Achim Kaufmann

Concert at Jazz Club Unterfahrt , Munich 2013.

Achim Kaufmann (* 1962 in Aachen ) is a German jazz pianist .

Live and act

Kaufmann comes from a family of musicians; the mother was a piano teacher, the father a conductor. He lived in Cologne since 1984 , where he studied with Frank Wunsch and Rainer Brüninghaus at the Musikhochschule . This was followed by postgraduate studies at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada with Dave Holland , Steve Coleman , Muhal Richard Abrams , George Lewis and Richie Beirach . He also took private lessons from Steve Lacy in Paris . In the 1980s he worked with various bands. Since the 1990s, composing work for his own groups has come to the fore.

In a trio with Frank Gratkowski and Wilbert de Joode , he recorded the CD kwast and unearth . Occasionally this trio is added to a quartet with Tony Buck . He also works in a trio with Michael Moore and Dylan van der Schyff and directed a piano trio with Ernst Glerum and Han Bennink .

In 1996 he moved to Amsterdam , where he lived with his wife, the Canadian artist Gabriele Guenther , until 2009 . There he founded the quartet Double Exposure in 1998 with Michael Moore, John Schröder and John Hollenbeck . He also appears as a soloist. On behalf of Deutschlandfunk he composed Trokaan for string quartet and four improvising musicians .

In addition, Kaufmann worked with Tomasz Stańko , Mark Helias , Bill Elgart , Matthias Schubert , Michael Vatcher , Dieter Manderscheid , Thomas Heberer , Brad Turner , Eric Boeren , Steve and Julian Argüelles , Steve Swallow , Al Foster , Franco Ambrosetti , Adam Nussbaum , Charles McPherson , Bob Brookmeyer , Lee Konitz , Paul Lovens , Tristan Honsinger , Misha Mengelberg , Peggy Lee , Torsten Müller , Lori Freedman , Hasse Poulsen , David Stackenäs , Ab Baars , Wolter Wierbos , Andy Moor , Tobias Delius , Paul Rutherford , Wolfgang Fuchs , Mark Dresser , Lê Quan Ninh , Håkon Kornstad , Gino Robair , Phillip Greenlief , Harris Eisenstadt , Ron Samworth , Mary Oliver , Alex Waterman , Maartje ten Hoorn , Felicity Provan , Raoul van der Weide , Ig Henneman , Hans Burgener , Jim Black or Lina Allemano . Since moving to Berlin he has been involved in various new projects such as Oni Kramler (with Matthias Schubert, Antonio Borghini and various guests) and a trio with the cellist Okkyung Lee and the trumpeter Axel Dörner . He also worked in a duo with Thomas Heberer and Michael Moore, with whom he devoted himself to the work of Herbie Nichols . In 2018 Kaufmann was appointed professor for jazz piano at the Liszt School of Music Weimar .

Prizes and awards

Kaufmann received the SWR Jazz Prize in 2001 . In 2015 he was awarded the Albert Mangelsdorff Prize .

Discographic notes

• Weave , with Ingmar Heller and Jochen Rückert , 1997
• Double Exposure , with Michael Moore, John Schröder and John Hollenbeck, 1998
• Gueuledeloup with Michael Moore, Henning Sieverts and John Hollenbeck, 2001
• The Definition of a Toy , with Brad Turner, Michael Moore, Mark Helias and Dylan van der Schyff, 2003
• Knives , solo album, 2003/2004
• Unearth , with Frank Gratkowski and Wilbert de Joode, 2004
• Verivyr , with Valdi Kolli and Jim Black, ( Pirouet , 2011)
• Achim Kaufmann & Michael Moore Furthermore , (Ramboy, 2014)
• Achim Kaufmann, Christian Lillinger , Robert Landfermann Grünen: Pith & Twig , ( Clean Feed Records , 2014)
• Gebhard Ullmann & Achim Kaufmann Geode ( Leo Records , 2016)

Web links

Commons : Achim Kaufmann  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage of Achim Kaufmann
• Throw the dice in the wing (portrait)
• Works by and about Achim Kaufmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Achim Kaufmann at Discogs (English)