Gatur I Christiania - Musik

Achim Kaufmann Piano Composer Electronics Was Born In Aachen Germany And Has Been Living In Amsterdam Since 1996. He Is Involved In A Number Of Different Projects Some Of Them All Improvised Some Of Them Featuring His Own Compositions His Gueuledeloup Quartet With Michael Moore John Hollenbeck Henning Sieverts "melds Elements Of The Free Zone With Tenderly Executed Dreamscape Type Passages" Allaboutjazz Their Two CDs Gueuledeloup Red Toucan 2002 And Double Exposure Leo 2000 Have Been Called "models Of Some Of The Finest Forward-Thinking Chamber Jazz Coming Out Of Europe Today." The Improvising Trio Of Achim Kaufmann Frank Gratkowski And Wilbert De Joode Has Released Two Discs So Far On Konnex And On Nuscope And Is Currently Preparing Their Third Release Of Energetic Multi-Layered Improvised Chamber Music.
Trio Kamosc With Michael Moore And Dylan Van Der Schyff Is Another Group That Mixes Composition And Improvisation In Unique Ways Including "blatantly Traditional" Materials That Are Treated As Found Objects.
Achim Currently Works On Repertoires For Different Piano Trios Which He Will Record During The Course Of The Year.
Besides He Has Written Music For String Quartet And Works As A Solo Performer. In 2001 He Was Awarded The Prestigious German SWR Jazz Award. Coming From A Musical Family Achim Started Getting Interested In The Piano Improvisation And Composition At Age 15 And Also Took Clarinet Lessons For A While. Later He Attended The Cologne Conservatory Where He Studied With Frank Wunsch And Rainer Brüninghaus. In 1986 He Received A Scholarship For The Banff Centre For The Arts In Canada To Study And Work With David Holland Steve Coleman Muhal Richard Abrams George Lewis Richie Beirach And Others. He Also Studied Privately With Steve Lacy In Paris. In The 80s And 90s He Worked In Various Bands And Projects In The Cologne Area And Throughout Germany Covering A Wide Spectrum Of Musical Genres - Mainstream Jazz Fusion Contemporary Classical Music Music For The Theatre Free Improvisation And Pop-Influenced Music.
Since The Early 90s Achim Has Focused More On Writing Music For His Own Groups Mostly Trios Which Led To His Cd Weave Released In 1997. After His Move To Amsterdam He Formed A Quartet With Reed Player Michael Moore And Percussionist John Hollenbeck.
In The Last Few Years He Has Also Been Increasingly Active In The Field Of Improvised Music As Documented On The Trio Cds Kwast And Unearth With Frank Gratkowski And Wilbert De Joode.
A Mostly Improvised Solo Piano Record Entitled Knives Has Been Released On Leo Records In 2004. As A Pianist Achim Strives To Combine Polyphonic Pianism With Subtly Prepared And Manipulated Strings And Interiors. Very Recently He Has Also Added Amplification And Electronic Processing To His Vocabulary. Achim Has Toured In Most European Countries As Well As In Australia New Zealand Canada The U.S. And Eastern Africa.
He Performed Often With His Own Projects Or As Co-Leader At Renowned Festivals Such As Europa Jazz Le Mans Guimarães Portugal Jazzfest Berlin International Jazz Festival Vancouver Montreal Toronto Edmonton Ottawa Don Cherry Festival @ The Stone NYC Vilnius Jazz Festival Ring Ring Festival Belgrade Interzone Novi Sad Manly Jazz Festival Sydney Australia Festival De La Cité Lausanne Ars Nova Contemporary Music Festival Of SWR Radio Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Jazz Festival Frankfurt Post This/neo That Cologne Philharmonic Hall JazzHaus Festival Cologne Leverkusener Jazztage Northsea Jazz Festival Zomer Jazz Fiets Tour Groningen SJU Jazz Festival Utrecht Tasten Festival Berlin Time Flies Vancouver Jazz Brugge DOek Festival Amsterdam .
He Has Worked And Recorded For Most Of The German Radio/TV Stations And Toured For The Goethe Institute. Achim Has Also Played And/or Recorded With Musicians From Different Backgrounds Such As Han Bennink George Lewis Mark Helias Tomász Stanko Steve Swallow Chris Speed Jim Black Paul Lovens Wolter Wierbos Tristan Honsinger Gerry Hemingway Mark Dresser Misha Mengelberg Ab Baars Tobias Delius Lê Quan Ninh Fred Lonberg-Holm Matthias Schubert Lori Freedman Peggy Lee Paul Rutherford Michael Vatcher Mary Oliver David Stackenäs Hasse Poulsen Andy Moor Bill Elgart Dieter Manderscheid Steve Argüelles Richie Beirach Al Foster Adam Nussbaum Bob Brookmeyer Lee Konitz Julian Argüelles And Many More. As A Sideman He Currently Works With Groups Led By Joost Buis Astronotes Maartje Ten Hoorn Playstation 6 Peter Bolte Manfred Bründl Silent Bass And Michael Moore White Widow Quartet . His Work Has Been Supported By Fonds Voor De Podiumkunsten The Netherlands Fonds Voor De Scheppende Toonkunst NL Thuiskopiefonds NL Stiftung Kunst Und Kultur NRW Germany Kultusministerium NRW For A Six-Month Stay At The Cité Des Arts In Paris Achim Lives In Amsterdam Together With His Wife The Canadian Poet And Visual Artist Gabriele Guenther. read less