Short Biography – For Festivals and Concert Programmes
Burkard Kunkel is a German jazz musician, improviser and composer whose work spans modern jazz, free improvisation and contemporary experimental music. Since 1991, he has explored the expressive possibilities of the bass clarinet, collaborating with musicians including Rüdiger Carl, Michel Pilz and Heinz Sauer. In 1996, he received the City of Frankfurt's Jazz Working Grant. In 2002, Kunkel turned his attention to the basset horn, developing an individual improvisational language on an instrument rarely heard in jazz. Numerous recordings and appearances with the hr-Jazzensemble document his longstanding dedication to the instrument. His musical language combines dark, woody timbres, lyrical expression, unusual intervallic structures and eruptive intensity. Alongside his woodwind playing, Kunkel has developed an experimental approach to the zither, documented in his GOLD recordings with Rüdiger Carl and in later solo and duo projects. In recent years, he has explored unconventional techniques involving the simultaneous performance of two basset horns and combinations of basset horn, bass clarinet and zither. His work is distinguished by a personal approach to instrumental sound, spontaneous musical interaction and the exploration of new sonic possibilities within contemporary jazz.
BURKARD KUNKEL
Jazz, Free Improvisation and Sonic Exploration
Bass Clarinet · Basset Horn · Zither
Artistic Biography
Burkard Kunkel (born 1967) is a German jazz musician, improviser and composer whose principal instruments include bass clarinet, basset horn and various types of zither. His work moves between modern jazz, free jazz, European improvised music and contemporary composition.
Bass Clarinet and Free Improvisation
In 1991, Kunkel switched from saxophone to bass clarinet, beginning an intensive exploration of the instrument's expressive and improvisational possibilities. In 1993, he co-founded the Main Quartet with Rüdiger Carl, Annemarie Roelofs and Uta Schirmer. Since the same year, he has been actively involved in Frankfurt's free improvisation scene (FIM). Around 1995, he began collaborating with bass clarinetist Michel Pilz. Musical encounters and performances with musicians such as Heinz Sauer further contributed to his artistic development. In 1996, Kunkel was awarded the City of Frankfurt's Jazz Working Grant. Numerous concerts and recordings followed, including projects with Jörg Mühlhaus and Jörg Fischer, the ensemble Atlantic Auge and the duo Duel de Rosée with pianist Markus Becker. In 2002, he performed on bass clarinet at the German Jazz Festival Frankfurt.
The Basset Horn in Modern Jazz
In 2002, Kunkel began focusing intensively on the basset horn, an instrument rarely encountered in modern jazz and free improvisation. Over the following decades, he developed a distinctive musical language on the instrument, establishing it as a central solo voice in his work. Several recordings, including Gulliver, Nacht, Day on Earth and Dog Life with Trio VAGANT, Zitrone und Zimt, Down by the Harbour, feature Kunkel exclusively on basset horn. He has participated repeatedly in productions with the hr-Jazzensemble. Recordings from 2005 and 2011–2014 were broadcast on hr2 and are preserved in the archives of Hessischer Rundfunk. In 2026, he returned to the ensemble playing both basset horn and bass clarinet. Further appearances included the German Jazz Festival Frankfurt in 2010 with Stephan Schmolck and a tribute to Albert Mangelsdorff arranged by Martin Lejeune in Frankfurt in 2006. Kunkel has also explored the basset horn as a composer. His Rhapsody for Five Basset Horns, Op. 3, was recorded by Ensemble Orange. Around 2015, he began experimenting with playing two basset horns simultaneously, gradually developing this unusual technique into a distinctive form of polyphonic improvisation.
The Zither in Jazz and Free Improvisation
Alongside his work on woodwind instruments, Kunkel has developed an independent improvisational approach to the zither. Beginning in the 1990s, he collaborated with Rüdiger Carl in the experimental duo GOLD, resulting in three CD productions. These recordings explore unconventional instrumental relationships, spontaneous musical structures and an open approach to sound. His later projects include the solo recording Ballads in White Deserts and collaborations with pianist Bob Degen.
Musical Language and Individual Style
Burkard Kunkel's playing on bass clarinet and basset horn is characterised by a distinctive and highly expressive musical language. Dark, woody and occasionally hoarse timbres are combined with lyrical melodic lines, wide intervallic leaps and sudden dynamic contrasts. His improvisations move between subtle sonic exploration and eruptive intensity, between melancholic restraint, angular expression and moments of almost grotesque humour. His bass clarinet playing reveals certain affinities with the expressive musical language of Heinz Sauer, the dark and freely shaped tonal aesthetics of Michel Pilz and the lyrical approach of John Surman. These references, however, represent only points of orientation within an individual artistic development. On the basset horn, Kunkel has developed a personal improvisational vocabulary that extends the instrument's expressive possibilities far beyond its traditional chamber-music context. Rather than treating the instrument as an unusual colour within an ensemble, he explores it as an independent improvisational voice. His playing is characterised by an interest in sound itself, spontaneous formal development and intense musical dialogue with fellow improvisers. In his more recent work, Kunkel increasingly contrasts the raw expressiveness of his woodwind playing with restrained, spacious and lyrical passages. The tension between rough intensity and almost fragile delicacy is one of the characteristic qualities of his musical expression.
Recent Artistic Developments
In his more recent work, Kunkel increasingly explores combinations of bass clarinet, basset horn and zither. On Two Geese by the River, recorded with Bob Degen, he documents the simultaneous use of two basset horns. His 2025 solo album Monxarella, devoted to compositions by Thelonious Monk, introduces further combinations of instrumental timbres, particularly the simultaneous performance of diskant zither and basset horn. With Ellmoor Drift, a project devoted to Duke Ellington's music, Kunkel continues these explorations, particularly through combinations of alto zither and basset horn, as well as bass clarinet and shruti box. His artistic work is characterised by a sustained exploration of unusual instrumental sounds, spontaneous musical structures and the connections between jazz improvisation, contemporary music and experimental performance techniques. ---
Year| Artistic Activity
1991 - Transition from saxophone to bass clarinet
1993 - Co-founding of the Main Quartet with Rüdiger Carl, Annemarie Roelofs and Uta Schirmer
Since 1993 - Active involvement in FIM Frankfurt
c. 1995 - Beginning of collaboration with Michel Pilz
1996 - Jazz Working Grant awarded by the City of Frankfurt
1997 - Recording with Jörg Mühlhaus and Jörg Fischer
Late 1990s - GOLD project with Rüdiger Carl, featuring improvised zither music
1997–2004 - Work with the ensemble Atlantic Auge
2001 - -Duel de Rosée with Markus J. Becker
2002 - German Jazz Festival Frankfurt – bass clarinet (bcl)
2002 - Beginning of intensive work with the basset horn (bsthn)
2002–2004 - Sessions and concerts in Regensburg – basset horn (bsthn)
2004 - Band Gulliver with John Schröder and Oliver Potratz – exclusively basset horn
2005 - Production with the hr-Jazzensemble – basset horn
2006 - Albert Mangelsdorff tribute concert, Theaterhaus Frankfurt, arranged by Martin Lejeune
2006 - International Basset Horn Festival – performance of Rhapsody for Five Basset Horns
2007 - Day on Earth with Michel Pilz and Willi Kappich – exclusively basset horn
2008 - Trio VAGANT concerts in Munich and at Palmengarten Frankfurt; CD Dog Life
2010 - German Jazz Festival Frankfurt with Stephan Schmolck – basset horn
2011–2014 - Further productions with the hr-Jazzensemble – basset horn
2013 - Down By The Harbour with Bob Degen - basset horn
Since 2014 - Return to regular bass clarinet playing alongside the basset horn
2014 - Palm Springs-Brandenburg – predominantly bass clarinet, basset horn on at least two tracks, Zith
Since c. 2015 - Development of simultaneous performance with two basset horns
2017 - First concert featuring zither and basset horn simultaneously -experimental improvisation solo concert in Düsseldorf, organised by Christoph Korn
2009 - 2025 - annual concerts with Bob Degen at Nebbiensches Gartenhaus, Frankfurt
2018 - Ballads in White Deserts – first solo zither album (only Zither)
2023 - Two Geese by the River with Bob Degen (German Record Critics Award)
2025 - Monxarella – interpretations of Thelonious Monk - second solo zither album & bsthn, bcl
2026 - Further production with the hr-Jazzensemble – basset horn and bass clarinet
2026 - Ellmoor Drift – Duke Ellington project (release expected in December 2026) third solo zither album- & bsthn, bcl
Some historical dates and concert details remain approximate and are subject to further archival verification. ---