Biography

Fredy Studer (16 June 1948 – 22 August 2022) was a Swiss drummer and percussionist. Fredy Studer was born in Lucerne, Switzerland on 16 June 1948.In 1972, he founded the jazz fusion quartet OM, with guitarist Christy Doran, saxophonist Urs Leimgruber, and double bassist Bobby Burri, who were all his classmates. The group toured successfully for ten years in Switzerland and Germany.

In the 1980s, Studer played in a trio with Rainer Brüninghaus and Markus Stockhausen; with Stephan Wittwer and Christy Doran in Red Twist & Tuned Arrow; in the group Singing Drums with Pierre Favre, Paul Motian and Nana Vasconcelos; and in the Charlie Mariano-Jasper van 't Hof group.Studer was an interpreter of 20th-century classical music compositions by Charles Ives, Steve Reich, John Cage, and Edgard Varese, in the percussion ensemble of Robyn Schulkowsky.

Studer has also worked with Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Jeff Tweedy, Larry Schneider, Dave Holland, Elton Dean, Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, John Zorn, Jack DeJohnette, Elliott Sharp, Pierre Favre, Angelique Kidjo, John Abercrombie, Joachim Kühn, Chris Corsano, Dom Um Romão, Joëlle Léandre, Didier Lockwood, Sunny Murray, Jim O'Rourke, Evan Parker, Marc Ribot, Eberhard Weber, Louis Sclavis, Sonny Sharrock, Irène Schweizer, Bruno Spoerri, Miroslav Vitous, John Tchicai, David Friedman, and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain.

Studer died on 22 August 2022, at the age of 74.