Jazz Articles about Joachim Kühn

About Joachim Kühn

Radio & Podcasts

Joachim Kuhn, Alain Bedard & Uroboro

by Maurice Hogue
December 17, 2024

German pianist Joachim Kuhn headed for Paris in the midst of the late 60s-early 70s free frenzy in Europe, ultimately forming a very influential trio with bassist J.F. Jenny-Clark and drummer Daniel Humair. Kuhn considered that group the band of his life. He may have to make room for his new French Trio with bassist Thibault Cellier and drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq. Their debut recording, The Way, is a perfect vehicle for the 80 year-old Kuhn to be as free as ...

Album Review

Don Cherry: Where Is Brooklyn? & Eternal Rhythm - Revisited

Read "Where Is Brooklyn? & Eternal Rhythm - Revisited" reviewed by Stefano Merighi

by Stefano Merighi
November 15, 2023

Nel percorso artistico di molti, è decisivo il rapporto tra emancipazione ed auto-affermazione. Il jazz moderno è spesso testimone di una dialettica feconda tra individualismo e trama collettiva, ma è dirimente il tema dell'originalità. “Se sei come tutti gli altri, a che serve il jazz?," diceva spesso Monk. E un vero “percorso," costellato da innumerevoli stazioni, è stato quello di Don Cherry, mai del tutto soddisfatto delle sue conquiste, costantemente messe in discussione. Ammesso e non concesso che Cherry sia ...

Radio & Podcasts

Joachim Kuhn, Day & Taxi & Java Quartet

by Maurice Hogue
June 29, 2022

German pianist/alto player Joachim Kuhn arrived in Paris in the late '60s; that city was the epicenter of an explosion in free jazz, fueled by several musicians from America (many of them from the AACM) and a desire among European players to push their music forward. One concert that Kuhn played at in the fall of that year was recorded, and now 52 years later it has been released. Scream For Peace is one of the feature recordings in this ...

Multiple Reviews

Solo Statesmen

by Geno Thackara
February 21, 2021

Joachim Kühn Touch the Light ACT Music 2021 Centuries-old classical, rock from recent decades, jazz staples both classic and modern—to Joachim Kühn it's all just good music regardless of style, and it seems any material can be suited to the mood at hand when he's in a mind to play with it. This recital is indeed radiant in the most soft-spoken and thoughtful of ways. Touch the Light is as exquisitely crafted as you'd hope ...

Album Review

Joachim Kuhn: Melodic Ornette Coleman: Piano Works XIII

Read "Melodic Ornette Coleman: Piano Works XIII" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
February 15, 2019

Reportedly, Ornette Coleman did not have a great affinity for pianists, but it was the instrument--rather than the musicians--that put Coleman off. As an innovator in free jazz, Coleman found the chordal instrument too intrusive and preferred a more sympathetic bass/soloist interaction. Coleman did record with pianists Geri Allen and Paul Bley, but he established a regular touring schedule of duo performances with Joachim Kühn. Coleman and Kühn only recorded together on Colors: Live from Leipzig (Verve, 1997). That outing ...

Album Review

Joachim Kuhn: Love & Peace

Read "Love & Peace" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
February 20, 2018

The German ACT label achieved global recognition when they issued the Esbjorn Svensson Trio album Viaticum (2005) and they warrant broader discovery by U.S. jazz fans. Though their country's best known label casts a global shadow over its competition, the ACT catalog has included Richie Beirach, Lars Danielsson, Vijay Iyer, Manu Katche, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bugge Wesseltoft, Tore Brunborg and a host of other well-known artists. Among those talents is one the finest--but under-recognized--jazz pianists of the past half-century. Joachim Kühn ...

Album Review

Joachim Kühn/Chris Jennings/Eric Schaefer: Beauty & Truth

Read "Beauty & Truth" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
March 13, 2017

German born pianist/composer Joachim Kühn is not without a global following though it's a shame that he is not more widely recognized in the US. Having spent much of his professional life in Paris, he did occupy some time between, residing in California. His musical interests are as broad as the roster of top-tier artists he has worked with in his earlier career, including Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson and the recently departed Larry Coryell. Showing his ...