Hellmut Hattler (born 12 April 1952 in Ulm, Germany) is a German jazz and rock bassist and composer. Hattler took much of his early influences from Jimi Hendrix. As a child, he received violin lessons, and in the 1960s, he played guitar. Joining Peter Wolbrandt's band marked the debut of his changeover to the bass. In May 1971, he founded the pop group Kraan with the Wolbrandt brothers Peter and Jan and Johannes Pappert. Kraan's early Krautrock style later developed towards fusion, combining rock, jazz and ethnic elements. Apart from his own projects, Hattler has toured and recorded with many international musicians of various genres including Tina Turner, Billy Cobham, Joachim Kühn, Torsten de Winkel, Alphonse Mouzon, and Nippy Noya.
When asked about the meaning of the band name he explained "It sounds good because it starts hard and aggressive and finishes softly." This duality, seen from a musical perspective would become the trademark of Hattler and his various projects. His music appealed not only to the groove receptive audiences but also to pure music fans. For the first, he delivers highly danceable grooves, while for the others he simply became the German bassist. After six albums and hundreds of concerts with Kraan, with the support of an all-star team of German musicians, he published Bassball, his first solo album. During its formative years the members of the band lived together for economy. Although the first plans to disband began after seven years, in 1978 Kraan published Flyday which was critically acclaimed as one of the best recordings of their career. Three further albums followed and in 1983 the bad was finally dissolved.