The Tobias Meinhart Quartet is saxophonist Tobias Meinhart, pianist Julian Shore, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer JK Kim.
Tobias Meinhart bio:
Born in a small village in rural Bavaria, Tobias Meinhart has spent the past 15 years carving out a career in the international jazz scene. Since his modest beginnings in Woerth, the tenor saxophonist has garnered acclaim in both Europe and the United States, earning a nomination for an ECHO award in 2016 and claiming residency at renowned New York City jazz venues such as the Blue Note, the Jazz Gallery, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Birdland.
Meinhart began his musical life as a drummer before switching to the saxophone at age thirteen. He found inspiration in his grandfather, a classically trained bassist who began playing jazz in many of the U.S. Army clubs after World War II. This early and intimate exposure to the music had a profound effect on young Meinhart, leading him to hone his skills and win first prize in Germany’s Jugend Jazzt competition. After touring throughout Germany with his quartet Fourscore, Meinhart went to study at the Basel Music Academy in Switzerland, where the renowned European saxophonist Domenic Landolf served as his mentor. His teachers included Adrian Mears, Jorge Rossy, and Wolfgang Muthspiel. He then went on to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Bern University for the Arts to study with Ferdinand Povel and Andy Scherrer.
While still a student, Meinhart caught the attention of critics and audiences throughout Europe. His band won first prize at the 2009 Startbahn Jazz Competition and the Audience Award for Best Group at the 2009 Getxo Jazz Festival in Bilbao, Spain. Already endowed with more real-world experience than many musicians have long after leaving school, Meinhart graduated with honors and received a diploma in jazz performance and music education the same year that he won the prize at Getxo.
Shortly after graduation, Meinhart moved to New York City and immersed himself in the city’s highly competitive music scene. In 2012, he received his master’s degree from the Aaron Copland School of Music, where he studied with Antonio Hart, John Ellis, and Seamus Blake. That same year, Tobias returned to Getxo with his quintet, and he earned not only first prize for the band’s outstanding performance but also the Best Soloist award and the opportunity to open for one of his most forceful inspirations, Wayne Shorter.
