Paul Heller – Andy Haderer Quintet feat. Hubert Nuss, Martin Gjakonovski, Dominik Raab

In the organizer's words:

Paul Heller - saxophone | Andy Haderer - trumped | Hubert Nuss - piano | Martin Gjakonovski - double bass | Dominik Raab - drums

Paul Heller - saxophone
The Cologne tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger Paul Heller (born April 21, 1971, Jülich) has been a member of the internationally renowned and Grammy-winning WDR Big Band Cologne since 2005.Growing up in a musical family, Paul Heller won three first prizes at "Jugend jazzt NRW" as a teenager: 1983 and '85 as a drummer, 1986 with the tenor saxophone. Heller was twice awarded first prize at the "International Composition Competition of Monaco" and the "Cultural Promotion Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia".
The list of musicians with whom Paul Heller has worked during his career reads like a "Who's Who" of jazz: He has played in quartets, quintets and sextets with, among others with Johnny Griffin, Dusko Goykovich, Jimmy Cobb, Jasper van't Hof, Volker Kriegel, Eddie Gomez, Vinnie Colaiuta, Biréli Lagène, Bill Evans, Al Foster, Adam Nussbaum, Franco Ambrosetti, Steve Swallow and with his wife, the multi-award-winning (including the "Golden Record" and the "German Record Critics' Award") Dutch jazz singer, Fay Claassen.Since 2013, Heller has been the artistic and musical director of the successful jazz concert series "Next Level Jazz" in Cologne's "Stadtgarten" alongside his work at Westdeutscher Rundfunk.
Paul Heller has now produced ten CDs under his own name with Al Foster, Ack van Rooyen, Franco Ambrosetti, Adam Nussbaum and Wolfgang Haffner, among others, and is represented on over 70 CDs as a soloist and sideman.Since 1994 he has led the "Ack van Rooyen - Paul Heller Quintet" together with Ack van Rooyen.
Jimmy Heath: "Paul Heller is a master saxophonist."
Joe Zawinul: "Paul Heller's solo is enormous. This solo is really a masterpiece - totally world class." (Joe Zawinul in an interview for "Jazzpodium")
Bob Brookmeyer: "Paul looks like an angel and plays like the devil."(Bob Brookmeyer's liner notes "Get Well Soon", 2002)
Michael Brecker: "Hey Paul, you continue to amaze! Beautiful writing - outrageously great playing. Your CD will accompany me on the road, and help me to stay inspired."
Bill Evans: "Paul plays with maturity and total control of his instrument. Like the masters before him, Paul is continuing a legacy on the saxophone.
Jerry Bergonzi: "Paul has his own voice that makes him immediately recognizable!"

Andy Haderer - trumped
Andy Haderer, born 1964 in Baden / Austria, completed a classical education at the University of Music in Vienna from 1976 to 1982. He later worked as the first trumpet player in the musical Cats, as a studio musician, went on various tours at home and abroad and played in the ORF Big Band and many jazz combos.From 1984 to 1987, Andreas Haderer played in the Radio Big Band Zurich and from 1986 to 2010 in Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination and Brass. He has been a trumpeter in the WDR Big Band Cologne since 1988 and was a member of Mike Gibbs' Creative Jazz Orchestra in 1995.In 1999 he was appointed professor of jazz trumpet at the HfMT Cologne. He gives various master classes and workshops in Germany and abroad.
He has also worked with Clark Terry, Brecker Brothers, John Clayton, Phil Collins, Diane Schuur, Pat Williams, Bob Mintzer, Bill Holman, Mike Abene, Bill Dobbins, Jeff Hamilton, Dennis Mackrel, Peter Erskine, Barbra Streisand, Bobby Shew, Mike Gibbs, Vienna Art Orchestra, Mel Lewis, Joe Zawinul, Maceo Parker, Adam Nussbaum, Yellow Jackets, Steve Gadd, Andrea Motis, Marquis Hill, Richie Beirach, Maria Schneider, among others.

Hubert Nuss - piano
Hubert Nuss is repeatedly praised by jazz critics for the "beauty" of his recordings - a word that is difficult to define but always makes a strong statement. These qualities are enduring with Hubert Nuss. The pianist's harmonic variety and Messiaen-like colors are characteristic.
Nuss began classical piano training at the age of eight, and at 16 he also took lessons in church organ and classical improvisation, while at the same time gaining his first experience in jazz. He was a pianist in the Baden-Württemberg Youth Jazz Orchestra from 1982 to 1986 and in the German National Jazz Orchestra from 1988 to 1989. He studied jazz piano at the Cologne University of Music and graduated with distinction in 1992. From 1993 to 1994 he was a lecturer at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar, then at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts until 1998. Since 1998, he has been a lecturer for jazz piano at the Berlin University of the Arts and the Cologne University of Music and Dance, and since 2011 at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts. His well-known students include Pablo Held. He has also been a professor of jazz piano at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts since 2018.
Hubert Nuss has recorded over 60 CDs as a jazz pianist. In 2008 he was awarded the WDR Jazz Prize for Improvisation. 2012 nominated for the GEMA German Music Writer's Prize. He can regularly be heard in various line-ups with Wolfgang Haffner, with Paul Heller/Ack van Rooyen and with Peter Weniger.
As a pianist, Nuss has participated in numerous studio productions (for WDR, NDR, SDR, SWF, HR, RIAS, among others) and has played with Mel Lewis, Clark Terry, Shirley Bassey, Benny Bailey, John Taylor, Bobby Shew, Don Menza, Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton, Toots Thielemans, Ack van Rooyen (90, 2021), Paul Heller, Jeff Hamilton, John Schröder, Steffen Schorn, John Abercrombie, Till Brönner, Paul Kuhn, Bob Brookmeyer, Thilo Berg, the Bobby Burgess Sound Explosion and in Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination & Brass.

Martin Gjakonovski - double bass
Macedonian jazz bassist Martin Gjakonovski (*1970, Skopje) has been playing double bass since the age of 14. He comes from a family of musicians. His mother is a qualified violinist and singer in the jazz vocal quartet "IMPULSI". His father, the composer, arranger and conductor Dragan Gjakonovski-Špato, founded and directed the radio big band of RTV-Skopje, Macedonia.In 1991, Martin Gjakonovski moved to Cologne to study jazz bass with Reiner Linke and Dieter Manderscheid at the renowned Cologne University of Music. He also attended master classes with Reggie Workman, Arild Andersen, John Clayton, Mike Richmond and Eddie Gomez. His authentic, versatile playing has brought him into the most diverse jazz scenes, from avant-garde to mainstream to world music.Since 27 years in Germany, he has recorded more than 120 CD productions with various formations, including first-class jazz musicians from Germany, the USA and Europe such as Dusko Goykovich, Bob Berg, Antonio Farao, Lynne Arriale, Adam Nussbaum, Bob Franceschini, Roy Hargrove, Bojan Z and many others. He has also made a name for himself as an electric bassist with Paul Shigihara, Michael Sagmeister and the WDR Big Band, among others.Martin Gjakonovski was a permanent member of German jazz legend Paul Kuhn's trio for 7 years and is one of the most sought-after bassists in Germany. He has been teaching at the jazz department of the Mainz University of Music for 3 years. Martin Gjakonovski is considered one of the most distinguished jazz bassists in Europe.

Dominik Raap - drums
Dominik Raab studied jazz drums with Bill Elgart at the Würzburg University of Music, completed a master's degree at the Nuremberg University of Music in 2012 and was a member of the Hessen State Youth Jazz Orchestra. His teachers included Bastian Jütte, Hannes Nied and Paul Höchstädter.
He has led groups such as Gen What and played in the Markus Harm Quartet, the Julian Bossert Trio, the Sunday Night Orchestra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra (conducted by Wil Salden) and the Subway Jazz Orchestra. He has lived and worked in Cologne since 2016.
Dominik Raab received awards at the Jugend jazzt competition, the Sparda Jazz Award and the Bruno Rother competition in 2013 and 2014.
Dominik Raab has played in concerts, studio and radio productions with musicians such as Don Braden, Johannes Enders, Peter Weniger, James Morrison, Jim Mc Neely, Bruce Forman, Nelson Faria, Tony Lakatos, Scott Robinson, Norma Winstone, Joe Gallardo, Claus Stötter, Gerard Presencer, Loren Stillman, Ralph Moore, Paul Heller, Andy Haderer, Johan Hörlén, Jonathan Bechay and many more.
Performances and tours in Europe and internationally have taken him to India, South Africa, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Cyprus, Greece, Russia ....

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