Jazz connects RheinMain mit John Schröder u.a.

An event as part of the Jazz connects RheinMain program of the Frankfurt RheinMain Cultural Fund, with

• John Schröder - electric guitar, drums
• Christian Ramond - bass
• Burkard Kunkel - basset horn, bass clarinet, zither
• Bob Degen - piano

John Schröder, once celebrated by the press in Frankfurt as a “guitar prodigy” after his first performances in 1978, has been one of the busiest jazz musicians since moving to Berlin in 1997, who also has merit on the drums. After his first recordings in 1982 and working in a duo with Joe Gallivan, he played with Roberto di Gioia, saxophonist Peter Weniger and bassist Marc Abrams in the fusion group Zuppa Romana. In 1994 he joined the successful band The Red Area, founded by Rudi Mahall and Frank Möbus in 1992, with whom he performed in numerous countries.
For the recording of a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001, the group received the German Record Critics' Quarterly Prize (1st quarter of 2005). He also played with Stefan Lottermann, Achim Kaufmann and other musicians from the Cologne scene. Schröder is a member of Das rosa Rauschen (with Felix Wahnschaffe), the Norbert Scholly Group, the Fabian Gisler Quartet, Erdmann 3000, LAX and other band projects. He founded the band Momentum Impakto with his guitar student Kalle Kalima. He played with many 1988), James Moody, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, Enrico Rava, but also with Christopher Dell in a quartet and duo.
He played at major international jazz festivals around the world and recorded albums with well-known musicians such as Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, Till Brönner, Kudsi Erguner, Tim Fischer, David Friedman, Gitte Haenning, Kalle Kalima, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Rolf Kühn, Christoph Lauer, Christian Lillinger, Hans Lüdemann, Albrecht Mayer, Claudio Puntin, Radio Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Yves Robert, Eric Schaefer, Helen Schneider, Tomasz Stanko, Gebhard Ullmann, Rolando Villazon, Jiggs Whigham and many other inspiring colleagues from the international jazz scene.

Bob Degen, American jazz pianist studied until 1965 at the Berklee School of Music and with Margaret Chaloff, who also taught Herbie Hancock and Steve Kuhn, among others. After a short stay in Germany, Degen attracted attention at the Gulda Competition in 1966 and returned to the United States, where he worked with Mark Levinson and Paul Motian as well as with the Glenn Miller Band under Buddy DeFranco.
From 1972 he played again in Germany, where he was a member of the Hessischer Rundfunk jazz ensemble under the direction of Albert Mangelsdorff until 1999. In the groups Voices and Springtime there was a long-term collaboration with radio colleagues Heinz Sauer (duo, quartet) and Günter Lenz.
Other partners include: Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, Attila Zoller, Leo Wright, Hans Koller, Makaya Ntshoko, Adelhard Roidinger, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Bill Stewart, Gerd Dudek, Wolfgang Engstfeld, Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Terumasa Hino, Tony Lakatos, Cameron Brown and Jürgen Wuchner and Janusz Stefanski. The playing of Bill Evans and Paul Bley influenced him. In 1994 he received the Jazz Prize of the State of Hesse.

Burkard Kunkel (bass clarinet, basset horn, zither) picked up the zither at the age of seven and played it as a child at home evenings in Spessart, Bavaria, for spa guests. At some point he locked the zither in the closet for 18 years, listening to and playing rock, funk and then jazz. He came to Frankfurt in 1991 as a medical student and in 1996 received a jazz work scholarship from the city of Frankfurt as a bass clarinetist. In addition to his work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist, he continues to give new impetus to the contemporary jazz scene. Since 2002, he has also been making Mozart's "favorite instrument", the basset horn, and, in addition to the bass clarinet, also the zither from his childhood sound in a new guise.
With Christian Ramond and John Schröder he played in the legendary Frankfurt band Atlantic Augen from 1997-2004. From 2003 to 2004 he played in the Trio Gulliver with Oliver Potratz and John Schröder. After 20 years, the “Cats” are now meeting each other.

Christian Ramond, born in Bonn in 1961, lives in Cologne and has worked in the past with Joe Pass, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Mariano, Thomas Stanko, Albert Mangelsdorf, Doug Rainey, Randy Brecker, Don Friedman, Philippe Catherine, Keith, among others Copeland, HR Big Band.
Concerts and tours have taken him to, among others, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Japan, China, Australia, India, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa and other European countries. He played at important festivals such as Montreal, Vancouver, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, La Paz, Mexico City, Belo Horizonte, Sydney, Yokohama, Nanjing, New Delhi, Chennai, Vilnius, Amsterdam, Prague, Varna, Bucharest, Moers, Leverkusen, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Jazz Baltica, Ellmau. Christian Ramond can be heard on almost 100 CDs and is active in many musical contexts in the field of jazz/contemporary music.
Current line-ups are DRA, Eastern Flowers, Theo Jörgensmann Quartett, Bassmasse13, Jens Düppe Quartett, Engstfeld/Weiss Quartett..