Bands and projects

Joerg Kaufmann/Mathias Haus/Conrad Noll
Schumann: A Jazz Interpretation of "Scenes from Childhood"

Robert Schumann's character pieces for piano embody the entire cosmos of Romantic musical thought. Especially in his "Kinderszenen" cycle, the composer created distinctive melodies alongside sophisticated pianistic sound design and harmonic refinement. Melodies that are timeless in their uniqueness and thus perfectly suited as a basis for a jazz-inspired interpretation of Schumann's music.

The project "Schumann: A Jazz Interpretation of "Scenes from Childhood" with saxophonist Jörg Kaufmann, vibraphonist Mathias Haus, and double bassist and cellist Conrad Noll attempts to discover new facets of Schumann's brilliant compositions through improvisation and the use of other jazz-inspired techniques. The overriding goal, however, is always to remain as close as possible to the original character and intention of the compositions.

Session Five

The band "Session 5," a project of five jazz musicians from the Cologne-Bonn area, has its roots in informal gatherings for jamming and improvising. Initially, the musical material consisted of other musicians' compositions and standards, but these have now been replaced by the musicians' own original compositions, allowing the band to develop a distinctive sound that straddles the boundaries between neo-bop, modal jazz, and the "ECM style."

The band will record their first CD at the end of November 2025.

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The Band:

Axel Dorner – trumpet

Jörg Kaufmann – saxophone

Oliver Leue – piano

Christian Kussmann – Bass

Stephan Schneider – drums

Solo project

In addition to my other projects, I'm working on the concept for a solo project that won't be a live performance. Rather, the focus of this work is the connection between improvisation and electronic music. I hope to release some recordings on this topic soon. I don't want to produce any more physical recordings, but rather make all my compositions available for free download.