Béatrice Graf (2 April 1964) is a Swiss percussionist, organist and

keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

and modern jazz.

Biography

Graf studied at the ''Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève'' until 1989 and finished the workshop of

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie, ...

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drum ...

and

David Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

. Since 1992, she has worked as a professional musician also in the genre of Rock music and the

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

. She has been the member of

Peter Schärli Peter Schärli (29 May 1955) is a Swiss jazz trumpeter. Biography When he was ten years old, he started to learn trumpet. He continued his studies at the Lucern jazz school while working as a clerk. He joined the blues band Exodus as a sing ...

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

and the member of the ensemble Four Roses for a long time. She is also the leader of her own group and played in duo with musician like Philippe Ehinger (Beat and Lip), Helene Corini,

Michel Wintsch Michel Wintsch (born 1964) is a Swiss avant-garde jazz composer and pianist who has worked with musicians such as Franz Koglmann and Gerry Hemingway Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a me ...

, Vinz Volanthan, Jan Gordon Lenox and

Guillaume Perret Guillaume Perret (; born 21 June 1980 in Annecy) is a French jazz musician (tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone, also keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the so ...

. She performs also as a soloist. She works with

Co Streiff Co Streiff (Cornelia Streiff) (5 April 1959 in Zurich) is a Swiss jazz musician who combines the elements of free jazz with the music of Africa. She is a saxophonist and flutist. She was educated at a conservatory with the transverse flute as ...

, Hilaria Kramer and

Karoline Höfler Karoline is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Karoline Amaral (born 1984), model *Karoline Bjørnson (1835–1934), Norwegian actress * Karoline Bruch-Sinn (1853–1911), Austrian writer *Karoline Dyhre Breivang (born 1980), No ...

in the quartet ''Retrabra''. The other musicians, whom she has performed with, are James Zollar, James Carter,

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...

Steffen Schorn Steffen Schorn (born 26 September 1967 in Aalen) is a Jazz music in Germany, German jazz musician (saxophone and other Woodwind instruments, Musical composition, composition). He is one of the most outstanding musicians and composers of German ja ...

, Al Grey junior,

Amampondo Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble that was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa, Cape Town in 1979.Craig HarrisArtist Biography AllMusic.com. The name in Mpondo means '' people of Mpondo'' or Pondoland, a kingdom in the Eastern Cape ...

, the Orchestre National du Sénégal,

Darius Brubeck Darius Brubeck (born June 14, 1947) is an American jazz keyboardist and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. He spent many years in Durban, South Africa, as a professor and head of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the Unive ...

and Matthew Brubeck,

Corin Curschellas Corin Curschellas (; born 2 July 1956) is a Swiss singer-songwriter, vocalist (jazz, folk music, world music, chanson), free improvisation, actress (theatre, film, musical), voice actress in (radio drama and audio books) as well as voice instruc ...

, Hélène Labarrière,

Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist and improviser. Career Courvoisier, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, has lived in Brooklyn, New York for years. She has led several groups over the years, recorded 10 albu ...

Jacques Demierre Jacques Demierre (born 4 January 1954, in Geneva) is a Swiss improvisation musician and composer. Life and works Demierre studied at the University of Geneva at the (piano, jazz piano, electroacoustic music) and at the Conservatoire de Musique ...

, Ohad Talmor,

Erik Truffaz Erik Truffaz (born 3 April 1960 in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland) is a French jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions. Early life Truffaz was introduced to music by his father, a saxoph ...

, Hilde Kappes und

Philippe Aerts Philippe Aerts (born 21 June 1964) is a Belgian jazz double bassist. He taught himself guitar and electric bass guitar when he was 11 and started playing the double bass at age 14. He is a member of Philip Catherine trio and the Ivan Paduart tri ...

. She has performed in the international festivals and has given concerts in the Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Britain, France, Liechtenstein, Russia, North America and Latin America and Africa.

Discography

* Peter Schärli Special Sextet feat.

Glenn Ferris Glenn Arthur Ferris (born June 27, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist who has also worked in other fields. Outside of jazz he has played for Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Duran Duran. He studied classical music from 1958 to 196 ...

and Tom Varner: ''Hot Peace'' (2006) * ''Beat and Lip'' (Altrisuoni 2003) * Four Roses: ''Histoire d’eau'' (Altrisuoni, 2001, with Florence Chitacumbi, Florence Melnotte, and Karoline Höfler)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Beatrice Swiss jazz musicians 1964 births Living people People from Nyon Swiss percussionists Swiss organists Women organists 21st-century organists 21st-century women musicians