Niklas Lukassen invites Lucas Johnson „nju:zone“

The quartet around drummer Lucas Johnson from southern Germany has formed at the renowned music college “Jazzcampus” in Basel. A place where musicians from all over the world come together and are taught by world-famous musicians such as Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke. Today, the four musicians live in the metropolises of the European jazz scene and use jazz as a universal language that does not stop at national borders.

Influenced by the cultural and musical diversity of their respective origins, their sound encompasses the full breadth of the contemporary, modern European jazz scene.

Lucas Johnson’s edgy and idiosyncratic compositions radiate a young force and energy. Thus, the band plays risky and imaginative, inspired by the individual personalities of the musicians. Each musician brings his own very own character, which constantly reinvents nju:zone. In addition, the compositions were inspired by the collaboration with Mark Turner, Guillermo Klein, Miguel Zenon and Larry Grenadier, who have been Johnson’s mentors since 2015 and were instrumental in the musical development.

With his debut album “nju:zone” 2019, Lucas Johnson was selected as the cultural ambassador of the Jazzverband Baden-Württemberg to represent his state at the international music fair “JazzAhead” 2019. The quartet was presented at the international Copenhagen Jazz Festival, the Langnau JazzNights, the Offbeat Basel Jazz Festival and the JazzOpen Stuttgart. With his composition “Through The Hourglass”, Johnson was able to open this year’s Elbphilharmonie concert in Hamburg.

This year, Lucas Johnson presents his new program in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Igor Osypov – Gitarre
Alex Ventling – Klavier (Neuseeland, Auckland)
Niklas Lukassen – Bass
Lucas Johnson – Schlagzeug

Blue Notes at the Blue Note – a concert series by Niklas Lukassen

Niklas Lukassen impresses with his painterly sense of instrumental lyrics on both the double bass and the bass guitar. Characteristic for his personal sound are his affinity for the unbundled bass guitar, as well as his pelectrum-played inserts on the double bass. An elementary part of his still young career lies in New York, where he completed his master's degree with a full scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music under his mentor Ron Carter. His collaborators included among others. Mike Stern, Jorge Rossy, Oz Noy, Richie Beirach and Joe Lovano. Home to several musical worlds, he also develops into an increasingly indispensable part of the jazz scene in Berlin, with a sound that also radiates an enormous potential as a bandleader. His life as a musician has already taken him on tours to China, Malaysia, the Arab world, the USA and large parts of Europe. These include iconic venues such as Lincoln Center, Beacon Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center, the Berlin Philharmonic and some of New York’s most historic jazz clubs.