Hans Lüdemann
TransEuropeExpress
„Polyjazz - on the edges“
Hans Lüdemann (Piano/Virtual Piano), Yves Robert (Posaune), Regis Huby (Violine), Silke Eberhard (Altsaxophon), Alexandra Grimal (Tenor/Sopransax), Ronny Graupe (Gitarre), Sebastien Boisseau (Kontrabass), Dejan Terzic (Schlagzeug)
The German-French TransEuropeExpress Ensemble (T.E.E.) was founded in Paris in 2013.
In 2026, after a long musical collaboration and four albums released, it will return there to present a retrospective and a kind of self-portrait of its 12 years of creative collaboration. Based on compositions by several ensemble members and excerpts from the programs “Polyjazz” and “on the edges,” the musicians will communicate and improvise with each other and with the Parisian audience, developing new ideas in the process.
The TransEuropeExpress is rolling:
after the ensemble was founded in Paris in 2013, it took until 2018 for the octet's first CD,
entitled “PolyJazz,” to be released. It was hailed by the press as a “magnificent masterpiece” (Fono-Forum) and was nominated for the German Record Critics' Award. But the ensemble is also an experience live – Bruno Pfeiffer spoke of “superlative enthusiasm” in the French newspaper “Liberation” on the occasion of the concert at the Jazzdor Festival Berlin. TransEuropeExpress brings together eight top-class German and French musicians who transcend musical and human boundaries. The great French trombonist Yves Robert works side by side with creative musicians of the younger generation, such as German guitarist Ronny Graupe and saxophonist Alexandra Grimal.
At the forefront are saxophonist Silke Eberhard and violinist Regis Huby, who joined the octet in 2019 to replace Theo Ceccaldi. The trio ROOMS, featuring bassist Sebastien Boisseau, drummer Dejan Terzic, and the band's artistic director, pianist and composer Hans Lüdemann, provides an energetic rhythmic foundation. Guitarist Kalle Kalima has often stood in for Ronny Graupe, including on the CD recording of “Polyjazz.” Alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier has substituted for Silke Eberhard on several occasions and also tenor saxophonist Julien Pontvianne, bassist Clara Däubler and violionist Clement Janninet have been part of the project.
After the highly acclaimed debut CD “Polyjazz,” TransEuropeExpress began its long-term project “on the edges” in 2019, which embarks on musical journeys to the edges of Europe and beyond. “on the edges 1 - Maghreb Express” was a collaboration with Moroccan musician and singer Majid Bekkas, which was presented in 2022 with the album of the same name. Critics described the unusual amalgam of this music as “a shimmering mosaic with many beautiful and surprising moments” (Jazz Magazine/F) or “one of the most spectacular recordings of the year” (Josef Engels/Jazz Thing). “On the Edges 1” was voted one of the albums of the year 2022 by “sk jazz.” Despite the coronavirus pandemic, “on the edges 2” was released in 2020 with Scandinavian guests Kalle Kalima (guitar) and Sofia Jernberg (vocals), featuring a concert at the Ruhrjazz Festival and a studio production in Cologne.
In 2021/22, Hans Lüdemann was a Rome Prize winner at Villa Massimo. In cooperation with Musica per Roma, the production and premiere of on the edges 3 was recorded and premiered at the Casa del Jazz in Rome with Italian guests Luciano Biondini (accordion) and Rita Marcotulli (piano). Both projects were released on CD in 2023. This was followed in 2025 by the production and premiere of “on the edges 4” with Turkish ney flutist Burcu Karadag. The completion of the great pan-European musical mosaic is planned for 2026 with “on the edges 5 - Eastern Express.”
TransEuropeExpress is not a classic jazz band, but an unconventional formation that opens up maximum of creative freedom and knows no boundaries. The mission of this ensemble is to go on a journey, connecting music, people, stations, and places with their music, as well as expressing impressions and emotions in musical communication. It forges new European connections and takes us on a rapid journey to unknown destinations, starting from the German-French axis.
The musicians' works, half of which were composed by Hans Lüdemann especially for the T.E.E., and their joint improvisations are characterized by a stylistic openness that integrates elements of rock, minimalism, new music, electronica, microtonality, and free improvisation. The result is a colorful, energetic, contrasting, both beautiful and dirty, and unmistakably contemporary music—a “poly jazz” in which European polyphony and dynamic polyrhythms combine with microtonality and electronic sounds, bidding farewell to postmodernism in jazz. Thanks to the individual expressiveness and compositional signature of the musicians, diversity does not become arbitrariness.
It is bundled into an ensemble sound that brings the individual voices together into a colorful but homogeneous whole. Characteristic of T.E.E. are the contrasts and connections between the more structurally arranged “German” parts and the colorful and playful “French” flair in the band.
In September/October 2013, the “T.E.E. Ensemble” made its debut in Paris and Cologne, and in 2014 it gave an acclaimed performance at the Jazzdor Festival in Berlin, documented by Deutschlandradio. In 2015, T.E.E. performed in Strasbourg/Offenburg and Budapest and recorded its first studio CD. With its CD debut and a series of concerts, TransEuropeExpress presented itself in 2018 as a unique collective of individual creative voices with its own musical program and appeared at festivals and concert halls with “Polyjazz.”
Since 2019, in addition to its work as an octet, the ensemble has developed new programs with four editions of “on the edges,” each of which incorporates musical contributions and compositions by guest musicians and composers. Since 2021, the ensemble has also been working occasionally in smaller formations, most recently in 2025 in a “T.E.E. Labor” in Cologne.
For 2026/27, “on the edges 5” is planned as the conclusion of the project series, along with further releases.
The “TransEuropeExpress Ensemble” is and has been supported by:
Kunststiftung NRW (Art Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia)
Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Musikfonds (Music Fund)
German-French Cultural Foundation Mainz
