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Rainer Brüninghaus (born 21 November 1949) is a German
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
pianist, composer and university teacher.


Career

He was born in
Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...
,
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
, Germany. Rainer Brüninghaus was educated in classical piano, playing from the age of nine, and founded his first jazz trio when he was 16. From 1968 to 1972, he studied sociology at the
University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...
and music from 1971 to 1975. In 1970, he founded the experimental jazz rock group Eiliff, which recorded two albums and one single. In 1973, he joined the band of German jazz guitarist Volker Kriegel. From 1973 until 1985, he was a frequent guest in the jazz ensemble of Hessian Broadcasting Corporation (hr) and in the big band of Hessian Broadcasting Corporation, hr-Bigband. In 1975, with bassist
Eberhard Weber Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, minimalism and ambient music, and are regarded ...
and
Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophone, saxophonist who focused on the alto saxophone, alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biogra ...
, he formed the band, Colours. From 1977 onward, he played duo concerts with Manfred Schoof and in his quintet and big band. In 1976, Brüninghaus first played a piano solo concert on the Heidelberg Jazz Days Festival. At the German Jazz Festival Frankfurt of 1978, he performed a suite of pieces lasting 50 minutes, which he composed as a commissioned work for the festival. Jazz critic
Joachim-Ernst Berendt Joachim-Ernst Berendt (20 July 1922 in Berlin – 4 February 2000 in Hamburg) was a German music journalist, author and producer specialized on jazz. Life Berendt's father, Ernst Berendt, was a Protestant pastor belonging to the Confessing ...
wrote afterwards that he considered Brüninghaus one of the three leading German jazz pianists. In the 1980s, Brüninghaus worked mainly as a bandleader, putting effort into his own projects, for example ''Freigeweht'' with
Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...
and Jon Christensen ( ECM). In 1981, he founded his own trio in which
Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born 2 May 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz St ...
and Fredy Studer played until the end of 1984. This group toured worldwide, often for the
Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...
. John Abercrombie and
Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinu ...
joined the band in 1985, and for some of the performances, Charlie Mariano, Hugo Read, and Jo Thönes played in the band. In 1988, he began a long association with
Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...
. He has also worked with
Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...
,
Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombone, valve trombonist, Jazz piano, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public ...
,
Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...
,
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, Jim Hall,
Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusio ...
,
Albert Mangelsdorff Albert Mangelsdorff (September 5, 1928 – July 25, 2005) was a German jazz trombonist. Working mainly in free jazz, he was an innovator in multiphonics. Early life Mangelsdorff was born in Frankfurt on September 5, 1928, as the son of the book ...
, Paul McCandless, Alphonse Mouzon,
Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
, and
Steve Swallow Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...
. Brüninghaus has written music for symphony orchestra, big bands, small ensembles, and solo piano, as well as for film and television. He taught piano and music theory at the Akademie Remscheid from 1973 to 1977, at the University of Cologne (Musikhochschule) from 1984 to 1992, and from 1990 to 1993 at the Hochschule (University) for Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. He has published essays on
music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
and was a member of the artistic advisory board for the Union of German Jazz Musicians (Union Deutscher Jazzmusiker/UDJ). Since 1976, he has played solo concerts on grand piano, and has been doing so more frequently since 2011.


Critics' observations

Brüninghaus has become known in fusion jazz for his subtle chord layering and widely varying melodic changes, but without neglecting the rhythmical flow. Brüninghaus is the most imaginative exponent of minimal art. In his improvisation and compositions, he combines repetitive minimalist patterns with phrasing reminiscent of
Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...
.


Awards

In 1983, Brüninghaus won the Jazz Award of Southwest German Radio and the country of Rhineland-Palatinate, which at that time was the only German jazz award. In 1984, he won the Award of German Record Critics for his ECM album ''Continuum''.


Discography

* '' Freigeweht'', (ECM, 1980) * '' Continuum'' ( ECM, 1983) * ''Shadows & Smiles'' with Manfred Schoof ( WERGO, 1988) With
Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...
* '' Legend of the Seven Dreams'' (ECM, 1988) * '' I Took Up the Runes'' (ECM, 1990) * '' Twelve Moons'' (ECM, 1992) * '' Visible World'' (ECM, 1995) * ''
Rites RITES Ltd, formerly known as Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking and engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field of transport infrastructure. Established in 1974 by the In ...
'' (ECM, 1998) With
Eberhard Weber Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, minimalism and ambient music, and are regarded ...
* '' The Colours of Chloë'' (ECM, 1973) * '' Yellow Fields'' (ECM, 1975) * '' The Following Morning'' (ECM, 1976) * '' Silent Feet'' (ECM, 1977) * '' Little Movements'' (ECM, 1980) * '' Endless Days'' (ECM, 2001)


References


Bibliography

* Wolf Kampmann ''Reclams Jazzlexikon'' Stuttgart, Reclam 2003; * Martin Kunzler, ''Jazz-Lexikon Bd. 1.'' Reinbek 2002;


External links


Homepage Rainer Brüninghaus

Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruninghaus, Rainer 1949 births Living people People from Bad Pyrmont German jazz pianists German jazz composers German male jazz composers ECM Records artists Post-bop pianists Jazz fusion pianists 20th-century German male pianists 21st-century German male pianists German male jazz pianists