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 instru ...

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

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 (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

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 figu ...

Peter Erskine Peter Clark 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 d ...

and

Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to: *Dave Holland (bassist) David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...

. 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 general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

. 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 singer ...

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, Vinz Volanthan, Jan Gordon Lenox and Guillaume Perret. She performs also as a soloist. She works with Co Streiff,

Hilaria Kramer Hilaria Kramer (1 June 1967 in Frauenfeld) is a Swiss musician (trumpet, song, Musical composition, composition) in the modern jazz style. Biography Kramer began to play trumpet, when she was ten years old. From 1983, she attended the vocationa ...

and Karoline Höfler 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, Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz French horn, horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, where he started playing in the orc ...

Steffen Schorn Steffen Schorn (born 26 September 1967 in Aalen) is a German jazz musician (saxophone and other woodwind instruments, composition). He is one of the most outstanding musicians and composers of German jazz and contemporary music. He is also the d ...

, Al Grey junior,

Amampondo Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble that was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa, Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Pa ...

, the Orchestre National du Sénégal, Darius Brubeck and Matthew Brubeck, Corin Curschellas,

Hélène Labarrière Hélène Labarrière (23 October 1963 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French musician in the fields of jazz and improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using wh ...

Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Pri ...

, Jacques Demierre, Ohad Talmor,

Erik Truffaz Erik Truffaz (born 3 April 1960 in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland) is a French-Swiss jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions. Early life Erik Truffaz grew up in France, in the Pays de G ...

, 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 tr ...

. 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 Swiss women jazz musicians 1964 births Living people People from Nyon Swiss percussionists Women organists 21st-century Swiss organists 21st-century women musicians