Georg Breinschmid

Georg Breinschmid (born April 25, 1973 in Amstetten, Lower Austria, is an Austrian double bass player, composer and jazz musician.

Biography

Breinschmid studied classical double bass at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and substituted in various Viennese orchestras as a student. From 1994 to 1996 he played with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, then with the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, touring Europe, America and Asia.

In 1999, Georg Breinschmid quit being a (well-paid) classical orchestra musician, playing pre-fabricated music, in favour of his all-important love: jazz music. He played with the Vienna Art Orchestra, with the Zipflo Weinrich Group and gave concerts with various other ensembles all over Europe. Charlie Mariano, Jasper van’t Hof and Archie Shepp were among his international playmates, as well as Austrian jazz musicians like Harry Sokal, Thomas Gansch, Christian Muthspiel, and many others. He issued the CD Tanzen (Dancing) with singer Agnes Heginger in 2005, both (clearly) obviously enjoying themselves improvising and experimenting with voice and double bass. With violinist Beni Schmid, in cooperation with Biréli Lagrène and Stian Carstensen, Georg Breinschmid has revived the music of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt with his own original compositions.

In March 2008, his new CD, “Wien bleibt Krk”, with original compositions closely connected to Vienna, is being released.

Awards

* 2002 Hans Koller Prize for the CD of the Year "Mauve"
* 2003 Hans Koller Prize Newcomer of the Year

Discography

* 2001 "Mauve", with Arkady Shilkloper and Alegre Correa
* 2005 "Tanzen", with Agnes Heginger
* 2005 "stepping out", with Pago Libre
* 2007 "from fritz to django", with Benjamin Schmid and Biréli Lagrène
* 2007 "The Music of Werner Pirchner & Harry Pepl", Christian Muthspiel Trio

External links

* [http://www.georgbreinschmid.com www.georgbreinschmid.com] - Official Website