Quick Facts
Pisces
Biography
Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist.
Biography
Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition with Arthur Schmidt-Elsey. Influenced by his elder brother, clarinetist Rolf Kühn, he simultaneously got interested in jazz. In 1961 he became a professional jazz musician. With a trio of his own, founded in 1964, he presented the first free jazz in the GDR. In 1966 he left the country and settled in Hamburg. Together with his brother he played at the Newport Jazz Festival and recorded with Jimmy Garrison for Bob Thiele's Impulse! Records.
Kühn has lived in Paris since 1968, and worked with Don Cherry, Karl Berger, Slide Hampton, Phil Woods, Michel Portal, Barre Phillips, Eje Thelin, Ray Lema, Hellmut Hattler, and Jean-Luc Ponty. As a member of Pierre Courbois's Association P.C., he turned to electronic keyboards. During the second half of the 1970s he lived in California and joined the West Coast fusion scene and recorded with Alphonse Mouzon, Billy Cobham, Michael Brecker, and Eddie Gómez.
Having settled near Paris again, he played in an acoustic trio with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair since 1985. In the summer of 1996, he joined Ornette Coleman for two concerts at the Verona and Leipzig festivals, which opened the way for his Diminished Augmented System. In 2015 he formed the New Joachim Kühn Trio with Chris Jennings and Eric Schaefer.
On 25 June 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Joachim Kühn among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Discography
As leader/co-leader
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Impressions of New York | Impulse! | Quartet, with Rolf Kühn (clarinet), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Aldo Romano (drums) |
| 1969? | Sound of Feelings | BYG Actuel | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Aldo Romano |
| 1969? | Paris Is Wonderful | Byg Actuel | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Aldo Romano |
| 1973? | This Way Out | BASF/MPS | with Gerd Dudek, Peter Warren, Daniel Humair |
| 1974 | Cinemascope | ||
| 1975? | Hip Elegy | MPS | with Terumasa Hino, Philip Catherine, John Lee, Naná Vasconcelos, Alphonse Mouzon |
| 1976? | Solo Now | with Albert Mangelsdorff, Gunter Hampel, Pierre Favre | |
| 1976 | Springfever | Atlantic | Most tracks quartet, with Philip Catherine (guitar), John Lee (bass), Gerry Brown (drums); one track with Zbigniew Seifert (violin), Curt Cress (drums) added |
| 1977? | Charisma | Atlantic | Solo piano |
| 1978 | Sunshower | Atlantic | With Jan Akkerman and Ray Gomez (guitar), Tony Newton (electric bass, piccolo bass), Glenn Symmonds (drums), Willie Dee (vocals) |
| 1979 | Kiel/Stuttgart Live! | Inak | Duo, with Jan Akkerman (guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer); in concert |
| 1980? | Snow in the Desert | Atlantic | Solo piano |
| 1981 | Nightline New York | Inak | With Michael Brecker and Bob Mintzer (tenor sax), Eddie Gómez, Billy Hart (drums), Mark Nauseef (percussion) |
| 1983 | I'm Not Dreaming | CMP | With George Lewis (trombone), Ottomar Borwitzky (cello), Mark Nauseef (piccolo, tenor sax, percussion), Herbert Forsch (percussion) |
| 1984 | Distance | CMP | Solo piano |
| 1985 | Transformations | CMP | Solo piano; also known as Wandlungen |
| 1985 | Easy to Read | Owl | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark (bass), Daniel Humair (drums) |
| 1988 | From Time to Time Free | CMP | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark (bass), Daniel Humair (drums) |
| 1988 | Ambiance | Ambiance | Duo, with Walter Quintus (digital sound-board) |
| 1988? | Situations | Atlantic | Solo piano |
| 1989 | Live: Théâtre De La Ville, Paris, 1989 | CMP | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair; in concert |
| 1990? | Dynamics | CMP | Solo piano |
| 1990 | Let's Be Generous | CMP | With Miroslav Tadic (guitar), Tony Newton (bass), Mark Nauseef (drums, percussion) |
| 1991 | Get Up Early | Ambiance | Duo, with Walter Quintus (digital sound-board) |
| 1991 | Carambolage | CMP | With the WDR Big Band |
| 1991–92 | Sometime Ago | New Edition | With Harry Beckett (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jerry Bergonzi (tenor sax), Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Jesper Lundgaard (bass), Thomas Alkier (drums); released 2006 |
| 1993? | Usual Confusion | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair | |
| 1994? | Joachim Kühn Plays Lili Marleen | Solo piano | |
| 1994 | Europeana | ACT | With Radio Philharmonie Hannover NDR |
| 1987–95 | Joachim Kühn Birthday Edition / Europeana | ACT | Some tracks trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark (bass), Daniel Humair (drums); in concert; other tracks released on Europeana; released 2014 |
| 1995 | Famous Melodies | Label Bleu | Solo piano |
| 1995? | Abstracts | Label Bleu | Solo piano |
| 1996 | Colors: Live from Leipzig | Harmolodic/Verve | Duo, with Ornette Coleman (alto sax, trumpet, violin); in concert |
| 1997? | Generations from (East) Germany | KlangRäume | Duo, with Connie Bauer |
| 1998? | Triple Entente | Mercury/PolyGram France | Trio, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair |
| 1999 | The Diminished Augmented System | EmArcy | Solo piano |
| 2001? | Universal Time | with Chris Potter, Scott Colley, Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez, Michel Portal | |
| 2002? | Bach Now - Live | with Thomanerchor | |
| 2003 | Piano Works I: Allegro Vivace | ACT | Solo piano |
| 2004 | Poison | In + Out | Trio, with Jean-Paul Celea (bass), Wolfgang Reisinger (drums) |
| 2005? | Journey to the Centre of an Egg | Enja | with Rabih Abou-Khalil, Jarrod Cagwin |
| 2006 | Kalimba | ACT | Trio, with Majid Bekkas (guembri, oud, kalimba, vocals), Ramón López (drums) |
| 2008 | Piano Works IX: Live at Schloss Elmau | ACT | Duo, with Michael Wollny (piano); in concert |
| 2008 | Out of the Desert | ACT | With Majid Bekkas (vocals, guembri, kalimba, molo), Ramón López (drums, tabla), guests |
| 2010 | Chalaba | ACT | Trio, with Majid Bekkas (vocals, guembri, oud), Ramón López (drums, tabla, percussion) |
| 2010 | Out of the Desert Live | ACT | With Majid Bekkas (vocals, guembri, oud), Ramón López (drums, tabla, percussion), hr-Bigband / Frankfurt Radio Bigband; in concert |
| 2011? | Wo!man | Archie Ball | Duo, with Archie Shepp |
| 2011–12 | Voodoo Sense | ACT | With Majid Bekkas (guembri, vocals, kalimba, balafon), Ramón López (drums, percussion); with Archie Shepp (tenor sax), Kouassi Bessan Joseph and Gouria Danielle (percussion, vocals), Dally Jean Eric (calabas), Gilles Ahadji (jembe), Abdessadek Bounhar (karkabou) added on some tracks |
| 2012? | Lifeline | Boutique | with Rolf Kühn, John Patitucci, Brian Blade |
| 2014? | Moscow | ACT | Duo, with Alexey Kruglov (alto sax) |
| 2015 | Beauty and Truth | ACT | Trio, with Chris Jennings (bass), Eric Schaefer (drums) |
| 2017 | Love & Peace | ACT | Trio, with Chris Jennings (bass), Eric Schaefer (drums) |
| 2018 | Piano Works XIII: Melodic Ornette Coleman | ACT | Solo piano |
As sideman
- Gary Bartz, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean and Charlie Mariano: Altissimo (Philips, 1973)
- Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet with Joachim Kühn: Live at Kosmos, Berlin (ITM, 1965)
- The Rolf Kühn Group: The Day After (BASF/MPS, 1972) featuring Phil Woods
- The Rolf Kühn Group: Connection 74 (BASF/MPS, 1974) featuring Randy Brecker
- Association P.C. (Pierre Courbois) and Jeremy Steig: Mama Kuku (Live) (BASF/MPS, 1974)
- Zbigniew Seifert: Man of the Light (BASF/MPS, 1976) with Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, and Jasper van 't Hof
- Larry Coryell - Catherine - Kühn: Live! (Elektra, 1980)
- Joe Henderson Collective: Black Narcissus (Milestone, 1976)
