Achim Kaufmann was the son of a musical family from Aachen, Germany in 1962. He became interested in jazz and the possibilities for improvisation when he was a teenager. Around that time, he began writing songs. He continued his studies at the Conservatory of Cologne, where he also studied with creative masters like Steve Coleman, Muhal Richard Absrams, George Lewis and Steve Lacy. He lived in Amsterdam from 1996 to 2009. There he was a part of the city’s internationally-respected improvised music scene. Since 2002, he has been touring internationally with the trio Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode, an improvising unit which has released four CDs so far, to much critical acclaim. Achim was a leader in two groups that he led with Michael Moore, a reed player: trio kamosc (late ’90s) and gueuledeloup four (late ’00s). He recorded kyrill in 2007, a collection of piano trio compositions featuring Valdi Kolli, Jim Black and Jim Black. In 2011, their follow-up CD, verivyr was released. His wife Gabriele Guenther (poet/painter) has collaborated on the audiodrama Borderline – From the Shadows of a Journey. He also wrote music for chamber ensembles. Mixed techniques are used in his solo work to create a dynamic world of sounds, gestures and sounds. Both his solo and ensemble works are influenced by resonance and reverberation as well as space and density. He has been involved in many new projects since his move to Berlin. These include the trio grunen (with Robert Landfermann, Christian Lillinger), Oni Kramler (with Matthias Schubert and Antonio Borghini and other guests), and a trio featuring cellist Okkyung Lee, trumpeter Axel Dorner. In 2013, the sextet SKEIN (Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode plus Richard Barrett, Okkyung Lee, and Tony Buck) had its premiere at the dOeK festival in Amsterdam and subsequently recorded for SWR radio. Achim has also recorded and played with Han Bennink and Mark Dresser, George Lewis and Tobias Delius. He was awarded the prestigious German SWR Jazz Award in 2001. from http://www.achimkaufmann.com
