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Florian Weber

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German jazz pianist and composer
Weber in concert at Stadtgarten Köln, Germany, 7 June 2012

Florian Weber (born 11 November 1977) is a German pianist and composer of modern jazz.

Early life and education

Weber was born on 11 November 1977 in Detmold. His family was musical: "his father was a music professor and his mother an opera singer. He began learning the piano at the age of four and had played in both classical and jazz ensembles by the time he left high school." In 1999, he received a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. Later, he studied with John Taylor in Cologne, Joanne Brackeen and Paul Bley in Boston, and Richie Beirach and Lee Konitz in New York.

Career

Together with bassist Jeff Denson and drummer Ziv Ravitz, Weber founded Minsarah (Hebrew for "prism") in 2002. Their 2006 eponymous album was awarded the German Record Critics' Prize.

The saxophonist Lee Konitz began working with the Trio Minsarah in 2006, and the group became a quartet. They began to tour, mainly in the United States. Their first CD, Deep Lee, was released by Enja Records around 2008. A concert was recorded and released as New Quartet Live at the Village Vanguard.

In 2011, Weber founded a group called Biosphere with Lionel Loueke (guitar), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums). Their album Biosphere was released by Enja Records. The same label released Weber's trio album Criss Cross.

Weber recorded the duet album Alba with trumpeter Markus Stockhausen for ECM Records around 2016 and recorded the quartet Lucent Waters for the same label in 2017.

Awards and honors

In 2013, Weber received an Echo Music Prize for best instrumentalist of the year (piano/keyboard). In January 2014, he received the WDR Jazz Prize for jazz improvisation.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Year recorded Title Label Notes
2011? Biosphere Enja As Biosphere; quartet, with Lionel Loueke (guitar), Thomas Morgan (bass), Dan Weiss (drums, tabla)
2015? Criss Cross Enja Trio with Donny McCaslin (tenor sax), Dan Weiss (drums)
2016 NYC Five Intakt Quintet, with Angelika Niscier (co-led, alto sax), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Christopher Tordini (double bass), Tyshawn Sorey (drums)
2016? Alba ECM Duo, co-led with Markus Stockhausen (flugelhorn, trumpet)
2017 Lucent Waters ECM Quartet, with Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)

Notes

  1. AllMusic gives 20 November 1977

References

  1. ^ Buchanan, John D. "Florian Weber". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  2. "Jazz Stories: A Photo History". Cadence. Vol. 38, no. 1AE. 2012. p. 115.
  3. The Jazz Podium 10/2009: 32-35
  4. Hentz, Stefan. "tontraeger 2010/04/26/lee-konitz_5273". blog.zeit.de. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  5. Hale, James (January 2009). "Lee Konitz and Minsarah: Deep Lee". DownBeat. Vol. 92, no. 1. p. 76.
  6. Macnie, Jim (August 2010). "Lee Konitz & Minsarah: New Quartet Live at the Village Vanguard". DownBeat. Vol. 77, no. 8. p. 60.
  7. ^ Chinen, Nate (30 March 2016). "New Albums from Azealia Banks and Anoushka Shankar". New York Times.
  8. ^ de Barros, Paul (February 2019). "Florian Weber: Lucent Waters". DownBeat. Vol. 86, no. 2. p. 58.
  9. ^ "Lucent Waters". ecmrecords.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  10. "LondonJazz: NEWS: German ECHO JAZZ 2013 Winners Announced (Updated Post)". Londonjazznews.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  11. "News: WDR 2014 Jazz Prizewinners Announced". London Jazz News. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  12. Shanley, Mike (27 December 2012). "Florian Weber: Biosphere". JazzTimes.
  13. Merighi, Stefano (21 September 2016). "Angelika Niescier, Florian Weber: NYC Five". Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. "Alba". ecmrecords.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
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