Category / Uncategorized

The first time I met Ernst-Ludwig “Luten” Petrowsky was in 1983, when I was 15 and went together with Rudi Mahall to a concert at the Jazzstudio Nürnberg, where Luten was playing with his wife Uschi Brüning. Rudi and I copied their compositions during the break (with their permission) and played them the next day…

Today is the 69th birthday of Gerold Genssler. Most people know him as the maker of excellent strings, mostly for double bass (I think they are currently sold under the name Sonores). For me, however, he is above all the person who lured me to move to Berlin in 1994, which in retrospect was one…

Today is the 80th birthday of Günter Christmann. I can honestly say that without him I would not be the musician I am today.I will be eternally grateful to him for taking me under his wing after I came, almost by accident, to a solo concert by Evan Parker that he organized when I was 15. I…

Exactly 20 years ago today, I traveled to Dresden for the first time to teach drum students in my new role as adjunct professor of jazz drumming at the Dresden Academy of Music. Being a high school dropout without a university education, I still don’t know exactly how I came to this honor, but as far…

In the dark ages before the Internet, I could occasionally catch the tail end of a long-gone practice: Accompanying musicians on the road as part of the hired rhythm section. This gave me the opportunity to play with the likes of Mal Waldron, Benny Bailey, Mark Murphy, Spike Robinson, Lenny Spivak and a few others…