Jaki Liebezeit

Who is Jaki Liebezeit?

Jaki Liebezeit is a drummer best known as a founding member of Can, who has been called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral".

In the mid-1960s, he was part of Manfred Schoof's quintet, who were early exponents of European free jazz.

He subsequently moved towards the new possibilities being opened by psychedelic music as a member of Can. His drumming was prominent in the band's sound, particularly in his much-admired contribution to the side-long "Halleluhwah" on Tago Mago. Liebezeit is best known for his exceptional "metronome" style of playing; other members of Can have suggested that he sounds as though he is "half man, half machine".

Liebezeit provided drums, in his patented "Motorik beat", for Michael Rother's late-1970s solo albums.

In 1980, he became a member of Phantomband, and has formed drum ensembles such as Drums off Chaos and Club off Chaos.