Manu Koch

Manu Koch (* June 12, 1972 in Baar, Switzerland) is a Swiss pianist, keyboardist and composer.

Manu Koch
Birth nameManuel Silvan Koch
Born (1972-06-12) June 12, 1972
Baar, Switzerland
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, producer
InstrumentsPiano, keyboards, synthesizer
Years activeMid-1990s–present
LabelsTrue Groove Records
Websitewww.manukoch.com filtronm.com

Life and career

Koch studied classical piano from age 6 and started tenor saxophone at age 18 while also taking courses at the Jazz School Lucerne. In 1993 he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated four years later and relocated to New York in May 2000 where he still lives today. Besides touring around the world with various projects since the late 1990s he has spent extended amounts of time in India, Brazil and China (Hong Kong).

His sideman work includes collaborations with Angélique Kidjo (US Oyaya! touring band from 2004-2006), Santana’s musical director and former Miles Davis bassist Benny Rietveld (various projects since 2005), Teodora Enache, Prasanna, Kofo The Wonderman (band member since 2007), KJ Denhert, Malika Zarra, Fantcha, the Mendes Brothers (João and Ramiro Mendes), the New York Gypsy All-Stars (touring the US, Brazil, Europe and Asia from 2011-2016), and participating on 15 album productions by blues/soul artist Tomás Doncker for True Groove Records since 2012.[1][2][3][4][5]

Filtron M

Koch’s own project Filtron M is a platform of a multi-national network of musicians and a compositional display of his extensive influences. The core idea of Filtron M goes back to the formation of his first group with Anat Cohen, Guilherme Monteiro, Gustavo Amarante and Harvey Wirht during his Boston years in the late 1990s. After Koch’s official debut album Triple Life (2011) he released the EP Mandatory Underground (2014) which introduces the initial members of Filtron M with Panagiotis Andreou and Patrick Andy on bass, Mauricio Zottarelli and Harvey Wirht on drums, and Sebastian Nickoll and Brahim Fribgane on percussion.[1] The album Astoria Roots Live (2017) features additional guests with performances at Iridium in New York and at Moods in Zurich.[6] Other musicians that have appeared with Filtron M in performances, videos or on recordings include Samuel Torres, Camila Meza, Gino Sitson and Kaïssa.

Discography

As leader/Filtron M
Year recorded Title Label Personnel/Notes
2011 Triple Life Self-released Manu Koch with Malika Zarra (voice), Panagiotis Andreou, Manu Koch (bass,voice), Balla Tounkara (kora), DJ Mister Rourke, Brahim Fribgane (oud, percussion), Apostolos Sideris (bass), Matt Dickey (guitar), Harvey Wirht (drums), Yuval Lion (drums), George Mel (drums, percussion), Sebastian Nickoll (percussion), Engin Gunaydin (percussion), Jovol Bell (drums), Ghatam Karthick (percussion, konnakol), students of SAM (konnakol)
2014 Mandatory Underground True Groove Records with Patrick Andy (bass), Panagiotis Andreou (bass), Harvey Wirht (drums), Mauricio Zottarelli (drums), Brahim Fribgane (percussion), Sebastian Nickoll (percussion)
2017 Astoria Roots Live True Groove Records with Camila Meza (voice, guitar), Yaite Ramos (voice, flute), David Barnes (harmonica), Tamer Pinarbasi (kanun), Panagiotis Andreou (bass, voice), Mauricio Zottarelli (drums), Samuel Torres (congas), Sebastian Nickoll (congas)

As sideman (selection)
Year recorded Title Label Personnel/Notes
2010 KJ Denhert: Album N° 9 Motéma Music
2012 Tomás Doncker: The Power of Trinity True Groove Records Deluxe Edition
2013 Kevin Jenkins: Step Inside True Groove Records
2015 True Groove All-Stars: Fully Re-Covered True Groove Records ft. James Chance
2015 Kofo The Wonderman: Message 102 Network Records Fire In The World
2016 Marla Mase: Miracles – Lost & Found True Groove Records
2016 Teodora Enache: Transfiguration Madman Junkyard
2017 Kevin Jenkins: She: a Tribute to Joni True Groove Records Mitchell
2017 Tomás Doncker: The Mess We Made True Groove Records Deluxe Edition

References
  1. Iman Lababedi: Manu Koch And Filtron M's "Mandatory Underground" Reviewed. Archived 2019-01-13 at the Wayback Machine In: RockNYC, November 21, 2014.
  2. Iman Lababedi: Tomas Doncker And The True Groove All Stars At Hat City Kitchen, Saturday, December 26th, 2015, Reviewed. Archived 2019-01-13 at the Wayback Machine In: RockNYC, December 27, 2015.
  3. Mark Bialczak: Havens, Denhert get Syracuse Jazz Fest day two off to fine start. June 26, 2010.
  4. Sriram Gopal: DCist Preview: Malika Zarra @ Bohemian Caverns. Archived 2019-01-13 at the Wayback Machine In: DCist, April 28, 2011.
  5. Lee Mergner: KJ Denhert: Closer to the Melody. Album No9 review in JazzTimes, 12/10/2010.
  6. James Nadal: Filtron M: Astoria Roots Live. In: All About Jazz, May 17, 2017.
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