ANDREAS BRUNN
Guitar / composition / percussion / workshop projects
Our project
Andreas Brunn, who combines various influences in his style, sounds like a small orchestra with his seven-string instrument: his guitar is a magical instrument, can be drum or bass alike. The pickup of this instrument works in stereo, the bass and melody strings on different channels seem almost like different instruments and allow a particular perception of the sound. Including a looper, an exciting new soloprogram was developed.
“Basically, each day with music is a new beginning to me
and I’m grateful to have found my way to this unique instrument
– through all twist and turns of our zeitgeist.
Regarding the many,
many possible ways one can create sounds and rhythm, harmonize them in various styles –
all that makes playing guitar an Endless Universe…”
Biography
Andreas Brunn was born in Weimar in 1964, played the clarinet since the age of six, started learning the guitar at the age of fourteen and has been a musician in bands of various styles ever since. He studied guitar and music theory at the “Franz Liszt” University of Music in Weimar.
His composition “Two Faces” was awarded 1st prize in the guitar composition competition Open Strings in 1999, announced throughout Germany by the specialized magazine AKUSTIKGitarre.
The guitarist has given concerts at various European and Asian festivals and has worked with Petri Hakala, Stoyan Yankoulov, Ateshan Husseinov, Uli Bartel, Mack Goldsbury, Hans Hartmann, Ferenc Snetberger , among others.
He leads the international ensemble For Free Hands, which has just released its new CD “The passing on of the fire”. The current line-up includes Echo Award winner Diego Piñera (UY) on drums, Roberto Badoglio (I) on bass, Vladimir Karparov (BG) on sax and special guest Alaa Zouiten (MAR) on oud. He continues to perform in various formations and with a solo programme.
Andreas Brunn took conga lessons with Topo Gioa and teaches percussion using the Ta-Ke-Ti-Na method.In the past years he was a scholarship holder of the Berlin Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture in Bulgaria and in Finland.
In the summer of 2004 and 2007 he was the artistic director of the EU-supported project “Young Music Caravan Europe”, which in both years took young musicians from Europe 7,500 km on the road, making guest appearances at renowned festivals in a number of countries.
Press
“… the Weimar sevenstring guitarist and percussionist Andreas Brunn takes the term “world language” music literally. Since the mid-nineties, he has been building bridges to the East, crossing Bulgarian metres with jazz, teaching children rhythm as a social bonding agent, wisely wandering the terrain between jazz and “world music” in the group For Free Hands and has been instrumental in gaining respect and support for the internationally mixed “Young Music Caravan”, not only in the EU. And that’s not all. He also exist in duos and solo.
In 2006 For Free Hands, formerly 4 Free Hands, released the CD “Transversal” (Laika-Records 35610224.2) The fact that FFH calls their music “contemporary European jazz” may arouse interest, but it only indicates one facet of this music: Andreas is German, the double bass player Jonathan Robinson is American, Vladimir Karparov on soprano and tenor saxophone is Bulgarian, Dimitris Christides is a Greek with experience in London and the excellent singer Charlota Hagfors, who is here as well as Hans Hartmann, comes from Finland. Everyone got to know each other in Berlin: “Europe is growing together, For Free Hands provides the soundtrack.” This is not gaga, just as optimistic as the thinking of many artists brings with it. When a quartet travels across Europe as part of a project called Junge Musik Karawane and then performs at the jazz festival in Pori, Finland, one thinks optimistically: Music overcomes borders as easily as any bird.
Andreas Brunn Live
Favorite quote
"Tradition is the passing on of the fire and not the worship of the ashes."
- Gustav Mahler
Concerts
For Free Hands feat. Alaa Zouiten | 01.06.2024 19:00 | Kultur-Tribüne vom Ortsverein Grünau e.V., Regattastraße 191, 12527 Berlin-Grünau | www.buergerhaus-gruenau.de
24.05.2024, 20:00, Café Tasso, Frankfurter Allee 11, 10247 Berlin| www.cafe-tasso.de, Information also available at Sinnewerk.
For Free Hands feat. Doron Furman @ Nordhäuser Jazzfrühling | Sa. 27.04.2024 20:00 Uhr | Jazzclub „JAZZmangel“, Barfüßerstraße 3 | www.jazzclub-nordhausen.de