The 2016. program of SAMUR will we curated by the German composer and double bass player Sebastian Gramss, who has helped shape the residency in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Chennai.Gramss studied double bass and composition in Amsterdam and Cologne. He is mostly active in the field of improvised music, jazz and contemporary music as a composer, soloist and a member of numerous bands.
He has released more than 20 CDs under his name. These include those from the well-known band Underkarl, as well as from the Berlin-Cologne based trios SlowFox and Fossile3. In addition to Thinking of…, his activities include a wide range starting with his solo works (Atopie), a long term duo series (started with Scodanibbio in 2008), the Cologne based 4tett (BASZ), an international 5tett (Barre Phillips´s Crossbows), up to his international double bass orchestra Bassmasse with 50 bass players.
Furthermore he has composed for radio drama, movies and theater and – among others – for choreographer Pina Bausch. In 2007 he created the Spacebass (basso d’amore), a modified 4 string double bass with the addition of 12 sympathetic strings. In 2013 he received the ECHO national instrumentalist of the year award for the bass.
He teaches at the Conservatory of Music in Cologne and Osnabrück University, and gives master classes around the world. Extensive touring with his music has led him to clubs and festivals all over the world. International cooperation: Marilyn Crispell, Fred Frith, Sidsel Endresen, Tom Cora, Peter Kowald, Peter Brötzmann, John Tilbury, Zeena Parkins, Elliot Sharp, Conny Bauer, Dorothee Oberlinger, etc.
www.sebastiangramss.de