Helmut Nieberle, born on June 22, 1956, in Kaufbeuren, Germany, was a German jazz guitarist who began playing guitar at age 12. He discovered Django Reinhardt's music in 1973 and formed his first band, Stringbag, with violinist Stefan Kalmer. Nieberle started his professional career as a solo guitarist with Richard Wiedamann's Rabo Swing Machine in 1979. In 1982, he collaborated with Häns’che Weiss and founded the quintet Cordes Sauvages. He also worked with notable musicians such as Arthur Blythe and Jim Mullen. He notably received the Bavarian State Cultural Advancement Award in 1991 with Helmut Kagerer and the Archtop Germany Award in 2007 for their duo project. Nieberle was also member of the ensemble Bolero Berlin from its founding in 2008 until his death. He passed away on February 9, 2020, in Regensburg after a long illness.
