Biography

  • Born December 20th 1955 as son of a concert pianist, composer, arranger and record producer
  • First piano playing at age four, lessons with six years
  • Piano- and composition degree at “Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst”. Teachers: Prof. Harry Pleva, Peter Dorosieff, Prof. Konrad Richter, Prof. Karkoschka, Prof. Ulrich Süsse
  • At age of 16 first recording session as jazz pianist. At age 19 first gigs as a studio pianist for record label “Intercord”. At age 21 – while still studying music – first album production as an arranger for Kurt Graunke-Orchestra
  • 1975 Jazz Award of the German county Baden-Württemberg as jazz pianist with own trio
  • 1976 First and extra price with “International Jazz Contest, Nagold”, Germany
  • 1977 Founder and first album production of the ensemble “Kitty Winter Gipsy Nova”. 20 years later, the band experienced a “Renaissance” at British and Japanese dance floor clubs, selling more than 130.000 CD copies
  • From 1977 on fulltime professional work as pianist, composer and arranger. While arranging was more focused on commercial productions, he started playing synthesizers in jazz
  • 1978 nominated for “German Record Award” for the album “Feel It – Kitty Winter Gipsy Nova”
  • 1979 second album with Kitty Winter “Limelight Suite”. Goethe Institute tour to North Africa
  • From 1980 on work as arranger/composer for commercial music productions
  • From 1984 on collaboration with Peter Horton. Arranger, pianist and musical director of his Germany-Tours and TV-Shows (“Cafe im Takt” and “Komm ich zeig Dir meine Welt”, BR und NDR)
  • 1984 Solo performance as pianist in the ZDF-TV-show “Aspekte”
  • From 1985 on album and concerts with Toots Thielemans
  • From 1985 to 1999 musical director and arranger of trumpeter Walter Scholz on 15 CDs. Two gold records 1987/88, sold approx. 3 million copies (Intercord, Sony, Koch Records)
  • 1987 Fusion/Worldmusic album under the name of “Koono” (“Senegal / Hot Wire Records). Sideman on numerous album productions of this genre
  • 1987 First work in the USA. Concert at the Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, as soloist with the Rias Big Band and accompanist of Caterina Valente and Jack Jones
  • From 1988 on collaboration with guitarist Bireli Lagrene. Keyboarder, composer, arranger and co-producer on CDs for Sony France, Dreyfus Records and Blue Note, New York. Stretched concert-tours thru Italy, Austria, France, Holland, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal
  • 1988 One-week engagement at famous jazz-club “Village Vanguard” in New York City
  • 1989 Collaboration with film director Roland Emmerich. Scoring his last film made in Germany “Moon 44”
  • 1989 New York based Label “Big World Music” signs Kuno
  • 1990 Two SRG-TV concerts (“Jazz In”) in Zurich under his name, with Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante and Alex Acuna
  • 1993 Another two SRG-TV concerts with Ernie Watts, Brian Bromberg, Jerry Goodman, Werner Schmitt and Christoph Stiefele
  • From 1995 on closed collaboration with Reader´s Digest. Approx. 600 tracks as arranger, pianist and producer
  • 1996 GEMA-Composers award, performed live and aired at “Deutschlandradio”, played by Symphonic Orchestra of “Saarländischer Rundfunk”, conducted by Peter Falk
  • 1997 Another album with Kitty Winter, featuring Grammy award winner Joe Zawinul
  • 2000 Concert in London, UK, with “Kitty Winter Gipsy Nova”, after the very successful re-release of the album “Feel It” back from 1977
  • 2001 Album as producer, arranger and pianist/keyboarder with actor and singer Manfred Krug (BMG/Amiga)
  • From 2002 on seminars/workshops in the genres ‘Orchestration’ and ‘Music for Media’ for Future Media Munich, Pop-Büro Stuttgart and Vienna Symphonic Library in Berlin, Zurich und Munich. Lecturer at “University of Media” Stuttgart, Film Academy Ludwigsburg, Music University Detmold
  • From 2003 on collaboration with austrian Software Company “Vienna Symphonic Library”. 10 ordered compositions for big orchestra, programmed with the VSL for their official CD “The Vienna Project”. Ever since worldwide acknowledgement as best VSL-programmer. Due to these projects the following connections were made:
  • 2004 Music for the Disney-Film “Dream On Silly Dreamer”, Hollywood/Burbank
  • 2005 Collaboration with Concord Records, Beverly Hills. Orchestral arrangements for Patti Austin
  • 2005 TV-jingles for Warner Bros Outback Park, USA and Australia
  • 2005 New Film-Logo-Music for “Village Roadshow Pictures”
  • 2005 Annie Award Nomination for “Dream On Silly Dreamer”
  • 2005 Music for american/australian movie “December Boys” with Daniel Radcliffe (alias Harry Potter). Village Roadshow Pictures
  • 2005 Jingles- and trailer-music in hip-hop / drum & bass / worldmusic style, for the company “Digital Juice” in Orlando, Florida
  • 2006 Annie Award for “Dream On Silly Dreamer” for Production, Direction and Music
  • 2007 Ludwigsburg/Germany Castle Festival, arranger for the project “Eight Pianos”, with Friedrich Gulda´s sons among others. Broadcasted with Deutschlandfunk and SWR-Television
  • 2007 Compositions and orchestrations for archive-film-music for “Del Casher Productions”, Culver City, California
  • 2007 Recording session at famous Capitol Records Studio in Los Angeles for the album-project “The Jewish Songbook” featuring Manhattan Transfer, Barbra Streisand, Neil Sedaka und Dave Coz, arranger and conductor. Columbia Records, Producer: Arthur Brooks
  • 2008 Arranger for concert-series with Mike Garson at Kennedy Space Center, Washington D.C.
  • 2008 Twelve CD-productions from 2006 to 2012 for American jazz-label “Resonance Records” as pianist, arranger, conductor and co-producer, amongst others:
    • CD-Production as arranger, musical director and conductor for Marian Petrescu
    • CD-Production as arranger for former David Bowie pianist Mike Garson
    • CD-Production as arranger, conductor and pianist for Cathy Rocco
    • CD-Production as arranger, conductor and pianist for Angela Hagenbach
    • CD-Production as arranger für Claudio Roditi

 

  • 2009 Conducting and arranging music for concerts with the SWR Big Band and Marian Petrescu
  • 2009 DVD-production as arranger for classical pianist Eric LeVan (editing and re-orchestrating of Francis Poulenc´s “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra”)
  • 2010 Grammy Award Certificate – arranger, conductor and musical director of Marian Petrescu´s “Tribute To Oscar Peterson”
  • 2010 Arrangements for Symphony Orchestra Bremen and the SWR Big Band featuring guitarist Torsten Goods
  • ­2011 Music for the documentary film “The Invisible String”, Berlin
  • 2011 Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl/CA, as conductor and arranger of the Resonance Big Band featuring Marian Petrescu
  • 2012 Production and Arrangements for the Album “Hugo Strasser 90”.
  • 2013 Music for the documentary film “Friesengeist”.
  • 2013-2015 TV-Jingles amongst others for Lufthansa, Mercedes Benz, Edeka, Die Zeit, Joey´s Pizza
  • 2014 Big Band Arrangements for the “Edinburgh Blues- and Jazzfestival”.
  • 2015 Production of an own CD under the name of       “KOONO’s Planet People – A Divine Spirit” with Frank Gambale, Hadrien Feraud, Yoran Vroom and Elmer Louis
  • 2015 Concerts with Linley Marthe, Gerry Brown and Roy Louis
  • 2015 Concert in Mallorca, “A Tribute To Oscar Peterson” with Joel Locher
  • 2016 Concerts with Gerry Brown, Roy Louis and Jürgen Attig