Originally from the south of Germany, Simon Bauer has spent his last ten years in Berlin, studying, playing and composing music. There he finds himself on a journey combining his influences of form-based and free music, reaching from classical to noise into his own voice, that supports groups as diverse as THE SLOWTRIO, Katya Sourikova, Hans Unstern, The gothenburg string theory, José Gonzaléz, Ian Fisher, the jolly goods, warren suicide. He has worked with selected theatre and performance groups such as theater konstellationen, portfolio inc., the bottlefed ensemble and has helped bringing the polyamory sound festival to life.

Simon Bauer plays on:
nevermore (sb09002)

Brendan Dougherty moved to Berlin in 2002 from Philadelphia, where he was born and raised and went to college. He is an active member of the creative scene as a drummer, composer and improvisor.
He can be heard with projects like Idiot Switch, Tony Buck's Transmit, Charrd and many more.
He also works regularly with various theatre directors and choreographers like Jeremy Wade, Meg Stuart and An Kaler.

Brendan Dougherty plays on:
nevermore (sb09002)

www.brendandougherty.com

Janis was born 1981 and grew up in a tiny coastal town named Norden in northern Germany. He started playing the drums at the age of 12 and later studied Jazz in Berlin, Sao Paulo and New York City. He moved to Berlin in 2001 to begin his studies at HfM “Hanns Eisler” and in 2005 lived in Brazil for 6 months to study brazilian music at the “Conservatorio de Tatui”. After graduating from HfM “Hanns Eisler” in 2006 he worked as a freelancing drummer and released an avant-­‐garde-­‐pop album entitled “K.illY.ourD.arling” with a band-­‐collective named “GLÜCKLICH1”. Receiving a DAAD scholarship he moved to New York in 2008 were he received a master’s degree in Jazz-­‐Performance from Queens College and played with various jazz & avant garde bands in the city as well as touring with indie pop band “WakeyWakey”. In late 2010 he headed back to Germany and lived off construction work for about a year before settling down again in Berlin in late 2011. Janis is very much into “rusty old sounds, slow grooves and free improvisational elements”(as he likes to describe it) and uses them as a sideman with a broad variety of bands such as: Singer Songwriter Dota Kehr’s alias “Die Kleingeldprinzessin” Quartet, a chamber jazz group named SKYKPTN’s 28, a New Orleans-­‐Jazz band named “The Dixie Wankers” and a 60’s Garage Rock band called THE MAGNIFICENT BROTHERHOOD. In 2012 Janis formed BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION, which is a “good-­‐old new kind of a fusion band dedicated to rather slow tempos, short solos and beautiful melodies, which stick to robot’s and real people’s ears” (as he likes to categorize it – when forced to do so), that for the first time plays his compositions only.

Janis Görlich plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)
Bei Nacht (sb14007)

www.janisgorlich.de

 

Ronny Graupe plays on:
Hyperactive Kid (sb06001)
As they are (sb13003)

www.ronnygraupe.de 

Philipp Gropper (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, composition) was born in Berlin in 1978. He began to play the saxophone at the age of seven and never looked back.
Gropper studied the jazz saxophone at the UDK Berlin and played with the concert section of Bujazzo for two years under Peter Herbolzheimer. He has since been busy as a freelance sax player and composer, dedicating most of his time to developing his musical ideas.
In 2003, he started the trio HYPERACTIVE KID with Ronny Graupe and Christian Lillinger, and in 2011 founded the quartet PHILM with Havard Wiik, Andreas Lang and Oliver Steidle. In 2012 - exploring yet again a completely different field of music - he initiated TAU, an electric acoustic group with Philipp Zoubek, Petter Eldh and Dany Schröteler.
Concerts with these bands and others have brought Gropper to over 30 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America. He has had the honour of sharing a stage with wonderful musicians such as Rudi Mahal, Ralph Towner, Bobby McFerrin, Kresten Osgood, Tobias Delius, Clayton Thomas, Robert Landfermann, Pablo Held, Olaf Rupp, Ceylan Ertem, Matthias Schriefl, John Schröder, Maria Joao, Tom Arthurs, Paulo Cardoso, Eric Schaefer, Kalle Kalima, James Knapp, Kaja Drachsler, Günter Baby Sommer and many others.
Gropper has recorded more than 20 albums and has been awarded several prizes. He has been a member of the Jazzkollektiv Berlin since 2009.
In June 2013 he will start an artist's residency in Basel for several months.

In 2006 Philipp Gropper was a member of shoebill music´s original founding team which would soon after disperse.

Philipp Gropper plays on
Hyperactive Kid (sb06001)

www.philippgropper.com

Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, Johannes Haage started playing music on violin from age 5, but switched to guitar about eight years later. As a highschool exchange student in Portland, Oregon he started playing jazz regularly and continued to do so back home. He started his college education at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, but soon transfered to Berlin to succesfully finish his studies.
Over the years his travels playing and studying music took him to places like the Center of the Arts in Banff, Canada, and New York City where he had the chance to play with and deepen his studies with Bill Frisell, Brad Shepik, Ben Monder, Mark Turner, Dave Douglas, Drew Gress, Ralph Alessi and many others.
In Berlin he has been a very active member of the vital young jazz and improvised music scene since moving there in 2002, playing with many different musicians like Ben Kraef, Philipp Gropper, Ritsche Koch, Oli Steidle, the SLOWTRIO w/ Simon Bauer & Brendan Dougherty, Diego Pinera, Christian Ugurel and many more.
The Johannes Haage Trio, featuring Andreas Lang on bass and Sebastian Merk on drums, released the critically acclaimed album „Johannes Haage Trio plays Marlene Dietrich“ on Meta Records in late 2010.
Besides the many loose collaborations and gigs as sideman he currently enjoys very much playing in a collaborative Trio with bassist Matthias Pichler and drummer Joe Smith, who recorded their debut Album "Drift" for shoebill music.

In 2006 Johannes Haage was a member of shoebill music´s original founding team which would soon after disperse. Since 2008 he is the sole owner and managing director of the label.

Johannes Haage plays on:
nevermore (sb09002)
Drift (sb15009)

www.johanneshaage.com

Jonas was born 1978 in Berlin, Germany. He studied classical piano at HfM „Franz Liszt“ in Weimar and UDK Berlin. Hauer, who currently counts as one of the most interesting new discoveries of Berlin’s Jazz Scene worked as a pianist, composer and arranger in some of the most different settings one could imagine, reaching from chamber music to rock`n roll, noise music and jazz. His insatiable curiosity has led him to work with a wide variety of bands such as singer‐songwriter Dota Kehr’s quartet (which is where he first met Janis Görlich), the Noise‐Project „Nutte & Huhn“ and Janis Görlich’s BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION. He also performs as a classical solo‐pianist and – accordionist.

Jonas Hauer plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)
Bei Nacht (sb14007)

 

www.jonas-hauer.de

Albert Tootie Heath is the youngest of the three musical Heath brothers. Tootie’s first appearance on record was also John Coltrane’s debut as a leader (“Coltrane”). Since then, Tootie was not only chosen by John Lewis to be the last drummer for the Modern Jazz Quartet, but also was a member of bands led by Don Cherry, Kenny Drew, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Art Farmer / Benny Golson, Frederic Gulda (in a trio with Ron Carter), Tommy Flanagan, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Timmons, Lester Young, Cedar Walton and Ben Webster.

Tootie Heath plays on
Think of one (sb13004)

Kalle Kalima was born 1973 in Helsinki, Finland. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. After taking up residence in Berlin, Kalima has released albums with his group Klima Kalima and with the group Johnny La Marama. So far Kalle has worked for example with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, saxplayer Anthony Braxton and bassplayers Sirone and Teppo Hauta-Aho, guitarist Marc Ducret, composer Simon Stockhausen, drummers Jim Black and Tony Allen and singer Linda Sharrock. He is also playing with finnish underground popstar Jimi Tenor.
Kalima has been touring in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

 

Kalle Kalima plays on
Sex gegen Essen (sb13006)

www.kallekalima.com

Born and raised in Berlin, Kempendorff studied jazz saxophone in Berlin ("Hanns Eisler" School of Music – where he first met BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION’s leader Janis Görlich) and New York (City College). His teachers include Tony Malaby, John Ruocco, Gebhard Ullmann, Rich Perry, Volker Schlott, John Pattitucci and George Garzone.
2007 and 2010 saw CD‐releases with the Uli Kempendorff Quartet ("Louise" (2010) received a 5 star review in the German magazine Jazzthetik), while in 2013 he released the first record of his newly formed group "Field" on the Swiss label Unit Records. He is a founding member of the "Berlin Art Orchestra" and initiated the "Serious Series", a concert series in the former senate reserve (now a gallery) in Kreuzberg.
His concerts, collaborations and recordings include artists like "Little" Jimmy Scott (New York‐Berlin Festival 2007), Uli Gumpert Workshop Band, Toby Delius, Ignaz Schick, Mike Pride, Henrik Walsdorff, John Schröder, Andrew D ́Angelo, Eivind Opsvik, Johannes Lauer, Stefan Schultze, Tomson Highway, Patty Cano, Benjamin Weidekamp, Gerlinde Kempendorff, Christian Lillinger, Ari Benjamin Meyer ́s "redux orchestra", Rolf v. Nordenskjöld, DJ Illvibe, Ronny Graupe, Jonas Westergaard and Oli Steidle.
He has played festivals and concerts in Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Greece, Germany, Poland, Italy, Mexico, France, Czech Republik and the USA.

Uli Kempendorff plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)

www.ulikempendorff.de
www.field4.de

Ben Kraef is a German-Montenegrin saxophonist and composer based in Berlin.
Ben graduated from the University of Music “Hanns Eisler”, Berlin. In 2007 he relocated to New York City on a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and obtained a Master of Arts from The City College of New York in 2009.
In the past five years Ben has won international acclaim in form of several prizes and awards, among these most notably the Biberacher Jazzpreis (2006), the “Concours International de Jazz de Fribourg” (2007), the Yamaha Saxophone Contest (2007), and the Billie Stoller Scholarship to an outstanding scholar and musician from The City College of New York (2008).
Ben’s activities as a performer have included his membership in the renowned National German Youth Big Band (Bujazzo), where he was part of the concert line-up for a total of three years, and had the chance to perform throughout Europe, as well as southern Africa and Japan.
The list of internationally renowned musicians Ben has been performing and recording with includes Lalo Schifrin, Archie Shepp, Phil Woods, Fred Hersch, Gunther Schuller, Yoshiaki Masuo, Tania Maria, Herb Geller, Vincent Herring, Pee Wee Ellis, Peter Herbolzheimer, David Gilmore, Jeff "Tain" Watts, George Garzone, Tony Lakatos, Ari Hoenig, Lonnie Plaxico, Peter Weniger, and Jerry Granelli. Ben has also performed with several well-known pop groups, among these "Wir Sind Helden" and Joy Denalane.

Ben Kraef plays on
Think of one (sb13004)

www.benkraef.com

Jelena Kuljic was born in Serbia in 1976 and moved to Germany in 2003 to study singing at the Jazz Institute Berlin.
Along with her own band, Yelena K & The Love Trio, she has been a featured guest in many music and theater projects throughout Europe.
In 2006 she released a solo CD with her band Y move, and she has been featured on the ECM records release of Marc Sinan and Julia Huelsmann’s Fasil. Jelena has worked extensively as a singer and actress with the prominent director David Marton. Some of their productions have included such important theaters as Vienna’s BurgTheater, The Royal Theater of Copenhagen (Insomnia), Volksbuehne Berlin (Wozzeck), and the Schaubühne Berlin (The Well Tempered Piano).

Jelena Kuljic appears on
Sex gegen Essen (sb13006)

Federico was born 1985 in the town of Aosta, northern Italy, but grew up in a little village facing “Lago di Bolsena”, which is the name of a volcanic lake near Montefiascone. He started playing the flute at the age of 6, gaining first musical experience by playing in the village’s marching band before switching to alto saxophone at the age of 16. Not too long after that he moved on to Siena Jazz Academy to study saxophone with teachers Mirco Mariottini, Allessandro Giachero, Michael Blake, George Garzone, Achille Succi, Jerry Bergonzi among others. After finishing his studies in Sienna he started playing extensively with various groups such as: DO NOT DEVOTCHKA, The Vegas Brothers, Alessandro Giachero 4tet, Le Phare Mecanique besides performing with his own group, the F. Lacerna Quartet. In 2011 Federico moved to Berlin, liked it and stayed for two years. During this stay he ran into Thor Oscar Olsson on a bus. Olsson by then had already run into Janis Görlich at a bar. The three of them started playing free improvised music together while in the meantime developing a deep friendship. All of that resulted in their collaboration within the band BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION. Federico is currently living in Milano, Italy.

Federico Lacerna plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)

Born on April 21st 1984 in Lübben, he started playing drums at the age of 13 and studied at the “Carl Maria von Weber” in Dresden from 2000 to 2004.
From 2001 to 2003 he was a member of “Bujazzo” under the direction of Peter Herbholzheimer.
In 2000 he won the International Improvisation Contest in Leipzig.
Since 2002 he’s been collaborating intensively with HYPERACTIVE KID.
In 2008 he formed his own band GRUND, which in September 2009 and 2013 on the label Clean Feed appeared.
2009 co-founder of the band GRÜNEN, which appeared in September 2010 on the Clean Feed label.
2010 Concerts and cooperation in the band by John Tchicai with Christopher Dell and Jonas Westergaard, which appeared in December 2012 on the label Jazzerkstatt.
He performed in concerts and on festivals in Europe, Asia and USA. He played with Joachim Kühn, Beat Furrer, David Liebmann, Leo Smith, Wiliam Parker, Evan Parker, Miroslav Vitous, Luis Sclavis, Joe Lovano Tony Malaby, etc.
Lillinger has been living in Berlin since 2003 working as a musician and composer.

In 2006 Christian Lillinger was a member of shoebill music´s original founding team which would soon after disperse.

Christian Lillinger plays on
Hyperactive Kid (sb06001)
As they are (sb13003)
Sex gegen Essen (sb13006)

Frank Möbus studied at Berklee College of Music, Boston (1985-89).
He is (co-) leader and (co-) producer of different projects such as Der Rote Bereich (ACT), Azul (Enja Records), Erdmann 3000 (Enja Records).
In his exemplary career Frank Möbus has played with Ray Anderson, Kenny Wheeler, Jim Black, Louis Sclavis, Maria Joao, Bill Elgart, Billy Bang, Anthony Cox, Johannes Enders, John Hollenbeck, and many more.
Frank teaches as a professor at the Music Conservatories at Weimar and Luzern.

Frank Möbus plays on
Sex gegen Essen (sb13006)

www.frankmoebus.de

Thor Oscar was born 1985 in Arvica, Sweden, and started playing guitar at the age of 10. He studied Jazz, first at Fridhems Folkhögskola in Sweden and later at RMC in Kopenhagen where he first met tenor player Otis Sandsjö who also is a member of BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION. In 2003 Thor Oscar won the „Håkan Hagegård“ Price. In late 2011 he lived in Berlin for 3 Months were he first ran into Janis Görlich at a bar and later into Federico Lacerna on a bus. The three of them started playing free improvised music together and developed a deep friendship that eventually resulted in their collaboration within the band BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION. Thor Oscar Olsson currently lives in Kopenhagen, Denmark, were he is working with bands such as the Johanna Elina Group, his own project „Penumbra“ and a wonderful duo with singer Mia Marlen Berg.

 

Thor Oscar Olsson plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)
Bei Nacht (sb14007)

John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning bassist and composer. Aside from his long lasting collaborations with Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, John has released several albums as a leader. He has performed with outstanding musicians of a wide variety of musical styles such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams, Clare Fischer, George Benson, Wynton Marsalis, B.B. King, Sting, Natalie Cole, Carole King, Astrud and João Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Ry Cooder, Henry Mancini, and John Williams.

John Patitucci plays on
Think of one (sb13004)

www.johnpatitucci.com

Matthias was born in 1981 in Tirol, Austria and started taking lessons on trumpet at age six. When he was 15 he started studying the upright bass at the Landeskonservatorium in Tirol. He left Innsbruck in 2000 to begin his jazz studies in Linz at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität with Adelhard Roidinger.
During various longer visits to New York City, besides numerous performance opportunities, he had the opportunity to study with bassists John Patitucci, Larry Grenadier and Marc Johnson.
He has performed internationally with Wolfgang Muthspiel, , Attosphere, Maria Bill, Christof Dienz, XY-Band, GHO Orchestra, Jochen Rückert, Marc Copland, Nils Wogram, Louise Jensen, Dominykas und Petras Vysniauskas, Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra and many more.
In 2004 he received the Hans-Koller-Prize and a scholarship, and was selected “Sideman of the Year” in 2006.
In 2010 he won 1st Prize at the International Upright Bass Congress “BASS2010” (Berlin) in the Jazz Category.

Matthias Pichler plays on:
Drift (sb15009)

 

Otis was born 1987 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He studied Jazz and Improvisation at HSM University in Gothenborg and at RMC in Kopenhagen where he first met guitar player Thor Oscar Olsson who is also a member of BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION. He moved to Berlin in 2007 were his unique tone quickly caught the scene’s attention. Otis is probably one of the most versatile horn players in town and is touring all over Europe with a great variety of groups such as: GOTHEBURG GADJOS, Markus Pesonen Hedectet, Simon Kanzler’s „Talking Hands“ and singer Isabel Sörling Farvel, who was just awarded with the „Jazzkatten“ price as the „Newcomer of the Year 2013“ in Sweden.

 

Otis Sandsjö plays on
In der Ferne (sb13005)

Joe was born in Galesburg, Illinois, a small town west of Chicago. He later attended the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music where he studied Classical percussion and Jazz drumming and also studied privately with Vernel Fournier, Jimmy Lovelace, John Von Olen, John Riley and Jeff Williams. From 1991 until 2000, Joe lived in New York City playing with and learning from many of the best musicians the scene had to offer and formed his first group Initium Ensemble.
After moving to Barcelona in 2000, he released two disc’s as a leader. Happy (2002) and Melodic Workshop (2004) on Fresh sound records which features Bill McHenry, Gorka Benitez, Guillermo Klein, Chris Lightcap and Jorge Rossy.
Joe has been a featured sideman on the recordings of John McNeil, Arthur Kell, Ryan Blotnick, Fredrik Carlquist, Brandon Miller and many others. He has toured extensively in Europe and the Scandinavian Countries. In 2008 he formed the Asociación Libre Orkesta, a free form Big Band which performed improvised music inspired by his poetry and projected Images. In 2010 the Orkesta took part in the summer festival Jazz al Parque in Bogotá, Columbia.
In the fall of 2011, he moved to Berlin and in 2012 took part in the Deutsches Theater’s production of Shakespeare. Spiele für Mörder, Opfer und Sonstige, directed by Dimiter Gotscheff  where he performed improvised music in a group featuring George Donchev, Kalle Kalima and Harri Sjöström. He is currently playing as a sideman in the groups of Larry Porter, Johannes Lauer, Jessica Einaudi, Johannes Haage, Alex Kozmidi and Kyra Garey and also leads his own group Joe Smith’s Melodic Workshop. In 2015 Joe  presented a new project called Many Stories  that he had been working on for the last 6 years and incorporated a book of his short stories with a live performance that blended his poetry, songs and spoken words with projected images and videos.

Joe Smith plays on
Drift sb15009

 

 

 

 

Jonas Westergaard plays on
As they are (sb13003)