Farewell: Nicolas Simion

The saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader Nicolas Simion died unexpectedly on August 29 in Braşov / Kronstadt after a concert at the age of 67. After fleeing Romania for Vienna in 1988, he moved to Cologne in 1997, where he made a name for himself in the jazz scene as the driving force behind what would soon be known as “Balkan Jazz”—a unique fusion of melodies drawn from the rich treasure trove of Southeast European folk music with modern jazz. Unforgettable is a concert titled “Balkan Jazz” by the “Nicolas Simion Group feat. Dusko Goykovich” in 1999 at Cologne’s Stadtgarten, which Nicolas later released as an album on his label 7dreams. Five years later, pieces from this project were arranged for the WDR Big Band and performed—with Nicolas and some of his musicians as soloists—in a spectacular concert in the WDR’s main broadcast hall.

With prominent guests such as Mal Waldron, Lee Konitz, and Tomasz Stanko, Simion gave countless concerts in German cities and neighboring countries, as well as in Romania, where he maintained close family and artistic ties. In addition to his primary instrument, the tenor saxophone, he was proficient on the soprano and bass clarinet, as well as the traditional woodwind instruments of Balkan folk music: the tarogato, tilinka, and kaval. Through his compositions, Simion sought to build a bridge to the modern classical music of composers such as Béla Bartók and George Enescu, both of whom also drew from the rich treasure trove of Balkan folklore. In 2015, Nicolas was awarded the WDR Jazz Prize.