Karel Bogard

Belgian multi-instrumentalist (vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards and many more), composer and producer, born in Aalst on 24 February 1944. After obtaining a doctorate in law and oriental languages, he decided on a career in music and moved to Paris. He was mostly active in blues-, skiffle- and jugbands, e.g. Free Sound Community and Crowin' Rooster. In 1972 he moved back to Ghent and formed jazz-rock band Kandahar. In 1974 he founded his own label Dwarf, which was shortly after taken over by EMI Belgium. He eventually released one more album with Karel Bogard's Highwayband, but ultimately he left the music scene to become an engineer for a firm in Singapore. He is also author of the book (in Dutch) Blues Lexicon: Blues, Gospel, Cajun, Boogie Woogie (1971).