Jonas Graetzer

Born in September 1994, I started playing the drums on the set of my brother at the age of seven, which I soon could call my own. Since then, I have been teached regularly with various teachers of the “Rheinische Musikschule Köln” (Joss Lehmkuhl, Thomas Röhrig and Thomas Witzmann) and the “Offenes JazzHausschule Köln” (André Nendza, Laia Genc, ​​Kai Starke and Oliver Rehmann). During the Abitur at the Johann-Gottfried Herdergymnasium in Cologne, I was able to accompany many projects such as musical productions, big bands (performances also for official events of the city of Cologne) and accompaniments for ensembles of various compilations. Teaching staff was often involved as musicians. The rock band The Fat Cat, who was able to qualify for the NRW final of the Emergenza band competition and who became the German Champion in 2017 at the largest German bandcontest, has emerged during the school days. I have been awarded for the best drummer within this contest.

I discovered the jazz around 2010, when the rock jazz trio The Bad Plus gave a concert in Cologne. From this point onwards, I concentrated more on drumming and finally began my music study at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen in 2014. There I took drum lessons with Thomas Alkier and Sperie Karas and did Masterclasses with Billy Hart and Robert Brenner as well as Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez. I also attended workshops by internationally renowned musicians such as Dennis Chambers, Shannon Barnett, Martin Sasse, Bodek Janke, Alex Vespa, Felipe ‘Mandingo‘ Rengifo (a conga player from Venezuela) and Pandit Samir Chatterjee (a Tabla master from India, living in New York). I also took classes with Prof. Peter Herborn, Ryan Carniaux, Bernd Kämmerling, Frank Sichmann, Matthias Nadolny and Stephan Rademacher. In fall of 2016, I went to the Guildhall School of Music for Drama in London for an international abroad semester, where I was allowed to play in the Guildhall BigBand. There I attended drumming lessons with Trevor Tomkins, Ralph Salmins and James Maddren. I also attended courses with Malcolm Edmonstone, Barry Green, Martin Hathaway, Steward Hall, Barak Schmool and Scott Stroman, and I played with ECM Recording Artist Iain Ballamy. I also took part in numerous workshops with professional musicians from the English jazz and pop scene as well as producers and sponsors and marketing specialists. Peter Evans, Laurence Cottle, Ralph Salmins, Mike Walker, Malcolm Edmonstone, and more.

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