Four saxophones, four star musicians, one stage at the ATARAXIA music and art school
Q 4- What is Q 4? Q 4 is the saxophone quartet around the alto saxophonists Fiete Felsch and Björn Berger, the tenor saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock and the baritone saxophonist Tini Thomsen. 4x improvisational jazz inventiveness 4x somnambulistic mastery of the saxophone 4x passionate, cross-style musical expression 4x friendship and intuitive communication on stage Fiete Felsch and Nigel Hitchcock have long been among the leading saxophonists on the European scene. Felsch is the lead player with the NDR BIG BAND and Hitchcock played for years with the legendary saxophone quartet "Itchy Fingers" and was saxophonist with Mark Knopfler , among others. Björn Berger is an outstanding jazz soloist who also impresses with his enormous precision in the ensemble. Tini Thomsen has made a name for herself as one of the leading baritone saxophonists and has been active several times as conductor and arranger for the Jazz Baltica Ensemble. Thomsen and Hitchcock contribute compositions and arrangements for the quartet and find new ways of writing for the saxophone quartet. They also expand the sound spectrum of the quartet to include woodwind instruments such as flute, clarinet and bass clarinet, which the four multi-instrumentalists also play masterfully. All compositions were written especially for the 4 soloists of the quartet and give each quartet member enormously versatile expressive possibilities. The repertoire ranges from warm-sounding, lyrical, choral-like sounds, free improvisations and swinging, bopping pieces to soulful funk tunes. Individuality and musical freedom are not a contradiction to harmonious ensemble playing, but complement each other in this quartet in a fantastic way. Vital stage presence, which is fed by a huge pool of collective, long-standing and versatile stage experience, makes Q 4 one of the leading improvising saxophone quartets of our time.
