Biography Uwe Kropinski

Born 1952 in Berlin

Began playing guitar at age 14.

1968–70: First Band "Cropies" with Tamara Danz

1972: played in various bands, rock music

1973–76: studied classical and jazz guitar at the Berlin "Musikhochschule Hanns Eisler"

1977: started playing jazz, free jazz and improvised music.

1977: first solo performance

1977–86: member of various jazz or improvising groups in former GDR, and teacher at Musikhochschule

Played with the finest jazz players in East Germany, including Konrad Bauer

Played duetts with John Tchicai (sax), Joëlle Leandre (b) and Rudolf Dasek (g)

Performed with various dancers, including Arila Siegert

Toured in almost every European country

1986: changed domicile to Nürnberg, 1987 to Köln

Several recording projects as a leader which have earned international acclaim

Several featured articles in various international publications

1988–2009: Projects as a soloist, with different european musicians and American bassist David Friesen (6 CDs and 1 DVD)

Wrote a lot of compositions, some are available in books: "Guitar-guitar" and "Departure" with David Friesen

Since 1989 plays special guitars with 39 frets made by the great guitar maker from Holland Theo Scharpach www.scharpach.com

1993: Afrika tour with flutist Michael Heupel (Goethe-Institut)

Duets with Simon Nabatov in the early nineties

He also gives workshops for improvisation and special guitar techniques

Developed a unique system to use the guitar body as a percussion instrument

Composed music for an animated film

1996: played with Jamaaladeen Tacuma (also 2008–2011)

Worked with Rolf and Joachim Kühn

At the Bauhaus Dessau he did the music for several dance projekts with Arila Siegert, Iris Sputh and Thomas Hartmann seit 1997 Konzerte und Leitung von Improvisationsgruppen beim "Internationalen Gitarrenfestival Templin"

Living in Berlin since 1998

i>2005: Book "Getting in time" practicing with the metronome in a musical way

2006: "Deutschland ein Wintermärchen" Heine - wie neu mit Thomas Brückner (Sprecher) Katharina Hilpert (fl) Baby Sommer (dr)

2008: 2008 international well known photographer Ralph Gibson shoots Kropinski for his book "State of the Axe" - Guitar Masters in Photographs and Words (Museum of Fine Arts Houston); Kropinski wrotes the words for his photograph.

Till 2011 he released about 26 CDs and 2 DVDs.

2011: 30-jähriges Jubiläum der Improvisationsgruppe "Doppelmoppel"; Conny und Johannes Bauer (tb) Joe Sachse und Kropinski (g)

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