Julian Wasserfuhr, Roman Wasserfuhr, Jörg Brinkmann
Biography Julian Wasserfuhr, Roman Wasserfuhr, Jörg Brinkmann
Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr
growing up in public’ - a famous Lou Reed album title - has become second nature to Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr. The brothers recorded their debut album ‘Remember Chet’ (2006) at the age of 17 and 20 respectively - a tribute to Julian's early role model, trumpeter Chet Baker - and were met with an enthusiastic response.
Die Zeit found the brothers' music “astonishingly unusual”, the Süddeutsche Zeitung attested to Julian Wasserfuhr's “magical sound”, but above all the general public embraced the brothers from the dreamy little town of Hückeswagen.
After six successful albums, they are now among the most renowned jazz musicians in Germany. Their musical travels have taken them to places such as Gothenburg in Sweden (2009), urban New York (2017) and the picturesque west coast of Ireland.
‘Mosaic‘ is the name of the Wasserfuhr brothers’ new album and describes their musical processing of the last two years. As different as the individual tracks and the emotions associated with them as well as the selection of musicians and friends on this album are, the result is a coherent picture. A mosaic created from the experiences, conversations and encounters with people during this time.
Another chapter in their impressive career.
Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr have received several awards and prizes. Among other things, they received the German Jazz Award in Gold from the German Music Industry Association for the album Relax Jazzed.
Jörg Brinkmann
The German cellist has made a name for himself through his cross-genre work in jazz. Known for his extraordinary virtuosity and sound design, he combines classical cello techniques with improvisational jazz. He has already worked with many well-known musicians such as Anouar Brahem, Michael Wollny and Ernie Watts and is active in numerous projects both as a soloist and in ensembles. Brinkmann's playing is characterised by innovative sound experiments, whereby he often amplifies the cello electronically and leads it into unconventional worlds of sound. With his musical diversity, he is regarded as one of the most outstanding jazz cellists in Europe.
Paul Heller
The Cologne tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger Paul Heller (*21 April 1971, Jülich) has been a member of the internationally renowned WDR Big Band Cologne, which has won two Grammys, since 2005.
Growing up in a musical family, Paul Heller won three first prizes at “Jugend jazzt NRW” as a teenager: in 1983 and '85 as a drummer, and in 1986 with the tenor saxophone. Heller was twice awarded first prize at the “International Composition Competition of Monaco” and the “Culture Promotion Prize of the State of North Rhine Westphalia”.
The list of musicians with whom Paul Heller has worked in his career reads like a "Who's Who" of jazz: Heller has played in quartet, quintet and sextet formations with Johnny Griffin, Dusko Goykovich, Jimmy Cobb, Jasper van't Hof, Volker Kriegel, Eddie Gomez, Vinnie Colaiuta, Biréli Lagène, Bill Evans, Al Foster, Adam Nussbaum, Franco Ambrosetti, Steve Swallow and with his wife, the multi-award-winning Dutch jazz singer Fay Claassen (including the "Golden Record" and the "German Record Critics' Prize").
Since 2013, in addition to his work at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Heller has been the artistic and musical director of the successful jazz concert series "Next Level Jazz" in Cologne's "Stadtgarten".
Paul Heller has now produced ten CDs under his own name with Al Foster, Ack van Rooyen, Franco Ambrosetti, Adam Nussbaum and Wolfgang Haffner, among others, and has appeared on over 70 CDs as a soloist and sideman.
Since 1994 he has led the joint "Ack van Rooyen-Paul Heller Quintet" with Ack van Rooyen.
Paul Heller has been a permanent member of the WDR Big Band since 2005, has led the joint Paul Heller-Ack van Rooyen Quintet with Ack van Rooyen for 15 years, and is also one of the most sought-after musicians of the younger generation as a sideman.
