Niklas Lukassen Quartet with Will Vinson , Ivo Neame and Andrew Lisle

Event information

Will Vinson - sax
Ivo Neame - Piano
Niklas Lukassen - Upright Bass & Bass Guitar
Andrew Lisle - Drums

Niklas Lukassen has played at the East Side a few times now . In his own quartet with Emma Rawicz , with Nick Smart and in Rod Oughton's band  . He is from a village in the Black Forest area of Germany . After studying in Berlin he moved to New York and played with many of the great players.there After his return from New York, he is today living between London and Berlin, from where he has established himself as a presence within the young European jazz scene.

For this special night at the East Side Jazz Club, Niklas will be concentrating on music from his latest album Still Waters

Still Waters surfaces a many-layered artistic voice with a distinctive musical vision. Niklas Lukassen's highly anticipated band leader debut release on Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heartcore Records, is a radiant display of his combined talents as a bassist, composer and also a vocalist on one track (Luna).

For this gig Niklas has got the services of
Will Vinson on sax
Originally from London, Alto Saxophonist/Composer Will Vinson moved to New York City in 1999. Since his arrival, he has performed, toured and/or recorded with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ari Hoenig, Marcus Gilmore, Chris Potter, Kurt Elling, Lage Lund, Aaron Parks, Miguel Zenon’s Identities, and many others.​

Will has an international reputation as a leader and sideman. All About Jazz New York describes Will as playing “with a relentless force”. Thomas Michelsen of Denmark’s Politiken, hails this “very exciting saxophonist” with a “beautiful, softly modulating tone”, and John Fordham of The Guardian described a "superb solo of rugged leathery sounds turning into mellifluous high notes” with “secure control and storming energy". Time Out London calls will an "exciting young altoist with a lethal approach to writing and soloing”.

Will is a founder and current member of Trio Grande, which also features guitarist Gilad Hekselman and drummer/bassist Nate Wood. UK Vibe had this to say in their 5-star review: “What happens when three of the world’s most accomplished jazz musicians get together for a new trio project? Fireworks! … and an innovative, exhilarating debut album”

Ivo Neame on piano
Ivo has played here many times with his own quartet and in many other bands. He was the pianist in the highly successful band Phronesis

Andrew Lisle on drums
Born and raised in Northumberland – now based in London. Andrew's quick and highly textural playing filled with rhythmic complexity makes him a highly in-demand member of the fertile jazz & improvised music community. In turns both propulsive and abstract, Lisle has works with many leading voices on the UK and European improvised music scene, including Kit Downes, John Edwards, Alex Ward, Charlotte Keeffe, Ab Baars, Rodrigo Amado and John Dikeman, Colin Webster, Dirk Serries.

About Niklas Lukassen:
Niklas Lukassen displays an equally astonishing lyrical sensibility and skilful command on the upright bass, the bass guitar and his unique cello. After having lived in New York for several years, he today resides between London and Berlin. Immersed in both scenes and choosing to experiment between the chairs, he continues to establish himself as a significant presence within the young European jazz scene. Moreover, his sound and artistic vision radiate a striking band leader potential.

Niklas ventured from an inconspicuous village somewhere in the South German Black Forest out into a life of creative opportunity through his personal musical journey.
Aged 16, he moved to Berlin to cut his teeth in the capital's music scene and to study at the Jazz Institute. A formative part of his career lies in New York, where he also obtained a Masters’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship under his mentor Ron Carter. Today pursuing his doctoral degree, he practices performance research at the Royal Academy of Music in London, broadening his scope of sounds on a range of String bass instruments.

Immersed in contrasting musical worlds, Niklas has accompanied performances with artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Joe Lovano, Mike Stern, Jorge Rossy, Norma Winstone, Oz Noy, Jo Lawry, Will Vinson & The New York Voices. Among the records he played on is the Grammy Award Nominated album Some days are better by the Kenny Wheeler Legacy Project. Niklas expands beyond his position as a bass player and composer through his singing voice. Notably, he sang in the German National Jazz Orchestra.

His international quartet with saxophonist Ben van Gelder, pianist Kit Downes and drummer Francesco Ciniglio, fuses captivating individualists of the jazz scenes of Amsterdam, London, Paris and Berlin into one symbiotic musical organism. Enriched by musical contributions from guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, saxophonist Wanja Slavin, vocalist Céline Rudolph & trombonist Geoffroy De Masure, they explore unimagined depths on his Heartcore Records release Still Waters.
He is also the creative mind behind the group ECHO, which paints sonic landscapes in a poignant instrumentation. In this format, Niklas embraces his penchant for lyric and songwriting, while staying true to his nature as an improviser.
Furthermore, alongside pianist Gwilym Simcock and drummer James Maddren, he ventures on untrodden musical paths in his trio with himself on a unique and novel instrument: the bass cello.

Niklas has toured extensively throughout Europe, the UK, North America, Asia and North Africa. Notable stages he performed on include the Lincoln Center, the Beacon Theatre, the John F. Kennedy Center and the Berlin Philharmonie.