Falk Willis

Falk Willis (born April 12, 1970 in Munich ) is a German jazz drummer .

Live and act

Willis is initially self-taught as a drummer , but has completed masterclasses with Tony Williams , Herbie Hancock and Miroslav Vitouš as well as workshops with Bud Shank . From 1988 to 1991 he was a member of the Federal Jazz Orchestra . He also played in Peter Herbolzheimer's regular band and with Bobby Shew , Herb Geller , Harvie Swartz and Till Brönner . Since 1991 he lived partly in New York City , where he studied at the New School and took lessons with Ralph Peterson , Adam Nussbaum and Joe Chambers .

He worked on international tours with Dewey Redman , Gary Thomas , Charlie Mariano , Eddie Henderson and Lee Konitz and became a member of Klaus Doldingers Passport in 1993. He also worked with Wolfgang Lackerschmid , Adrian Mears , Peter O'Mara , Patrick Scales and Johannes Enders . He then went on tour with his project “A Fine Mess”. Willis also played with Jacky Terrasson , Vincent Herring and Nils Petter Molvær .

With his trio, Willis won the European jazz competition at the Leverkusener Jazz Days in 1993 . In 1991 he was the winner of the International Austrian Jazz Competition .

Since 2012 he has been producing instructional videos with stars of the American jazz scene with his New York City-based company Jazz Heaven.

Discographic notes

• Schoolwork (with Dewey Redman, Ethan Iverson , Johannes Weidenmüller , 1993)
• Symmetry (with Peter O'Mara , Bob Mintzer , Marc Johnson )
• Scalesenders, This And More (with Johannes Enders , Martin Scales ), Ed. Collage (1994)
• Trio Impossible (with Johannes Enders, Tony Scheer, 1997)
• Scales Brothers, Our House, (with Martin Scales, Patrick Scales ) Enja (1997)

Lexigraphic entry

• Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .

Web links

• Web presence with discography