Klaus Koch (musician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Klaus Koch (born September 2, 1936 in Leipzig ; † November 7, 2000 in Berlin ) was a German jazz musician. The bassist was one of the most experimental musicians in GDR jazz and brought the double bass from its role as a background instrument to an equally important melodic design tool.

Live and act

After studying classical music at the Leipzig University of Music with Konrad Siebach , Koch played with the Werner Pfüller Quintet from 1962 to 1964 , and soon with Michael Fritzen as well . Between 1964 and 1966 he belonged to the Joachim Kühn Trio , a leading jazz formation in the GDR, in whose repertoire, alongside classical jazz, free jazz played an increasingly important role. Since 1966 he was a member of the Leipzig Radio Orchestra, and from 1967 the bassist also played with the Radio Jazz Ensemble Studio IV . From 1966 to 1974 Koch also played in the Friedhelm Schönfeld Trio, another pioneer of free jazz in the GDR. He was also involved in several Václav Zahradník projects in Prague .

A long collaboration and friendship began in 1972 with the saxophonist Luten Petrowsky . From 1975, Koch then played at Synopsis . After the dissolution of Synopsis , Koch belonged to the Ernst-Ludwig-Petrowsky-Trio, which was expanded to a quartet in the early 1980s, and played there a. a. with Günter Sommer , Heinz Becker and Joe Sachse . Koch was also one of the regular musicians of the Ulrich Gumpert Workshop Bands and the jazz workshop of Hans Rempel .

Since then, Koch has appeared on tours and workshops with Albert Mangelsdorff , Manfred Schoof , Christian Escoudé , Trevor Watts , John Tchicai , Steve Lacy , Willem Breuker , Evan Parker , Peter Brötzmann and Paul Lytton . There were concert appearances as bass duos with bassists Maarten Altena and Joëlle Léandre ; the double bass trio with Jay Oliver and Buschi Niebergall could also be heard. From the mid-1980s Koch played in Georg Gräwes pit sound orchestra , he also played at KoKoKo with Eckard Koltermann , with Christian Muthspiel and Sainkho Namtchylak and also together with Tony Oxley and Bill Dixon . In the 1990s Koch was a member of Franz Koglmann's Monoblue Quartet , on whose album We Thought About Duke he participated in 1994.

Klaus Koch can be heard on a large number of LP and CD recordings.

With his wife Lola he had two sons, Alexander and Markus.

Radio plays (music)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Koch, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz musician, double bass player
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 2000
Place of death Berlin