Joachim Kühn
Encyclopedia
Biography
Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition with Arthur Schmidt-Elsey. Influenced by his elder brother, clarinetClarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist Rolf Kühn
Rolf Kühn
Rolf Kühn . is a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist.He lived in the United States from 1956–59 and drew favourable reviews, for example a comparison with Benny Goodman by John H. Hammond....
, he simultaneously got interested in jazz. In 1961 he became a professional jazz musician. With a trio of his own, founded in 1964, he presented the first free jazz in the GDR
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. In 1966 he left the country and settled in Hamburg. Together with his brother he played at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
and recorded with Jimmy Garrison
Jimmy Garrison
Jimmy Garrison was an American jazz double bassist born in Miami, Florida. He was best known through his long association with John Coltrane from 1961–1967.-Biography:...
for Bob Thiele
Bob Thiele
Bob Thiele was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels.-Biography:...
's Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
.
Kühn has lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
since 1968, and worked with Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Karl Berger
Karl Berger
Karl Hanns Berger is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Sociology, jazz composer, jazz vibraphone and piano player.-Biography:...
, Slide Hampton
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
, Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Michel Portal
Michel Portal
Michel Portal is a composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.Portal studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris...
, Barre Phillips
Barre Phillips
Barre Phillips is a jazz and free improvisation bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he migrated to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972 he has been based in southern France....
, Eje Thelin
Eje Thelin
Eje Thelin was an innovative Swedish trombonist, widely admired among fellow trombonists for his facile technique and rhythmic intensity...
, Ray Lema
Ray Lema
Raymond Lema A'nsi Nzinga, known as Ray Lema, is a Congolese musician born March 30, 1946 in Lufu-Toto, Bas-Congo Province.Lema is a pianist, guitarist, and songwriter. He worked for the National Ballet of Zaire, as it was then called, and in 1979 was invited to the United States by the...
, Hellmut Hattler, and Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
. As a member of Pierre Courbois
Pierre Courbois
Sir Pierre Courbois is a Dutch jazz-drummer, bandleader and composer.After studying percussion at the Hogeschool der Kunsten in Arnhem, Courbois left for Paris, the center of Jazz in Europe in the early 1960s...
's Association P.C., he turned to electronic keyboards. During the second half of the 70's he lived in California and joined the West Coast fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
scene and recorded with Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts...
, Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
, Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, and Eddie Gomez
Eddie Gomez
Edgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
.
Having settled near Paris again, he played in an acoustic trio with Jean-François Jenny-Clark
Jean-François Jenny-Clark
Jean-François "J.F." Jenny-Clark was a French double bass player who appeared, estimated as one of the most important bass players of European jazz....
and Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair is a drummer, jazz composer and painter.He is widely renowned and became Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1986.He has played with many jazz performers notably Martial Solal, Gerry Mulligan and Eric Dolphy....
since 1985. In the summer of 1996, he joined Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
for two concerts at the Verona and Leipzig festivals, which opened the way for his Diminished Augmented System. More recently he has toured with Rabih Abou-Khalil
Rabih Abou-Khalil
-Life:Rabih Abou-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives part-time in Munich and part-time in the South of France with his wife and two children.-Music:...
.
Solo piano
- Charisma (1977)
- Snow in the desert (1980)
- Distance (1984)
- Situations (1988)
- Dynamics (1990)
- Joachim Kühn plays Lili Marleen (1994)
- The Diminished Augmented System (1999)
- Piano Works I (2005)
- Piano Works IX - Live at Schloss Elmau (2009) - With Michael Wollny
Trio
with Daniel Humair and Jean-François Jenny-Clark- Easy To Read (1985)
- From Time To Time Free (1988)
- Live 1989 (1989)
- Carambolage with the WDR Big Band (1991)
- Usual Confusion (1993)
- Triple Entente (1998) Mercury/PolyGram S.A.France
Ensembles
- Impressions of New YorkImpressions of New YorkImpressions of New York is an album by German jazz clarinetist Rolf Kühn and his brother, pianist Joachim Kühn, featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1967) - Sound Of Feelings(1969) (trio recording on BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - Paris Is Wonderful (1969) (trio recording on Byg Actuel)
- Hip Elegy (1975) with Terumasa HinoTerumasa Hinois a Japanese jazz trumpeter. Currently based in New York, Hino is widely acknowledged as one of Japan's finest jazz musicians. His instruments include the trumpet, cornet and flügelhorn.-Biography:...
, Philip CatherinePhilip CatherinePhilip Catherine is a Belgian jazz guitarist.-Biography:He was born in London from an English mother and Belgian father....
, John LeeJohn Lee- Politicians and government officials :*John Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford , former Minister and Conservative Member of Parliament for Pendle, 1979–1992...
, Naná VasconcelosNaná VasconcelosNaná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
, Alphonse MouzonAlphonse MouzonAlphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts... - Solo Now (1976) with Albert MangelsdorffAlbert MangelsdorffAlbert Mangelsdorff was one of the most accredited and innovative trombonists of modern jazz who became famous for his distinctive technique of playing multiphonics.-Biography:...
, Gunter HampelGunter HampelGunter Hampel is a German jazz vibraphonist, clarinettist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist and composer born in Göttingen, Germany, perhaps best-known for his album "The 8th of July 1969" that included fellow musicians Anthony Braxton, Willem Breuker and Jeanne Lee...
, Pierre Favre - Springfever (1976) with Philip CatherinePhilip CatherinePhilip Catherine is a Belgian jazz guitarist.-Biography:He was born in London from an English mother and Belgian father....
, John LeeJohn Lee- Politicians and government officials :*John Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford , former Minister and Conservative Member of Parliament for Pendle, 1979–1992...
, Gerry BrownGerry BrownGerry “The Gov.” Brown is a recording engineer and producer based in Los Angeles credited on over 47 Platinum and Gold Records. He has received over 15 Grammy bids, including five nominations for Alicia Keys’ “Songs In A Minor,” a Song of the Year Award for Erykah Badu’s “Love of My Life,” two...
, Zbigniew SeifertZbigniew SeifertZbigniew Seifert was a Polish jazz violinist.Seifert was born in Kraków, Poland in 1946. He played alto saxophone early in his career and was strongly influenced by John Coltrane...
, Curt Cress, (Atlantic) - Sunshower (1978) with Jan AkkermanJan AkkermanJan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. Akkerman is a distinctive guitarist, constantly experimenting with new equipment and guitars. Akkerman's distinctive guitar sound is characterised by his pioneering use of volume swells which produce a smooth, fluty, sustained tone, and other complex techniques...
, Ray Gomez, (Atlantic) - Joachim Kühn & Jan AkkermanJan AkkermanJan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. Akkerman is a distinctive guitarist, constantly experimenting with new equipment and guitars. Akkerman's distinctive guitar sound is characterised by his pioneering use of volume swells which produce a smooth, fluty, sustained tone, and other complex techniques...
Live (1979) - Nightline New York (1981) with Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Eddie GomezEddie GomezEdgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
, Billy HartBilly HartWilliam "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...
, Bob MintzerBob MintzerBob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
, Mark NauseefMark NauseefMark Nauseef , is a drummer and percussionist who has enjoyed a varied career, ranging from rock music during the 1970s with his time as a member of the Ian Gillan Band and, temporarily, Thin Lizzy, to a wide range of musical styles in more recent times, playing with many notable musicians from all... - Colors with Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
; 1996) - Dark with Walter QuintusWalter QuintusWalter Quintus is a German musician, composer and sound engineer.As a musician, composer, producer, arranger, engineer and real-time processor, “Master of the Craft of Sound” Walter Quintus has collaborated with a diverse assortment of some of the greatest musicians from the world's musical cultures...
- Get up early with Walter QuintusWalter QuintusWalter Quintus is a German musician, composer and sound engineer.As a musician, composer, producer, arranger, engineer and real-time processor, “Master of the Craft of Sound” Walter Quintus has collaborated with a diverse assortment of some of the greatest musicians from the world's musical cultures...
- Universal Time (2001) with Chris PotterChris Potter (jazz saxophonist)Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina...
, Scott ColleyScott ColleyScott Colley is an American jazz bassist and Composer.Scott has performed extensively in bands led by: Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Pat Metheny, Carmen McRae, Edward Simon, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade, David Binney, Antonio Sanchez, Kenny Werner...
, Horacio 'El Negro' HernandezHoracio HernandezHoracio "El Negro" Hernandez is a renowned Cuban drummer and percussionist."El Negro" is a gifted musician who represents a new generation of great players following in the footsteps of countrymen Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D'Rivera, Ignacio Berroa, and others. Hernandez plays on the cutting edge of...
, Michel PortalMichel PortalMichel Portal is a composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.Portal studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris... - Bach Now - Live (2002) with ThomanerchorThomanerchorThe Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. At present, the choir consists of 92 boys from 9 to 18 years of age...
- Poison (2005) with Jean-Paul Celea, Wolfgang Reisinger
- Journey to the center of an egg with Rabih Abou-KhalilRabih Abou-Khalil-Life:Rabih Abou-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives part-time in Munich and part-time in the South of France with his wife and two children.-Music:...
, Jarrod Cagwin - Kalimba (2007) with Majid Bekkas, Ramón LópezRamón LópezJosé Ramón López Hevia was a professional baseball player who played one season for the California Angels of Major League Baseball.-References:...
(ACT9456-2)
As sideman
- Zbigniew NamyslowskiZbigniew NamyslowskiZbigniew Namysłowski is a Polish jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, cellist, trombonist, pianist and composer born in Warsaw, perhaps best-known for appearing on the Krzysztof Komeda album "Astigmatic"...
Quartet w/ Joachim Kühn: Live at Kosmos, Berlin (ITM 1965) - The Rolf KühnRolf KühnRolf Kühn . is a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist.He lived in the United States from 1956–59 and drew favourable reviews, for example a comparison with Benny Goodman by John H. Hammond....
Group The Day After (BASF/MPS 1972) featuring Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:... - Association P. C. + Jeremy SteigJeremy Steig-Biography:Steig is the son of New Yorker cartoonist William Steig,At age 19 Steig was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him paralyzed on one side...
: Mama Kuku (MPS 1974) - The Rolf KühnRolf KühnRolf Kühn . is a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist.He lived in the United States from 1956–59 and drew favourable reviews, for example a comparison with Benny Goodman by John H. Hammond....
Group Connection 74 (BASF/MPS 1974) featuring Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,... - Coryell - Catherine - Kühn Live! (Elektra 1980)