There have been two different jazz outfits called the Jazz-O-Maniacs. The first was an American band that was active in St. Louis, MO in the '20s and was led by trumpeter/saxophonist Charles Creath; the other is a German outfit that was formed long after the breakup of Creath's combo, and the German Jazz-O-Maniacs are the ones profiled in this bio. Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1966 by cornetist/trumpeter Roland Pilz, the Jazz-O-Maniacs have largely been a Dixieland revival band but play some classic jazz as well (classic jazz was the music that came after Dixieland and before the beginning of the Swing Era--arguably, classic jazz was a very early form of swing). The seminal groups of trumpeter/singer Louis Armstrong, including his Hot Five and Hot Seven units of the '20s, have been a major influence on the Jazz-O-Maniacs, who also get a great deal of inspiration from the trailblazing Dixieland cornetist King Oliver (one of Armstrong's major influences). One hears plenty of Armstrong and Oliver influence in Pilz' big tone, and when he provides the occasional vocal, Pilz favors a gruff, gravelly style that is quite mindful of Armstrong's distinctive singing. Over the years, Pilz' band has been quite faithful to the spirit of New Orleans and Chicago jazz as it existed in the ‘10s and ‘20s, and there have been no hints of bop or post-swing jazz in their work.

Pilz was only 18 when he founded the Jazz-O-Maniacs and recruited, among others, trombonist Ullo Bela and banjoist Owe Hanson. The band had its share of lineup changes along the way, but Bela and Hanson were on board during much of the Jazz-O-Maniacs' history (except for periods when they temporarily left because of work and family obligations). In the mid-2000s, the Jazz-O-Maniacs' lineup consisted of leader Pilz, Bela, Hanson, clarinetist Claus Jürgen Möller (who has been heavily influenced by Johnny Dodds), alto and tenor saxophonist Cristoph Ditting, pianist Andreas Clement , tuba player Dietrich Kleine-Horst and washboard player Gunther Andernach. In 2007, the Chicago-based Delmark Records released CD and DVD versions of the Jazz-O-Maniacs' Sunset Café Stomp, a live album recorded in 2005 in Racine, WI and Chicago. 2008 marked the Jazz-O-Maniacs' 42nd anniversary. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi