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Tobias Hoffmann Trio, LOFT
Photo: Tobias Hoffmann © Jonas Löllmann

LOFT

Tobias Hoffmann Trio | live recording

Tobias Hoffmann - Gitarre Frank Schönhofer - Bass Jan Philipp - Schlagzeug

Tobias Hoffmann - Gitarre Frank Schönhofer - Bass Jan Philipp - Schlagzeug

(english: see below)

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Mit originellen und sehr eigenen Interpretationen von Jazz-, Blues und Pop-Klassikern machte sich das Tobias Hoffmann Trio in den letzten Jahren einen Namen. Seit neuestem erhalten auch eigene Kompositionen des Bandleaders Einzug ins Band-Repertoire. Und schärfen so einmal mehr die einzigartige Klangsprache des Ensembles.

Tobias Hoffmanns Gitarrenspiel klingt, als schaue man durch ein Kaleidoskop auf die Geschichte der elektrischen Gitarre, sieht deren Zusammenhänge, Entwicklungen und Überschneidungen. Frank Schönhofer und Jan Philipp überzeugen als schwer groovendes und gleichzeitig flexibles und kreatives Rhythmusgespann. https://tobias-hoffmann.com/

Das Trio spielte zahlreiche Club und Festival-Konzerte u.a. beim WDR Jazzfest, den Leipziger Jazztagen, Jazzfest Bonn, INNtöne Festival, Klaeng Festival Köln, Lange Nacht der Musik Köln, Jazz+ Festival München, Stuttgarter Jazztage, Kim Festival Berlin, Rio Reiser Tribut im Admiralspalast Berlin, Porgy & Bess Wien. Des weiteren gab es Fernseh- und Radio-Mitschnitte für den WDR, DLF, BR, RBB und Radio Bremen. https://janphilipp.net/

Auszeichnungen:

Für das Debütalbum des Trios 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up (eine CoProduktion mit Deutschlandfunk) erhält Tobias Hoffmann 2015 einen ECHO Jazz in der Kategorie Gitarre National. Im Januar 2016 erhält Tobias Hoffmann den WDR Jazzpreis in der Sparte „Improvisation“. Im April 2017 wird das zweite Album des Trios Blues, Ballads & Britney für einen ECHO Jazz nominiert. Anfang 2025 wird das Album Start/Stop nominiert für den Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Presse:

„Tobias Hoffmann (...) ist ein Gitarrist, der seine Ideen schon soweit ausgearbeitet hat, dass jedes Stück, das er spielt, selbst der bekannteste Hit, sofort seinen Stempel trägt.“ Die ZEIT, April 2017

"Im eigenen Trio mit Frank Schönhofer am Bass und Etienne Nillesen am Schlagzeug geht es stiloffen und alle Genres zertrümmernd quer durch die Musikgeschichte. (...) virtuos, explosiv und lebendig." Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mai 2018

„Der derzeit wahrscheinlich beste Jazzgitarrist Deutschlands“ Wolf Kampmann, Autor des Reclam Jazzlexikons, Juni 2015

"Tobias Hoffmann, der nirgends fehlen darf, wo es um die zeitgenössische Gitarre geht." Jazzthetik, Mai 2018

Das Magazin JazzThing schreibt über das Album 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up: „Gäbe es hier Sterne zur Bewertung, man müsste Tobias Hoffmann das Universum zu Füssen legen.“ (Martin Laurentius)

In Gitarre & Bass war 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up Jazzplatte des Monats! Lothar Trampert schreibt: „...extrem originelle Angelegenheit und unterhaltsame Mischung. Einzigartig!“

Im Audio-Magazin Fidelity schreibt Hans-Jürgen Schaal: „Auf seinem neuen Trio Album lässt Tobias Hoffmann raus, was wirklich in ihm steckt.“

  Klingt so: https://youtu.be/7CV7q6Oc5ts?list=RD7CV7q6Oc5ts  

Tobias Hoffmann - guitar Frank Schönhofer - bass Jan Philipp - drums

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With original and highly distinctive interpretations of jazz, blues, and pop classics, the Tobias Hoffmann Trio has made a name for himself in recent years. More recently, the bandleader's own compositions have also found their way into the band's repertoire - further sharpening the ensemble's unique sonic language.

Tobias Hoffmann's guitar playing sounds as if one were looking at the history of the electric guitar through a kaleidoscope, seeing its connections, developments, and overlaps. Frank Schönhofer and Jan Philipp impress as a deeply grooving yet flexible and creative rhythm team.

The trio has performed at numerous club and festival concerts, including the WDR Jazzfest, Leipziger Jazztage, Jazzfest Bonn, INNtöne Festival, Klaeng Festival Cologne, Lange Nacht der Musik Cologne, Jazz+ Festival Munich, Stuttgarter Jazztage, Kim Festival Berlin, Rio Reiser Tribute at the Admiralspalast Berlin, and Porgy & Bess Vienna. There have also been television and radio recordings for WDR, DLF, BR, RBB, and Radio Bremen.

Awards:

For the trio's debut album 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up (a co-production with Deutschlandfunk), Tobias Hoffmann receives an ECHO Jazz in 2015 in the category Guitar National. In January 2016, Tobias Hoffmann receives the WDR Jazz Prize in the category "Improvisation". In April 2017, the trio's second album Blues, Ballads & Britney is nominated for an ECHO Jazz. In early 2025, the album Start/Stop is nominated for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics' Award).

Press:

"Tobias Hoffmann (...) is a guitarist who has developed his ideas to the point where every piece he plays, even the most well-known hit, immediately bears his stamp." Die ZEIT, April 2017

"In his own trio with Frank Schönhofer on bass and Etienne Nillesen on drums, the music is stylistically open and genre-smashing, cutting across music history. (...) virtuosic, explosive, and alive." Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 2018

"Probably the best jazz guitarist in Germany right now" Wolf Kampmann, author of the Reclam Jazz Encyclopedia, June 2015

"Tobias Hoffmann, who must not be absent wherever contemporary guitar is the subject." Jazzthetik, May 2018

The magazine JazzThing writes about the album 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up: "If there were stars for rating, one would have to lay the universe at Tobias Hoffmann's feet." (Martin Laurentius)

In Gitarre & Bass, 11 Famous Songs Tenderly Messed Up was Jazz Record of the Month! Lothar Trampert writes: "...an extremely original affair and an entertaining mix. Unique!"

In the audio magazine Fidelity, Hans-Jürgen Schaal writes: "On his new trio album, Tobias Hoffmann lets out what is truly inside him."

Further information

Venue:

LOFT

The LOFT in Cologne's Ehrenfeld district is exactly what its name suggests: a spacious loft on the top floor of a former perfume factory. Since 1989 it has been home to the city's musical avant-garde as well as a scene hub and a jazz laboratory for students.

Over those decades it has grown into a respected stage for improvised music, contemporary music, and jazz, with a reputation reaching well beyond Germany. Most of the Cologne jazz musicians who have made their mark nationally and internationally in the past thirty years took their first career steps here, among them Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, Angelika Niescier, Frank Gratkowski, Robert Landfermann, Pablo Held, and Sebastian Sternal.

The Cologne Triennale, WDR, and Deutschlandfunk stage concerts and recordings at the LOFT, and the venue has been invited to the Moers Festival five times. Its own label, 2ndFloor, releases selected recordings, and more than 1,000 live and studio productions made in the LOFT studio have appeared on other labels. Supported by the association 2ndFloor e. V. and the collective jungesloft, it presents over 200 events a year.

Top-tier instruments – including a Steinway D grand, one of the finest concert pianos in any German jazz club – a professional recording studio with award-winning engineers, and the room's distinctive atmosphere have drawn many prominent guests, from Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, and Peter Brötzmann to Kurt Rosenwinkel, Marilyn Crispell, and Jim Black. Still, the programming focus remains on supporting Cologne's own musicians.

Since 2009 the LOFT has received the NRW venue programming award every year, an honor that specifically recognizes work with emerging regional artists. In 2016 the British Guardian named it one of the ten best jazz clubs in Europe, and at the German Jazz Prize it was voted "Club/Venue of the Year" in 2021 and again in 2023 — a category decided not by the expert jury but directly by the more than 1,300 members of the German Jazz Union.

more info

More dates at LOFT: