About
Kuhn Fu's madness has a method. The multicultural band, led by the frenetic mastermind, guitarist, and composer Christian Kühn, fights against purity laws with conspiratorial methods and regularly flips the bird to the jazz police. Like a martial arts fighter creatively harnessing Tourette's and ADHD, Kühn spins wildly on stage, encouraging his bandmates to venture into anarchic territory.
Zappa meets cabaret; surf sounds and metal riffs ride the Chattanooga Choo-Choo while Mingus, The Who, Stravinsky and Moondog serve as the godfathers. With Kuhn Fu, you can only expect the unexpected. Just when the audience has really gotten into the groove a sudden change surprises the listener. Kuhn Fu stands for shocking moments you fall in love with, for absurdity and humour, for an almost otherworldly energy between parody and a great seriousness with which they break open musical blinders.The band, consisting of a fierce woodwind section and a hard-driving rhythm section plays strange, beautiful, energetic and emotional music. Founded in 2012 in Groningen, Netherlands, KUHN FU has released six studio albums and two live records to date, was nominated for the German Jazz Price 2023 composition of the year and toured extensively throughout Europe, giving over four hundred concerts in twenty-three countries.
Originally formed as a quartet KUHN FU exists in many forms, ranging from quartet to quintet, sextet, septet and even octet. The band members come from Germany, Turkey, England, Argentina, Israel and Poland, and live scattered across Europe. They come together several times a year as a touring band. The core members are Christian Kühn (guitar/composition/GER), Ziv Taubenfeld (bass clarinet/ISR), Esat Ekincioglu (bass/TR), and George Hadow (drums/UK). Since 2021, the band has grown to include musicians such as John Dikeman (tenor sax/USA), Sofia Salvo (baritone saxophone/ARG), Frank Gratkowski (alto sax, clarinet, flute/GER), and Mateusz Rybicki (tenor sax, clarinet/PL), who play the compositions and improvisations with great verve as if their lives were at stake.
"If Igor Stravinsky composed jazz today, it might sound like Kuhn Fu's songs" Improspot.pl
O"Consistently and harmoniously, the accomplished musicians combine anarchic wit with individual virtuosity, while Kühn's clever arrangements provide guardrails for their often breathtaking journey." FAZ Norbert Krampf
"Furious urgency with the greatest apparent casualness, intricate complexity with the greatest palatability - Kuhn Fu manages to combine these phenomenally well." Frankfurter Rundschau
“Kuhn Fu lives up to its martial name. The multicultural jazz ensemble brings enormous energy to the stage and is at the same time a demonstration of the wonderful togetherness in music.” Süddeutsche Zeitung
Rhythm Section
Christian Kühn (guitar, voice, composition)
is the German bandleader who moves like a rat on stage. He has been accused of schizophrenia by the jazz press and is constantly fighting a war against "the invisible jazz wall". He lives in Berlin, loves Duke Ellington, Shostakovich, Rock n Roll and his red telecaster.
Esat Ekincioglu (bass, voice)
Esat Ekincioglu is a Turkish/Dutch bass player, improviser, composer and manager based in Groningen, the Netherlands. A versatile and in-demand bass player, Esat spends much of the year on the road, playing throughout Europe, the Near East and China.
George Hadow (drums)
George Hadow is an English drummer originally from South-West Devon, England. He relocated to Amsterdam in 2012 after attending the Dutch Impro Academy the year prior, where he is now a prominent figure in the avant-garde scene.
Horn Section
Ziv Taubenfeld (bass clarinet)
Ziv Taubenfeld is a bass clarinetist born in the Galil region, Northern Israel. After establishing himself as a key figure in Amsterdam's jazz and improvised music community, he recently relocated to Lisbon. While improvisation is at the core of Taubenfeld's work, his main project- Full Sun- often engages with large form compositions. Recent collaborations include Hamid Drake, Carlos "Zingaro", and Michael Moore among others.
Sofia Salvo (baritone saxophone)
Sofía Salvo is a baritone sax player and improviser from Buenos Aires, Argentina, currently living in Berlin, Germany. Her performances include a strong combination between acoustic noisy sounds and dark introspective melodies. She has been a fixture in the Berlin impro scene since her arrival 2020.
John Dikeman (tenor saxophone)
John Dikeman is an American saxophonist currently residing in Amsterdam. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, John's playing runs the gamut of improvised music and technique, ranging from reductionist extended technique based improvisation to full throttle free jazz.
Frank Gratkowski (alto sax, clarinet, flute)
Born in Hamburg in 1963, Frank Gratkowski is one of the most prolific saxophone and clarinet players worldwide. He studied with Heiner Wiberny, Charlie Mariano, Sal Nistico, and Steve Lacy.
Kuhn fu has played many gigs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Turkey, and Israel.
If you like the music, please contact us for a gig or simply show us your love by sharing it with your friends.
We hope to see you at a concert!
