Discovery-Germany
As we continue our Discovery series-this week we will stop in Germany. Like many of the other Western Europe destinations we have visited with this series; Germany is famous for many things from music, art, architecture and history. Germany has been home to some great jazz musicians born there as well as those who have made their home there. This wonderful country has embraced jazz in its various forms and is home to a number of clubs, educational institutions and jazz festivals.
As with our past locations, the goal is to introduce you to 3 new musicians each week from different parts of the world. My hope is you will find some new discoveries, support them by buying their albums and by attending their concerts if you are in their area (or they in yours). Another benefit is for you to hear new musicians and how they approach their instrument and jazz. You never know where you might find your next favorite line!
Germany has some of the world’s greatest musicians playing at their jazz festivals every year. If you take a look at the Jazzfests.net link you will see a ton of major jazz festivals. There are so many on this list I lost track of how many there were (and maybe it is possible not all were listed too)!
One of my favorite jazz trumpet players (regardless of their location) is Till Brönner. If you have not checked him out you need to check out his version of Little Sunflower below. Like mentioned with other great Western European countries; Germany has been the home to a number of jazz musicians known and unknown. Hopefully the musicians below are people you will start checking out (if you have not already).
Till Brönner– trumpet
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tny789U0cx8&w=560&h=315]
Frank Möbus– guitar
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmdOMJWVRmI&w=420&h=315]
Nils Wogram– trombone
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYfcU-NDaAI&w=560&h=315]
These are just a few of literally hundreds of great jazz musicians you can find in and/or from Germany. If you have checked out these musicians above, be sure to check out their websites and albums to support them. I would also highly encourage you to look up other great German musicians and see what this great country has to offer in terms of Jazz.
