Axel Kühn (saxophonist)

Axel Kühn (born August 12, 1963 in Darmstadt ) is a German saxophonist , composer , arranger and university professor in Freiburg im Breisgau .

Life

Axel Kühn in the middle of the SWR Big Band (first row, second musician from left)

After graduating from high school in 1985, Kühn first studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz ; From 1986 to 1988 he was a student of Jürgen Seefelder in Munich and in 1988 he passed the state final examination for jazz saxophone at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich . From 1988 he was teaching at the Munich training center for saxophone. He played in the big bands of Al Porcino and Harald Rüschenbaum . He has been a permanent member of the Thilo Wolf Big Band since 1992 .

Since 2000 he has been a permanent member as the first tenor saxophonist of the SWR Big Band in Stuttgart. He also plays regularly in the BR comedy shows " Grünwald Friday Comedy " and " Die Komiker ".

In 1993 he recorded his first CD under his own name with trumpeter Claus Reichstaller Conception , and in 1998 Conception was released live . He played u. a. with Sammy Nestico , Bob Florence , Toots Thielemanns , the New York Voices , Etta Cameron , Till Brönner , Joo Kraus , Don Menza , Buddy DeFranco , Alan Harris, James Morrison , Lalo Schifrin , Roman Schwaller , Sam Rivers , Toshiko Akiyoshi , Bert Joris , Patti Austin , Bob Curnow, Frank Foster and Paul Kuhn .

In 2002 he was nominated for a Grammy with the SWR BigBand with the alto sax solo on " Autumn in New York " in an arrangement by band leader Rob McConnell .

He worked for BR, WDR, SWR, HR, NDR, ZDF Jazzclub, Swing it (BR), SAT1 and RTL 2. In 2003, recordings, concerts and the release of the CD with Michael Lentz "Speech Acts Xtreme" followed. With this project he played a. a. at Poetenfest Erlangen, Poetry Festival Berlin, Bachmann Prize - Klagenfurt Culture Program, Literaturhaus Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, MDR Leipzig, LesArt Festival Dortmund, Bergen (N). Together with Michael Lentz, he composed the music for the radio play “The very exact memory” and the new music piece “Boxgesang”.

In 2009 he founded the jazz quartet "VeryKühn Quartet" with bassist Axel Kühn , with which the 2012 album On the Run ( Enja ) was released. He has headed the Jazz Big Band Association in Munich since 2011.

Axel Kühn has been professor for saxophone, jazz, rock, pop and digital media at the Freiburg University of Music since 2014 .

Web links

• Homepage of Axel Kühn
• Entry (Freiburg University of Music)
• Axel Kühn (SWR)
• Axel Kühn at Discogs (English)