JOERG KAUFMANN
Testimonial
The GAIA's sound is everything that I dreamed of!! The playability is perfect; It reminds me of a really good Florida Link with that 'Dexter-thing' with a lot of core, fat, and dark sounding. When I push it, I can play funky too. It is a very versatile piece. The GAIAprojects very good, the sound-quality is great in all registers and with all dynamics: This is the thing!!!The GAIA is my personal choice, and will be what I play and record on from now on.
Biography
Joerg Kaufmann studied flute and classical music in Saarbrucken and saxophone. He studied jazz in Cologne with Wolfgang Engstfeld, Jiggs Whigham, Axel Jungbluth, Manfred Schoof. He also studied with Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Steve Swallow, Jesse Bennett and others.Joerg has toured and performed with Supersession, Alphonse Mouzon, Thilo Berg, Bob Mintzer, Slide Hampton, Axel Fischbacher, Pete York, Barbara Morrison, Danny Gottlieb, Bobby Shew, John Scofield, Don Menza, Barbara Dennerlein, Nina Corti, SWR Big Band, Max Greger, Paul Kuhn and many more. He has also performed with Eartha Kitt, Jennifer Rush, Deborah Sasson, The Platters, The Supremes, Gloria Gaynor, Johnny Logan, Caterina Valente, Howard Carpendale, Georgie Fame, Duffy Jackson, Max Greger, The Temptations...Joerg's recordings include SWR Big Band, WDR Big Band, NDR Big Band, Koeln Bigband, Peter Herbolzheimer, Ron Williams, Chaka Khan, Billy Cobham, Bobby Shew, Danny Gottlieb, Rosani Reis, Matthias Ru00fcegg, Paul Kuhn, Bill Ramsey, Dieter Reith, Django Bates, Annie Whitehead, Bob Florence, Rob Mc Connell, Sammy Nestico, Toshiko Akiyoshi , Bob Curnow, Hiram Bullock, etc...Joerg Kaufmann is currently a professor at the musicacademy ARTEZ in Arnhem (Holland) and is a permanent member of the SWR Big Band and Barbara Dennerlein's 'Bebab'.
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Inspiration
Why did you choose to become a musician?
I can’t find a real rational answer. I would say, there was something or maybe somebody inside me, who told me to do it. This sounds really strange but that´s it exactly: It was a “must” I had no other choice. Today it changed a little bit, because I hear more the “be-a-teacher-voice”. At the moment I find a big satisfaction in teaching….without losing my attitude towards my “musicianship”.
What is your experience when you feel connected into the music?
In these moments I´m just playing music, nothing else! I don´t think about licks, changes, technical things or “playing right or not”. It just flows and I feel also deeply connected to the band.
What is your experience of when you don't feel connected to your music?
I know it exactly at the moment when it happens. In opposite to my last description I feel deeply uncomfortable, thinking about licks, changes, the audience (“Do they like what I´m doing? Oh, there are some good musicians in the audience, hopefully is it good enough what I play” etc.). In other words: I´m not making music!
Where does your inspiration comes from? What does it feel like?
When I´m relaxed and concentrated in nothing else than playing music I´m inspired, inspiration seems to come from itself. If I´m deeply inside the present, inside the moment, I will be inspired; no idea where it comes from, it seems that inspiration is always there if my attitude is right. It feels effortless, no effort is even necessary.
What is your experience while improvising? Does it relate to any spirituality you may practice in your life?
As I said before: An effortless, creative and inspired improvisation goes smoothly if I can “let it go”, no thoughts, no “thinking about”, just listening and playing. But….it does not happen too often. I´m sympathizing seriously with Theravada Buddhism, but I´m a lazy person sometimes and I´m not consistent enough to practice seriously. In some periods in my life I was practicing Buddhism regularly. So if I do, I feel also the “flow” in life and music and of course improvisation.
Where does your inspiration while composing come from? What is your experience of that inspiration like?
It´s nearly the same as performing. What is funny sometimes: When I sit down with a clear intention to compose something, I´m inspired immediately…in most of the cases. I think one reason for that is: There is no audience, nobody I have to impress, just me and the piano or the saxophone. I was thinking a lot about being a composer in the first place, because it happens more often that I find myself deep inside the music.
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I can’t find a real rational answer. I would say, there was something or maybe somebody inside me, who told me to do it. This sounds really strange but that´s it exactly: It was a “must” I had no other choice. Today it changed a little bit, because I hear more the “be-a-teacher-voice”. At the moment I find a big satisfaction in teaching….without losing my attitude towards my “musicianship”.
What is your experience when you feel connected into the music?
In these moments I´m just playing music, nothing else! I don´t think about licks, changes, technical things or “playing right or not”. It just flows and I feel also deeply connected to the band.
What is your experience of when you don't feel connected to your music?
I know it exactly at the moment when it happens. In opposite to my last description I feel deeply uncomfortable, thinking about licks, changes, the audience (“Do they like what I´m doing? Oh, there are some good musicians in the audience, hopefully is it good enough what I play” etc.). In other words: I´m not making music!
Where does your inspiration comes from? What does it feel like?
When I´m relaxed and concentrated in nothing else than playing music I´m inspired, inspiration seems to come from itself. If I´m deeply inside the present, inside the moment, I will be inspired; no idea where it comes from, it seems that inspiration is always there if my attitude is right. It feels effortless, no effort is even necessary.
What is your experience while improvising? Does it relate to any spirituality you may practice in your life?
As I said before: An effortless, creative and inspired improvisation goes smoothly if I can “let it go”, no thoughts, no “thinking about”, just listening and playing. But….it does not happen too often. I´m sympathizing seriously with Theravada Buddhism, but I´m a lazy person sometimes and I´m not consistent enough to practice seriously. In some periods in my life I was practicing Buddhism regularly. So if I do, I feel also the “flow” in life and music and of course improvisation.
Where does your inspiration while composing come from? What is your experience of that inspiration like?
It´s nearly the same as performing. What is funny sometimes: When I sit down with a clear intention to compose something, I´m inspired immediately…in most of the cases. I think one reason for that is: There is no audience, nobody I have to impress, just me and the piano or the saxophone. I was thinking a lot about being a composer in the first place, because it happens more often that I find myself deep inside the music.
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