Larry Porter - p.(USA)
Florian Menzel - tr. (D)
Ben Kraef - t-sax. (D)
Yonatan Levi - b. (IL)
Joe Smith - dr. (USA)
Zig Zag's favorite piano player Larry Porter is one of Germany's master jazz pianists. Having already toured extensively with the likes of Chet Baker and Art Farmer, he is one of only a few pianists who authentically communicate the language of American Jazz in its purest form. For this evening Larry Porter has put together an all-star band of some of Berlin's most distinguished jazz musicians who will perform arrangements of Thelonious Monk compositions. Come by and celebrate an evening full of bouncy grooves and swinging melodies!
- Ben Kraef is a German-Montenegrin saxophonist and composer based in Berlin.
Ben graduated from the University of Music “Hanns Eisler", Berlin. In 2007 he relocated to New York City on a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and obtained a Master of Arts from The City College of New York in 2009. In the past years Ben has won international acclaim in form of several prizes and awards, among these most notably the Biberacher Jazzpreis (2006), the “Concours International de Jazz de Fribourg" (2007), the Yamaha Saxophone Contest (2007), and the Billie Stoller Scholarship to an outstanding scholar and musician from The City College of New York (2008).
Thomas Steiger: One of the most in demand session musicians in the German music scene Steiger has a unique laid back fat and tight bass sound that has made him a first call bassist for some of the most renowned artists in the national and international music scene. He has worked with Sarah Connor, Jimmy Somerville, Torsten Goods, Gregory Porter, Klaus Doldinger, Chris Barber, Nils Landgren, Kim Sanders, Pete York, Greg Cohen, and many more.
-Jonathan is an Israeli musician born to parents of German and Moroccan origin. His musical career began at age eighteen, when he was chosen to play bass with Israel’s leading singer-song writer Yudit Ravitz. Within a short time he became a sought-after session musician who recorded over a hundred records and toured with Israel’s top artists both in Israel and worldwide. The purchase of a eight-track tape machine at age twenty four marked the beginning of what he defines as “my love affair with sound”. What began as a small music studio soon turned into a thriving career as music producer of many records and award winning music.
- Joe Smith studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music at Vernel Fournier , Jimmy Lovelace , John Von Ohlen , John Riley, and Jeff Williams. From 1991 to 2000, he played in New York City; Subsequently lived in Barcelona. Under his own name he presented two albums at FreshSound Records , Happy and Melodic Workshop , a. With Bill McHenry , Gorka Benitez , Guillermo Klein , Chris Lightcap and Jorge Rossy . [1] In addition, Smith was involved in recordings of John McNeil ( This Way Out , 2002), Arthur Kell , Ryan Blotnick , Fredrik Carlquist, and Brandon Miller . [2] In 2008, he founded the Asociación Libre Orkesta , a big band that combines improvised music with lyrics and picture projections. In 2010 Smith appeared with the Orkesta at the Jazz al Parque Festival in Bogotá . Since 2011 he has been living in Berlin, where he is currently (2015) involved in band projects, a. By George Donchev , Johannes Lauer , Christian Ugurel and Jessica Einaudi , as well as the formation Sarsaparilla and a Shakespeare production of the German Theater.
-Der Trompeter Flo Menzel ist bereits in jungen Jahren ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Jazz‐ Szene. Schon mit 16 Jahren wurde er Mitglied des Bundes‐Jugend‐Jazz‐Orchesters unter der Leitung von Peter Herbolzheimer.
Währenddessen bekam er Unterricht von berühmten Musikern wie Randy Brecker, Till Brönner, u.v.a. Zahlreiche Tourneen führten ihn mit großen Musikern wie John Riley oder Peter Weniger u.a. durch Spanien, Frankreich, Rumänien, Marokko und Mittelamerika. Seit neustem tritt Flo Menzel als jüngster Trompeter der WDR Big Band in Erscheinung. 2007 gewann er den 'Deutschen SKODA Jazz Award 2007'. Seit 2008 studiert er Musik am Jazzinstitut Berlin bei Prof. Gerard Presencer und Prof. Malte Burba.
Beginn 21:15 Uhr ( Einlass 20:00 Uhr)
EINTRITT
Einer der Gründe, die den Zig Zag Jazzclub so einzigartig machen, ist, dass er der erste und einzige Jazzclub der Welt ist, dem es gelingt nur durch freiwilligem Eintritt/Crowdfunding Events von Weltklasse zu finanzieren. Und wie machen wir das? Ganz einfach. Während der Konzertpause geben wir bekannt, dass wir Geld einsammeln werden. Bei den meisten Konzerten (außer Jam Sessions) informieren wir unsere Kunden, dass ein Beitrag von ungefähr 15 Euro es uns erlaubt die Musiker gerecht zu bezahlen. Manche geben dabei mehr und andere weniger... und das ist auch in Ordnung. Wir haben auf diese Weise schon Hunderte Konzerte organisiert.
ENTRANCE FEES
One of the reasons that makes the zig zag jazz club so unique is that it is the first and only jazz club in the world that manages to finance world class events through a crowd funding concept. How do we do it? Its quite simple… during the break of the concert we make an announcement regarding the collection for the evening. For most concerts (excluding the jam session) we inform our customers that a fee of around 15€ per person will allow us to fairly compensate the musicians. Some people give more and some give less… and that´s ok…