won also the best player award). On returning to Basel from Australia, Brendle was asked by former FC Basel player Mike Speidel to join his FC Pratteln Liga for the remainder of the 1966/67 season, Speidel required an experienced player to serve as a mentor and example to his very young team, two of which, then teenagers Stohler & Demarmels later became Swiss Internationals and regular key players with FC Basel. Entrepreneurship A jazz lover from an early age, Brendle’s professional career as a jazz (cultural arts) concert promoter and band manager started in Australia in the mid-1970’s. For over 25 years Brendle was a major jazz concert & club promoter in Australia, co-producing records for James Morrison (Postcards from Downunder with Ken Done), Jane Rutter, Galapagos Duck, Col Nolan and Errol Buddle. He managed and organised overseas tours for Australia’s leading bands and musicians including Don Burrows, Lloyd Swanton, Judy Bailey, Galapagos Duck (Montreux Jazz Festival), Col Nolan, James Morrison, Ricky May, Bob and Len Barnard, the Australian Jazz Orchestra with Paul Grabowski, Dale Barlow, Bernie McGann and Bob Bertles. In the 1980’s and 90’s Brendle presented or co-presented touring artists including Ray Charles, BB King, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Mann, Lee Konitz, Winton Marsalis, the wonderful Toshiko Akyoshi, Dianne Reeves, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Ray Brown, Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, Ricky May, Ronnie Scott, Chuck Mangione, Eberhard Weber, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Mark Murphy, Egberto Gismondi, Nana Vasconcelos. In 1984 Brendle organised a promotional tour of Sesame Street in Australia. Featuring Caroll Spinney's original Big Bird, the tour culminated in a series of live concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne, and with the ABC Orchestra in front of the Sydney Opera House. Brendle continued his passion for the arts following his relocation to Europe. Working with various cultural and government organisations, including the Australia Council and Australian Embassy, he managed and coordinated a number of performers and acts to tour Europe. In 1999, he was heavily involved in presenting Australian artists at Weimar99. The city of Weimar, best known for its famous residents—writers Goethe and Schiller—was designated ‘Cultural Capital of Europe’ in 1999, an honour that inspired a series significant cultural events culminating in Weimar99. Brendle oversaw a number of performances including Meryl Tankard’s Australian Dance Theatre and Benedict Andrews’ interpretation of Goethe’s ‘Urfaust’,