uli kempendorff quartet

ronny graupe – guitar
marc muelbauer – bass
oliver steidle – drums

The Uli Kempendorff Quartet concentrates on the compositions and arrangements by the band-leader, which are rooted in Jazz, Rock and improvised music. Through-composed songs with a clear distribution of roles alternate with more open structures which allow each of the musicians to create their own space and and remain in a constant dialogue with the others. Over the years Kempendorff has matured as a writer and the band manages to give each of the compositions a distinctive sound, yet tie them into a larger concept.  The first CD was released on the Berlin-based label in 2007. The second CD will be released on Jazzhausmusik in April 2010. You can listen to previews on the following myspace-site:

http://www.myspace.com/ulrichkempendorffquartett

kögel-lauer-kempendorff

johannes lauer- trombone, euphonium
christian kögel- dobro, oud

This relatively uncommon grouping of instruments of oud (arabic lute) or dobro and two horns (clarinet/tenor saxophone and trombone/euphonium) is a vehicle for fresh and adventurous acoustic music. Free inprovisations which make use of all possible combinations of instruments, sounds and noises and distributions of roles alternate with adaptations from the orchestral and jazz repertoire and original compostions for this ensemble like a hommage to the singer Oumou Sangaré from Mali or hymns to the four cardianl directions. A mean band which is slowly relocating from the kitchen table to the stage.A myspace-link:

http://www.myspace.com/kempendorfflauerkoegel

four in a row (+ 1)

friedemann matzeit – soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
nik leistle/rolf v. nordenskjöld – baritone-, bass saxophone, altoflute
nico lohmann – alto saxophone, flute
gerlinde kempendorff – voice (only with the heymann-program)

»Four in a Row« was founded by Rolf v. Nordenskjöld and Friedemann Matzeit in 2002. The quartet quickly found its way onto the German scene and won the studio award of the Berlin city Senate in 2004.  This resulted in the recording and release of the band's first recording "four in a row" on the Cologne-based label JazzHausMusik. Also in 2004, the band toured Mexico for two weeks and played the Mexico City "Euro Jazz" Festival. Compositions by Rolf v. Nordenskjöld constituted the core of the repertoire but were increasingly joined by compositions by the other three members.

Since 2007 the band's focus has shifted to a different project and has been joined by my mother, the singer Gerlinde Kempendorff. The book now holds arrangements of melodies from the 1920s, mostly by Werner R. Heymann, the first great composer of film music for the German Ufa and later, after he emigrated to the States because of the Nazis, for Hollywood. All of the melodies have received a fresh and sometimes wild treatment for four alternating woodwinds and voice. A CD was released on phonector in 2007. This project is dear to me, because I grew up on this kind of music, as, lacking a babysitter, I had to come along to most of my mother's gigs from age 8 to about 13.

other projects

walter kammer trio

Benjamin Weidekamp- clarinet
Florian Bergmann- clarinet, bass clarinet

Trio

with
Sebastian Merk, drums
Andreas Lang, bass

Bruno

with
Kay Lübke- Ldr, drums
Niko Meinhold- piano
Stefan Bleier- bass

or

John Schröder- guitar
Christian v. d. Goltz- organ
Martin Klingeberg- trumpet
Kay Lübke- Ldr, drums

New Manfred Schultze Formation

with
Felix Wahnschaffe- altosaxophone
Nik Leistle- baritone-, basssaxophone
Gerhard Gschlössl- trombone, sousaphone
Martin Klingeberg- trumpet, tenor horn
John Schröder-guitar
Martin Klein-bass
Kay Lübke-drums, Ldr

KOP Trio

with
Eivind Opsvik-bass
Mike Pride-drums

stefan schultze large ensemble

with
Stefan Schultze-conductor, compostion
Heiner Wiberny, Florian Trübsbach, Claudius Valk, Matthias Tschopp, saxes
Christoph Moschberger, Benjamin Brown, Florian Mentzel, Volker Deglmann, trumpets
Felix Fromm, Simon Harrer, Max von Einem, Jan Schreiner, trombones
Jürgen Friedrich, Martin Schulte, Peter Schwebs, Timo Warnecke, rhythm