Bio:

Cologne based guitarist Martin Schulte (*1979) is one of the most asked-for sidemen of the Rhine-Ruhr jazz scene in Germany. With his guitar rifts, this “brilliant instrumentalist” (Westdeutsche Zeitung), traverses the spaces between modern jazz, pop, rock and funk.

Born in Duisburg, Martin Schulte has quickly become an important part of the dynamic Cologne jazz scene as a member of the jazz bands Oktoposse, Magnus Mehl Quintett, Duo Doyna, or with his own quartet – the Martin Schulte Quartett. His much appreciated presence comes from his ability to be free with musical style, his deep feel for improvisation and his dexterity in moving between tension, intensity and relaxation. Forming his own musical style gained important impetus not only through his study of jazz guitar at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Tanz in Cologne, but also from lessons by international jazz celebrities such as John Abercrombie, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Hiram Bullock, Wayne Krantz, Peter Berstein, John Taylor and Ben Monder who says about Martin Schulte: “He impressed me immediately as an extremely talented guitarist.“

In 2003 Martin Schulte spent 12 months at the Escola de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, on the ERASMUS scholarship programme. Starting in summer 2009 his next year abroad was studying “Performing Arts” in Queens College at the New York City University with the support of a scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Since Summer 2010 he lives in Cologne again.

Martin Schulte joined the Cologne jazz collective Oktoposse when it was set up in 2003. The band has attracted a huge fan-base in the Cologne jazz scene through their programme “Oktoposse geht fremd”, a concert series featuring many renowned colleagues such as Nils Wogram, Claudio Puntin, Frank Moebus, Juergen Friedrich, Norbert Scholly, John Ruocco, Hinrich Franck and Paulo Álvares. In 2009 Oktoposse were nominated for the “Neuer Deutscher Jazzpreis” after being awarded „Best Young International Jazz Band“ at the International Jazz Festival in Granada in Spain, and the „Jazz an der Donau“ Festival in Bavaria, Germany, in 2005, as well as the „Jazzfoerderpreis“ of Lower Saxony, Germany, as the most promising jazz band in 2003. In 2006 Martin Schulte was awarded two further prizes: 2nd Prize with Magnus Mehl Quintett at the Hoeilaart Jazz Festival in Belgium and 1st Prize with the band Mumble Jumble at the German Biberach Jazz Festival. Martin Schulte also toured with many other bands such as the Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Wednesday Night Big-Band, Blue Art Orchestra, Grand Central Orchestra, Polyphonic Outlaw Jazz Orchestra, Landesjugendjazzorchester NRW, Neuser and Bonefunk.

Education

2007	Artist Diploma at the "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Köln"
2007	Music Education Diploma at the "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Köln"
2003	Socrates-Erasmus-Exchange Year at the "Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya", Barcelona, Spain
2009	Concert Diploma ("Konzertexamen") at the "Hochschule für Musik und Theater" Leipzig
2009	Master of Performance at the Queens College, New York City

Lessons and Workshops with Werner Neumann, Ben Monder, Peter Bernstein, John Abercrombie, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wayne Krantz, Hiram Bullock u.a.

Prizes

1995	3rd Prize for Jazz Guitar at the Competition "Jugend Jazzt" NRW
1996	3rd Prize for a composition at the competition "Jugend komponiert"
1997	1st Prize for Jazz Guitar at the Competition "Jugend Jazzt" NRW for playing with an own group
1999	1st Prize for Jazz Guitar at the Competition "Jugend Jazzt" NRW as soloist
2003	Winner of the Jazz-Prize of the "LAG-Jazz",
2005	Best international Newcomer-Band at the Festival "Jazz an der Donau" with the band "Oktoposse"
2005	Best international Newcomer-Band at the International Jazz Competition Granada, Spain, with the band "Oktoposse"
2006	1st Prize at the Competition "Biberacher Jazz-Preis" with the Band "Mumble Jumble"
2006	2nd Prize at the Hoilaart Jazz Competition, Belgium, with the "Magnus Mehl Quintett"
2009	German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Full Scholarship to do the master of performance program at the Queens College, New York City

Played with

Nils Wogram, Claudio Puntin, Frank Möbus, Jürgen Friedrich, Steffen Schorn, Norbert Scholly, John Ruocco, Bonefunk, Xaver Fischer, Neuser, Hinrich Franck, Paulo Alvares, Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Wednesday Night Big-Band, Blue Art Orchestra, Grand Central Orchestra, Polyphonic Outlaw Jazz Orchestra, Landesjugendjazzorchester NRW u.v.a.