follow, including Stuttgart Jazz Open, Leverkusener Jazztage, Festival De La Diversidad, Barcelona.

1998: DISSIDENTEN (featuring musicians/singers Izaline Calister, Noujoum Ouazza, Manickam Yogeswaran, Manu Gallo (Zap Mama) play some of Europe's biggest and most prestigious festivals including Glastonbury, England.The highlights from each of these shows are released later in the year on the second live album Live In Europe.

1999:More festival appearances follow, including a second stint at Glastonbury ( DISSIDENTEN are probably the first continental band to ever play Glastonbury twice in a row!) and a show at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1999.

2000: Marlon Klein is invited by Jasper van't Hof to Durban, South Africa, where he records the Zulu Choir Phikelela Sakhula and the Real Happy Singers and produces the new Pili Pili album Love Letter. Uve Muellrich composes a piece for 96 Bavarian brass bands, performed at the German pavilion at the Worldexhibition Expo 2000 in Hannover/Germany. Together with the German sculptor Professor Albert Hien he also realizes a sound installation incorporating the bells of 96 Bavarian cathedrals and churches for Expo 2000.

2000: DISSIDENTEN are exploring yet another musical world. Together with American composer Gordon Sherwood and video artist Stefanie Seidl they create an “documentary opera” about the river Danube, which is performed with the National Orchestra and Choir of Bratislava during the International Danube Music Festival in the city of Ulm. After almost two decades of listening into the world-wide-web DISSIDENTEN want to put their ear on the European heartbeat again. Full circle? As Dissidenten put it: "Apart from marching-music, national anthems and Muzak we have nothing against any kind of music- as long as it involves passion!

2001: To celebrate their official 20th anniversary, DISSIDENTEN once again call upon their friends, fans and collaborators. The new project is named A World Beat Odyssey. Nine DJ/producers (among them Badmarsh, Lemongrass, Shantel and Slop Shop) remix nine tracks from almost all phases of DISSIDENTEN history, Marlon Klein provides a version of the previously unreleased track Open Up Your Eyes, featuring Bajka on vocals as well as Dorian Wright, son of “Dream Weaver” Gary Wright. The new sounds act as sparks for yet another highly unusual DISSIDENTEN project, namely the live-performance of the remix album. After the successful live premiere in Hannover, featuring DJs A. Leifeld, Slop Shop and Lemongrass, DISSIDENTEN are ready to take their " Future Sound of World Beat" to the clubs and venues anywhere, starting Oct 27th, 2001 at Womex in Rotterdam/Holland.

2002: The documentary opera Das Gedaechtnis des Wassers - The Memory of the Waters is being performed at the prestigious Brucknerfest in Linz/Austria, at the Regensburg Cathedral as well as for the Tuebingen Jazz- & Classic-Festival. Basque accordionist Tomas San Miguel, Theremin soloist Barabara Buchholz, classical indian singer Manickam Yogeswaran, Moroccan Mandolincello virtuoso Noujoum Ouazza and Video artist Stefanie Seidl are part of this line up.

2003: DISSIDENTEN Remix.ed 2.0: A New World Odyssey is released. The group is regularly performing the Dissidenten Remix.ed Live Project with the help of Tomas San Miguel, Manickam Yogeswaran and the Australian Singer Esther Bertram. Marlon Klein produced Esther Bertram's Album Urban Angel and both started touring Europe as a Duo.

2004/2005: La Memoria de Las Aquas, the Spanish version of The Memory of the Waters in collaboration with the known Spanish conductor Tomás Garrido, is being performed at the Festivales de Navarra, Pamplona/Spain and broadcasted live nationwide by Spanish Radio Nacional.

2006: Marlon Klein and Dissidenten keyboarder Tomas San Miguel present the project Txalaparta for Midem in Cannes and Womex in Seville. The album Dan_Txa, produced by Marlon Klein, moves up no.9 in the World-Music-Charts. Uve Muellrich is touring in Morocco with the North African superstars Jil Jilala. Most of the year Muellrich spends in Tangier in preparation of the forthcoming new DISSIDENTEN Jil Jilala album The Tanger Sessions. Marlon Klein is touring Europe with Txalaparta and the Esther Bertram - Marlon Klein Duo and produced the Bertram Album Alchemy Of The Heart.
2007: Uve Muellrich plays and records with Jil Jilala in Morocco while Marlon Klein is preparing the production of The Tangier Sessions in Germany. French/German TV ARTE and German TV WDR are preparing features documenting Dissidenten.. and start presenting the music live hopefully by fall/winter 2007.
More Info: The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music