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In the current issue of We Jazz magazine, Peter Margasak reviews three of my recent releases.About the double CD GRIENER/RODER: BE OUR GUEST, with which Jan and I celebrate our thirty years of collaboration, he writes: :“Many seasoned jazz fans, especially those following the European scene, have surely come across the names of drummer Michael…

I don’t consider myself a composer, but over the years I have composed a few pieces from time to time. In 2015 I recorded one of my pieces with Jürg Wickihalder and Uli Gumpert (with whom I will play a concert later today on the occasion of his 80th birthday) for the Intakt CD A New One. Some time…

Today is Ulrich Gumpert’s 80th birthday.We first played together in the mid-nineties, shortly after I moved to Berlin, on the initiative of bassist Matthias Bauer, who invited us both to play in a trio.I remember the first rehearsals in Uli’s apartment, right across from the Berliner Ensemble, in the middle of the city. The house…

Leaving the band was not an easy decision for me, but a necessary one. I am proud of what we have achieved in our time together since 2016, but after more than 60 concerts, three CD productions (Lavaman, Music Minus One, Die Komplette Enttäuschung) and the double LP Monk’s Casino Live at Au Topsi, it…

The Simon Rummel Ensemble is one of the ensembles I am particularly fond of and have been a part of since its inception 12 years ago. I hardly know of any other group in which such a variety of instruments and musical styles play together so beautifully and with such ease, with recorder, Casio keyboard, (unamplified!)…

Yesterday I had the opportunity to play a solo concert – something I don’t do very often. I never seem to be able to prepare for such occasions and just follow the sounds wherever they take me. I was told to play a solo of up to 20 minutes, and I pretty much hit the…

Although I did my very best to answer the questions in this week’s edition of the Free Jazz Blog’s Sunday interview as honestly as possible, I probably would have given completely different answers the next day. Or next week. Or next year. Or maybe not.  Thanks to Paul Acquaro for giving me this opportunity, and…

I feel more than honored; after 40 years in this music, this is the first time I made it on the cover of a magazine, and with such a lovely photo by Petra Cvelbar.Many thanks to Franpi Sunship Barriaux for making this possible.On top of that there are reviews of my three recent releases in…

I’ve been playing with Jan Roder for over 30 years, and if I look over at the bassist at one of my concerts, there’s a good chance it’s Jan. Bill Meyer has now interviewed Jan and me about our beginnings in Berlin in the nineties, which has just been published in the new issue of…

This was because the author had confused her in my then short biography with the underrated but less well-known saxophonist Thomas Schweizer. I was a bit embarrassed at the time and realized that I’d have to play with Irene at some point to set the record straight.  Fortunately, a few years later I had the…