Rolf Kühn
Rolf Kühn ( born September 29, 1929 in Cologne) is a German musician and jazz clarinetist. He is one of the few jazz clarinetist who have developed their own style.
Life and work
His parents were Kurt and Grete Kühn, born Moses. They had met in Cologne, where his mother worked at the cash register in the store; they married in 1929. He grew up in Leipzig and studied from 1937 to play the piano. From a young age he became familiar with music theory and composition. 1941 taught him Hans Berninger, who was principal clarinetist of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig at this time. By Jutta Hipp he learned for the first time the Jazz know. At the age of 17 years Kühn 1946 saxophonist and clarinetist at the newly founded Leipzig Station of the Central German Radio. As a soloist he played under Kurt Henkels in broadcasting Dance Orchestra Leipzig, the leading big band in the Soviet zone, together with the star trumpeter Horst " Hackl " Fischer and drummer and later manager of his own orchestra Fips Fleischer.
After a short stay in Eugene Henkel Kühn was saxophonist of the RIAS Dance Orchestra in Berlin after 1950 first. 1954 Bold was first honored with a European Jazz Competition "Best clarinetist " and should defend this price in the following two years.
1956 moved to America Kühn, guested in New York with Caterina Valente. There he also met John Hammond, who promoted the emerging young artists. He put together a personal backup group for him, with which he, inter alia, at New York's Birdland, the Blue Note in Chicago and at the Newport Jazz Festival was heard. From 1958 to 1962 Kühn played in the orchestra of Benny Goodman and - as the successor of Buddy DeFranco - one and a half years as principal clarinetist with Tommy Dorsey.
1962 Rolf Kühn returned back to Germany, where he became head of the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg TV was immediately. Besides his work as a conductor Kühn also acted with Albert Mangelsdorff and others as a soloist with the " German Allstars ", with whom he also made an extensive tour of South America. At the same time numerous record releases emerged from the 1960s as a leader and sideman on renowned labels such as Polydor, Vanguard Records, Brunswick Records, Amiga ( record label ), Intercord, Impulse! Records and of course MPS.
Since 1966, Rolf Kühn held 14 years younger and previously living in Leipzig brother, pianist Joachim Kühn, also on the west of Germany. The brothers played together again on ever since (at first by Joachim Ernst Berendt produced).
The musical spectrum of Rolf Kühn covers since the 1960s, in addition to classic jazz and free jazz and jazz-rock. Kühn turns since then increasingly the composition and conducting work and takes over the musical direction of various theaters, including the Berlin theater of the West.
From the late 1960s he composed reinforced for films such as The Yellow House on Pinnasberg, Perrak, The Death Avenger of Soho or Dr M slams and legendary television series such as crime scene and Derrick, but also takes occasionally for library labels like Selected Sound. Rolf Kühn was married to German actress Judy Winter.
The brothers Kühn are among the most prolific and successful German jazz musicians. The series of awards that they have received within the last 40 years ( for example, in June 2011 the Jazz Echo Award in 2011 for lifetime achievement ), is just as impressive as the number of publications on which they individually or jointly to hear are.
In 2008 he founded with Christian Lillinger, Ronny pearl barley and John Fink Ensemble Rolf Kühn & TriO.