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Joe Hertenstein

Born in Germany. In NY since Jan07. Freelance musician. Joe Hertenstein's recent performances include concerts at the Philharmony in Cologne, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Moers Festival and XjazzFestival in Germany; the Congress Hall in Warsaw, Bush Hall London for BBC, the Opera House in Toronto, the World Trade Center in Dubai, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, as well as Carnegie Hall, Dizzy's Club, Smalls, Roulette, Issue Project Room and The Stone in New York City. In 2005 "All About Jazz NY" magazine praised his performance observing that "Joe Hertenstein's drums seem to be shaping the music from the bottom up", and in 2011 “Hertenstein practices that loose time-keeping so prevalent in Europe that the ignorant use to claim that an entire continent can’t swing.” In November 2010 the Portuguese label Clean Feed Records released his remarkable debut album as a leader and composer “HNH” featuring Thomas Heberer (tp) and Pascal Niggenkemper (b). In 2009, the German government honored the further development of his trio "HNH" with a composition stipend to fund the recording of their next album "POLYLEMMA" which was released on the Canadian label Red Toucan in June 2011. For his artistic achievements, Mr. Hertenstein has received numerous awards and grants on both sides of the Atlantic. From 2007-2009, City University of New York, in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), granted him a full scholarship and tuition waiver to complete his Master of Arts degree in Jazz Studies at the City University of New York. Prior to his work in New York, Mr. Hertenstein studied music in Munich, Rotterdam, Berlin and Cologne. In Europe, he won multiple Jazz competitions, such as the Dutch Concours Ceramique Jazzcontest, and the German NRW-Jazzart-Prize. Mr. Hertenstein has received invitations to perform at a substantial number of festivals, such as the Hoeilaart Jazzfestival Brussels (Belgium), JekerJazz Maastricht (Netherlands), the Leverkusener Jazztage, Moers New Jazz Festival, Triennale 2007 (Germany), Portalegre Jazzfest (Portugal), Warsaw Jazz Summer (Poland) and many more. In 2009, he followed an invitation of the BBC to conduct a live performance with singer and Iranian dissenter Rana Farhan at Bush Hall in London. Mr. Hertenstein has performed and recorded with many international musicians such as Anthony Coleman, Kenny Werner, Chris Potter, Butch Morris, Juini Booth, Kenny Wollesen, Graham Haynes, Brandon Ross, Tristan Honsinger, Darius Jones, Jon Irabagon, Mat Maneri, Mossa Bildner, James Ilgenfitz, Sara Schoenbeck, Josh Sinton, Ken Filiano, Sean Conly, Todd Neufeld, Achim Tang, Thomas Lehn, Frank Gratkowski, Dieter Manderscheid, Matthias Schubert, Achim Kaufmann, Sebastian Gramss and Terrence Ngassa. He toured Europe in 2004 and 2005 with Canadian blues harp player Carlos del Junco. His work is released on labels such as MoersMusic, Cleanfeed, Red Toucan, 2nd Floor, jazzwerkstatt Berlin, Evil Rabbit, Chant, Springstoff, Ravello/PARMA, Meta, muworks, Konnex, Off, Fundacja Słuchaj, Leo and others. In addition to his performances, Mr. Hertenstein taught as a faculty member at the Offene Jazzhausschule Cologne from 2002-2007, he worked as a faculty member for drums and percussion at the Lycee Francais de New York, and the Trinity School in Manhattan and is a teaching artist for the Kupferberg Center of Queens College. For his album POLYLEMMA, Hertenstein won Belgian music critic Stef Gijssel's 'Happy New Ears Award' for most innovative listening experience of 2011. Joe Hertenstein’s project 'FUTURE DRONE' features German bassist and 'Improviser In Residence' in Moers 2011, Achim Tang, and the winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Competition, tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon. The debut album of 'FUTURE DRONE' was released on jazzwerkstatt Berlin in June 2012. Hertenstein was a member of Butch Morris' NY ensembles Nublu Orchestra and LUCKY CHENG Orchestra. BBC broadcasted a short documentary on the band on November 13th 2011: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15715308 He performed with Adam Rudolph's GO:OrganicOrchestra and Karl Berger's Improviser's Orchestra.

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Album Review

Aron Namenwirth, Daniel Carter, Joe Hertenstein, Zach Swanson: Live at the Bushwick Series

Read "Live at the Bushwick Series" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Un quartetto di cui il chitarrista Aron Namenwirth è il primo (e sul CD l'unico) firmatario ma che abbraccia in realtà il “vangelo" dell'improvvisazione collettiva (facendo non poco leva sul polistrumentismo quanto mai eclettico di Daniel Carter, che affianca alla tromba sax tenore, soprano e contralto) firma questo brillante lavoro il cui sdipanarsi (sei episodi svarianti dai quattro ai dieci minuti) non mostra mai la corda, rischio così frequente (verrebbe da dire quasi fisiologico) in una formula tanto praticata quanto ...

3
Album Review

Sana Nagano: Smashing Humans

Read "Smashing Humans" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Violinist Sana Nagano is an idiosyncratic and accomplished artist who is immersed in New York's avant-garde scene. Her sonic experiments are an end in themselves, thrilling and provocative as well as quite intimate. Nagano's debut with her new quintet, the electrifying, Smashing Humans, expresses this singular vision to its fullest, creating a wholly absorbing work of rare beauty. The cinematic “Humans in Grey" starts off with Nagano playing repeating scales that saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum echoes. The entry of ...

5
Album Review

Aron Namenwirth / Daniel Carter / Joe Hertenstein / Zach Swanson: Live At The Bushwick Series

Read "Live At The Bushwick Series" reviewed by John Sharpe


This instalment of the Live At The Bushwick Series offers a communiqué from the front line of free jazz in New York City. It's the sort of below the radar activity which is rarely documented, but nonetheless deserves to be heard. In this particular case, it's also part of an ongoing event, curated by saxophonist and label boss Stephen Gauci, which happens downstairs every Monday night in Brooklyn's Bushwick Public House. Guitarist Aron Namenwirth and trumpeter and reedman Daniel Carter ...

3
Album Review

Joe Hertenstein - Achim Tang - Jon Irabagon: Future Drone

Read "Future Drone" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Now residing in New York City, Germany-reared drummer Joe Hertenstein employs musicians from Europe or the US and to some extent, merges the avant-garde strata and stylistic tendencies into an opportunistic creative forum. This trio outing is a prime example. Featuring Viennese bassist Achim Tang and American tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the album pronounces a shrewd conglomeration of avant- garde minimalism, and excitable free-jazz with nervy sensibilities. Hertenstein is a master at complementing his band mates' gait via meticulously designed ...

175
Album Review

Joe Hertenstein / Thomas Heberer / Joachim Badenhorst / Pascal Niggenkemper: Polylemma

Read "Polylemma" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


German drummer Joe Hertenstein currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, where he ingratiates his wares into the pulsating jazz-improvisation climate. His trio HNH, featuring quarter-tone trumpet ace Thomas Heberer and drummer Pascal Niggenkemper, receives a shrewdly devised uplift with the addition of bass clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst on Polylemma; a term that indicates a difficult predicament. Keeping in line with the title, the band executes a fluent sequence of decision-making processes throughout the program. It's an open-world montage of semi-structured themes and ...

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"This is Hertenstein's debut as a leader, and what his trio brings here is a pure delight, finding an interesting niche of incredibly rhythmic free improvisation: the music swings from beginning to end, but then with the improvisational and sonic freedom of modern music, never losing the implicit pulse and forward drive that underpins every note they play." — Stef Gijssels, HNH 12/2010 
"Enough can’t be said about the toe-tapping swing of Hertenstein and Niggenkemper – the drummer has the subtle complexity of an Ed Blackwell, able to patch infectious rhythms into the most abstract of group improvisations." 
— Clifford Allen, HNH 1/2011 "Hertenstein practices that loose time-keeping so prevalent in Europe that the ignorant use to claim that an entire continent can’t swing." 
— Andrey Henkin, ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK 1/2011 "Hertenstein's superb drums spin quickly and effortlessly on "One Ocean at a Time", providing the glue that holds this complex, ever-shifting piece together

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Primary Instrument

Drums

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Over 15 years of teaching experience, all ages and levels, private and groups.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Over 15 years of teaching experience, all ages and levels, private and groups.

Photos

Concerts

Apr 19 Fri
Jagdklang
Loft
Cologne, Germany

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Joe Hertenstein LIVE...

Jazzwerkstatt Berlin-brandenburg E.v.
2022

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Smashing Humans

577 Records
2021

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Interfaces: Jazz...

Ravello Records
2018

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Rondo

From: Interfaces: Jazz Meets...
By Joe Hertenstein

Videos

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