Felix Hauptmann

PERCUSSION II

I’m happy to announce the release of our second album: 24/03/2023 on Boomslang Records (Austria) by Alfred Vogel.
The album will be available as CD and download here:
https://www.traps.at/boomslang and here: https://felixhauptmann.bandcamp.com/music

Here is something I wrote about the album:
„The second album of PERCUSSION was recorded in a short session at Loft, Cologne on November 18, 2021. A couple of months before we felt that we should start playing our music by heart to reach a deeper connection within the ensemble and towards the seemingly abstract compositions. The recording marks a somehow new phase for us – as it was the first time we played without sheet music outside our rehearsal space – confronting everyone with unknown insecurities and a therefore even greater need of trust towards each others.
After a couple hours of recording and struggling with these feelings, a new kind of freedom grew inside of us that from then on we never wanted to miss again.
It is not possible to put into words how thankful I am to be able to play and work with Roger and Leif during the last years but I think it is possible to hear that in the music – please feel invited to enjoy this journey through multiple emotional states and to perceive it in your very own way.“

Felix Hauptmann – Piano
Roger Kintopf – Bass
Leif Berger – Drums

Recorded at Loft, Cologne by Stefan Deistler // Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch

Drawing by Iris Borges Teixeira // Design by Lucas Dietrich

Horst und Gretl Will – Stipendium 2022

I’m deeply honoured to receive the „Horst & Gretl Will Stipendium“ 2022!
Thanks to the jury, Horst and Gretl Will, City of Cologne and most important: to my friends and colleagues – I’m so thankful that there are so many beautiful souls around me.This appreciation for my work in the last years means a lot to me and it helps to continue doing it.

I will be playing a concert on August 16th during the Cologne Jazzweek at Stadtgarten and I would love to see you all there to celebrate!

Percussion album release february 2022 on boomslang records

I began writing this music in the winter of 2019 with the quiet urge to find a more honest way of expression.
This new music includes many layers of feelings and thoughts which I had previously felt unable to release. To be able to express these I needed to start working consistently with the wonderful musicians and my longtime friends Roger and Leif. Both are insanely committed and willing to put a lot of time into rehearsing, talking and playing. After several months of intense work with the ensemble, a general trust began to grow between us – exactly what I was looking for the whole time. The compositions are very complex, leaving a lot of questions unanswered for the three of us, which made us learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I want the music to be an invitation to try not to expect anything from anyone: it is an invitation for you, the listener as well as for us, the musicians. Through this absence of expectations I hope we can get closer together by accepting more diversity in the arts and in human relationships.

Felix Hauptmann – Piano
Roger Kintopf – Bass
Leif Berger – Drums

„Hauptmann sowie dem Bassisten Roger Kintopf und dem Drummer Leif Berger gelingt es, ihre ausgeklügelte, harmonisch und metrisch ungebundene Musik wie frei improvisiert klingen zu lassen. Dieses hochkonzentrierte und organisch pulsierende kompositorische Destillat setzt ungeahnte Assoziationen frei und verblüfft ob seiner schieren Absichtslosigkeit: nichts muss, aber alles kann.“
Concerto Magazin

„…man höre sich einmal Track 6, Once, an, wie hier Tempo und Energie aufgebaut werden, um dann wieder zu entschleunigen und am Ende zu verschwinden. Das hat zweifellos Klasse.“
– freiStil Magazin