Christof Griese

Christof Griese (* 1957 in Beckum ) is a German jazz musician (saxophone and flute), composer and arranger. He lives in Berlin and is head of the jazz and percussion department at the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf music school.

Live and act

Griese studied saxophone and flute at the Berlin University of the Arts and then trained a. a. with David Liebman , Evan Parker , Steve Lacy and Bernd Konrad . In 1982 he founded his first formation, Ocus Pocus . The following year he was a founding member of the Berlin Saxophone Quartet , which operates in the fields of classical, new music and jazz. The quartet has toured Europe numerous times, made guest appearances in the United States in 1993 and 1997 and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York with works by contemporary American composers.

In 1987 he founded the Berlin Jazz Composers Big Band Jay Jay Be Ce , whose leader he is to this day and with whom he has released six CDs to date. The band is a project of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Music School.

In 1993 he dealt with rap and hip-hop with the Juiceful Jazz project . In the same year he built a musical and personal bridge between Poland and Germany with the band New Way Out , when he worked with the Polish musicians Leszek Możdżer and Piotr Wojtasik .

In 1998 work began on the Double Bass Project . Griese has released around three dozen CDs so far, including among others. a. stood in the studio with Lito Tabora , Michael Schiefel , David Milne , Gebhard Ullmann , Paul Brody , Niko Schäuble , Tal Balshai and Tony Buck . He appears regularly with various formations in Berlin's jazz clubs and all over Germany.

Christof Griese is particularly involved in children's and youth music school work. For example, he has successfully led the children's jazz band Blackcat - in which children and young people between the ages of nine and 16 play along - into competitions.

On the occasion of his 50th birthday on July 7th, 2007, RBB radiokultur broadcast a one-hour program by Ulf Drechsel: Christof Griese - The silent maker .

Projects and formations

• Berlin Saxophone Quartet ( Clemens Hoffmann , Matthias Zippel , Friedemann Graef , Christof Griese)
• Berlin Jazz Composers Orchestra - JayJayBeCe
• Reedstorm Saxophone Quartet ( Roland Schmitt , Michael Scheunemann , Torsten Piper , Dagmar Thimm , Christof Griese)
• Tuba Vibes Project ( Franz Bauer , Stefan Gocht , Denis Stilke , Christof Griese)
• Christof Griese - Christian cap quintet ( Dirk Strakhoff , Rainer Winch , Johannes Kersthold , Christian cap , Christof Griese)
• Christof Griese Quartet (Franz Bauer, Horst Nonnenmacher , Niko Schäuble, Christof Griese)
• The Art of Duo (Tal Balshai, Christof Griese)

Discography

• "Cockchafer" - Fences . FMP 1981
• JSBach - The Art of Fugue . Berlin saxophone quartet. cpo 1991
• Between the Chapters. Juiceful jazz . Juiceful Records 1995
• 52nd return . Christof Griese Quartet ( Kirk Nurock , Leslaw Mozdzer, Ed Schuller , Niko Schäuble, Christof Griese). Jazz4Ever Records 1996
• words. MoGriNoS . (Leslaw Mozdzer, Horst Nonnenmacher, Niko Schäuble, Christof Griese). Futurex Records, Poland 1998
• Affinities - My Berlin Phonebook . ( Sören Fischer , Paul Brody, Tal Balshai, Eric St. Laurent, Martin Lillich , Tony Buck, Christof Griese). BIT 2000
• Double Drums Project . (Niko Schäuble, Tony Buck, Martin Lillich, Eric St. Laurent, Christof Griese) BIT 2002
• Musique pour faire plaisir . Berlin saxophone quartet. RBB radio culture / BIT 2003
• Christof Grieses JayJayBeCe - 20 years JayJayBeCe . Berlin Jazz Composers Orchestra. RBB radio culture / BIT 2007
• The Art of Duo (Tal Balshai, Christof Griese). RBB radio culture / BIT 2007
• Floating - Griese & cap quintet. RBB radio culture / anjoke 2008

Web links

• Works by and about Christof Griese in the catalog of the German National Library