De in 1976 in Hannover geboren pianist Frank Woeste ontdekte op 16-jarige leeftijd de jazz toen hij gedurende een jaar als uit-wisselingsstudent in de Verenigde Staten verbleef. Terug in Duitsland kreeg hij jazzlessen op het conservatorium in Bremen en van 1997 tot 2001 studeerde hij op het Conservatoire National Superieur in Parijs. In 2004 kwam zijn eerste solo album 'Outward Improvisations On The Music Of F. Chopin' uit. In de loop der jaren won hij belangrijke jazzprijzen, waaronder de Montreux Piano Competition, het European Jazz Contest en Piano Revelations Jazz à Juan-Les-Pins. Onlangs verscheen zijn eerste trioalbum 'Mind At Play' op Challenge Records.

10 januari 2006

mijn Ding:
"I am playing with my trio and we're working on some new tunes I wrote lately. I also just did a series of solo concerts 'Improvisation On Chopin' (Outward-Sony Korea). 3 Concerts were in the Netherlands: the Goethe Institutes in Amsterdam and Rotterdam and we played at the Bimhuis with the trio. Besides I work as a sideman in a number of bands with Mederic Collignon, Youn Sun Nah, Mark Wyand, Uwe Steinmetz, among others."

mijn Achtergrond:
"I had a classical training at the Conservatory in Bremen (Germany) first and I soon started playing jazz with local groups. I ended up playing more and more jazz and finding no more time to practise classical music. I decided that what I really liked was improvising and playing jazz so I went to Paris, where I studied Jazz at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris. While studying there I started playing in different groups and by that time it was clear to me already that I would play music only."

mijn Instrument:
"I have a Yamaha C-type grand piano at home. The brand I prefer though is Steinway for its rich and darker tone, but my piano is fine for working every day."

mijn Jazz:
"Jazz comes for myself from a certain tradition that started with the Afro-Americans and story we all know, but it has developed immensely over time and it has many different aspects today. Musicians from all over the world play jazz today and everybody has a different background depending where he or she is from and what they are listening to. Improvisation is definitely the keyword in jazz but there also has to be a certain knowledge of the tradition of jazz in terms of rhythm, melody and harmony. I chose jazz because I was immediately attracted to it and for its liberty and because I think it must be the only form of art where improvisation plays such a big part."

mijn Inspiratie:
"My inspiration stems from different sorts of music. On one hand the tradition of jazz. I love especially the different groups of Miles Davis for the adventurous playing, John Coltrane, Keith Jarret, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and many others. More recently I listen to Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Douglas... Even more important are probably the people I play with right now, the guys from my trio, or the band of Médéric Collignon, Nelson Veras... Another important influence is the tradition of classical music: Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, but also Messiaen, Varese, Schoenberg, ...just to name a few."

mijn Rek:
"There's too many great albums to just select a few."

mijn Voorbeeld:
"My biggest influence remain the people I work with and the artists I mentioned earlier..."

mijn Drijfveer:
"Just going further down my own path in music, finding my own voice. And I hope that people like it. I am very aware that I play for an audience, but I think a serious artist must in the first place think of his art without commercial aspects which does not mean that I don't care about what the audience think, on the contrary!"

mijn Hoogtepunt:
"That's up to you to decide!"

mijn Droomproject:
"Even if there are a lot of artists I'd like to work with, my dream for now is just to be able to play as much as possible with my trio!!"

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