Günther Wehinger

Günther Wehinger (born March 3, 1961 in Lustenau ) is an Austrian composer and modern jazz flautist .

Live and act

Wehinger took flute lessons at the age of ten and began playing the piano at the age of fourteen. From 1978 to 1982 he completed classical training at the Conservatory in Feldkirch . He then turned increasingly to jazz and attended the St. Gallen jazz school with Albert Landolt and Art Lande for two years ; in addition, he took private lessons with James Newton in Los Angeles from 1987 to 1989 . He formed his own bands with American musicians, with whom he mainly performed his own compositions in clubs such as the Yoshies in Oakland or the Knitting Factory in New York City . He also performed regularly in Switzerland, Austria and Poland.

In addition to six jazz CDs under his own name on labels such as Minor Music or Polygram so far (2009) , he also released a solo album with meditative flute music. He continued to work with Kenny Werner , Marek Bałata and Adrian Mears , but also appeared in a trio with vibraphonist Urs Wiesner and bassist André Buser, or pianist Chris Wiesendanger and cellist Daniel Pezzotti .

As a composer, in addition to numerous jazz compositions, he also wrote works on the borderline between classical and jazz based on jazz themes. In 2001 his large-scale composition Double Entender for jazz quartet and orchestra was premiered at the Bregenz Festival Hall . In 2005, at the invitation of the Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz, he performed two other works for the same ensemble ( Summer Rain and Floating ) in addition to this work .

Wehinger, who lives in Basel, had lectureships at the music academies in Basel, Bern and Zurich and gave several master classes at various universities in Germany and the United States, such as the New England Conservatory . He also published the book "A Little History of Jazz" (2006; ISBN 3-9523103-2-8 ).

Discographic notes

• As Promised (with Peter Madsen , Peter Herbert , Pheeroan AkLaff ; minor music , 1993)
• Cry Flute (with Mike Cain, Anthony Cox , Pheeroan AkLaff; PolyGram 1995)
• Reflections (solo, Aura OM; 1995)
• The Hidden Jewel (with Art Lande , Paul McCandless ; Mystica 2002)
• Frozen Time (with his New Trio and his double quartet; 2002, 2008)

literature

• Bruno Spoerri : Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Jazz CD supplement to: Spoerri, Bruno (Hrsg.): Jazz in Switzerland. History and stories . Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6
• Silvia Thurner / Günter Wehinger (2001): “I like to make melodic music”. Günter Wehinger - flautist, free improviser and composer. Culture. Magazine for culture and society. Vol. 16, No. 7, pp. 52-53.
• Hartwig Wolf (2005): "Back To the Flutes": Günter Wehinger at the New Year's Jazz Festival on Saumarkt. Culture. Journal for Culture and Society Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 30–31.

Web links

• Web presence with discography (English)
• Biography with catalog raisonné