artists
Jonas Engel
Intuitive improvisation: challenging conventional structures.
Advanced playing techniques, prepared instruments and self-constructed bodies of sound: saxophonist and composer Jonas Engel is well established in the national and international scene for experimental and improvised music and does not set any limits to his joy of musical discovery.
During the 90s, growing up in eastern Hesse, Jonas Engel’s intuitive approach to improvisation began at a young age. Playing brass music in marching bands introduced him to sight-reading, which was followed by big bands such as the Landesjugendjazzorchester Hesse and the Bundesjugendjazzorchester and the realisation that the predetermined structures of these ensembles restricted him. The consequence of this was, and still is, a continuous process of breaking free.
After completing his Bachelor’s degree at the Cologne University of Music and Dance (jazz saxophone) and a Master’s degree in Music Performance from the RMC in Copenhagen, Jonas Engel now stands for music that knows how to draw on itself again and again. As a solo artist and in various collaborations and projects such as Own Your Bones or Just Another Foundry, he explores the crossroads of acoustic and electronic sounds and uses improvisational freedom to question and redefine conventional musical structures.
Engel’s activities are not limited to his own music: as a member of impakt collective and initiator of the concert series Bruitkasten for experimental music (which received the APPLAUS Award 2023), he drives the Cologne music scene forward with innovative concert formats. ‘We make music that wants to offend and plays with people’s listening habits,’ he said in an interview. He also launched the KØKØ concert series, which builds a bridge between the improvising music scenes in Copenhagen and Cologne.