Jazz at JAKI: Jakob Bänsch Quartett

The award-winning trumpeter and composer Jakob Bänsch is one of the rising stars of the European jazz scene and has already been compared to the young Wynton Marsalis by the famous jazz critic Bill Milkowski. "His debut album Opening was awarded the German Jazz Prize 2024 as "Debut Album of the Year" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and other accolades. He has already played with his bands in the most renowned jazz venues and festivals in Germany (e.g. Leverkusener Jazztage, Jazz Baltica, JazzOpen Stuttgart and many more) and has worked with international jazz greats such as Nathan East, Nils Landgren, Wolfgang Haffner, Emil Mangelsdorff, Michael Abene and as a soloist with the WDR Big Band.

He was already a member of the Bundesjazzorchester and the Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy at a young age and was awarded the Munich Jazz Prize soloist award in 2022. Bänsch's compositions find their greatest sources of inspiration in classical music from around 1900 (e.g. Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin) as well as modern jazz from the 1960s/70s (e.g. Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock) and create an unmistakable sound from this mix, peppered with lyricism, epic intensity and virtuosity.

The newly formed Jakob Bänsch Quintet features Latvian guitarist Ella Zirina, who is also one of the most exciting newcomers on the European jazz scene. Zirina studied in Amsterdam and plays under her own name at the biggest international jazz festivals.

"Mesmerizing, Bach-like intensity" - London Jazz News