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Jean-Paul Brodbeck was born in Basel. He began to teach himself to play the piano at the age of 10, and one year later attended piano lessons at the Musikschule Münchenstein. With his brother on drums, he formed his first bands and played in the ensemble of Jean-Claude Forestier, vibraphonist and percussionist of the Sinfonieorchester Basel. In 1989, he made his first big appearance when he was invited on stage by Lionel Hampton to "jam". Jazz lessons with Hans Feigenwinter, which he attended from 1989–1992, were followed by classical piano studies at the City of Basel Music Academy with Peter Efler. He also attended chamber music courses with Gérard Wyss and received his teaching diploma in 1995 with the distinction "very good". At the same time as his classical studies, he gained experience in various regional jazz formations, from small combos to big bands. From 1992, he played in bassist Stephan Kurmann's jazz workshop and met many musicians in his newly founded "Bird's Eye" jazz club during jam sessions. In 1995, he founded the experimental hip-hop band "Chapter 12" with saxophonist Andy Scherrer. It was also Scherrer who made a significant contribution to his musical development in his twenties. In 1996, he taught piano and rhythm at the Jazz School in Basel. Jean-Paul Brodbeck demonstrated his stylistic versatility early on, continuing to practice the classical piano repertoire and expanding his jazz skills. From 1998 to 2004, Jean-Paul Brodbeck played in the quartet of saxophonist Domenic Landolf. During this time, he also founded his first own trio with Peter Frei and Dominic Egli, which lasted until 2006. Two CDs were released by Universal Music. In addition to a busy concert schedule in the most famous venues in Switzerland, the ensemble performed a tour celebrating "Suisse Diagonales Jazz". One highlight was a concert at Avo Session Basel alongside Herbie Mann. During this time, he worked with various jazz musicians in the Swiss jazz scene. He also played in the Bait Jaffe Klezmer Orchestra from 1999 to 2002 and recorded various film scores for Niki Reiser. In addition to his work as a freelance pianist, Jean-Paul Brodbeck accepted a lectureship position at the Lucerne School of Music in 2002, which he still holds today, and also works as an expert at other jazz institutes in Switzerland. The piano solo CD "Lyrical Output" was released by Universal Music, and he made his first appearance at the international Jazz Festival Basel by Offbeat. In 2003 he won the Cantonal Bank Prize Baselland, which came with a cash prize of 15,000 Swiss francs. He also performed in a quintet with Andy Scherrer, Fabian Gisler, Matthieu Michel and Dominic Egli and produced the CD "A Tribute to Joe Henderson". From 2007 to 2010, Brodbeck was a member of Wolfgang Muthspiel's quartet and performed with this band in Europe, often visiting Vienna. The CD "Earth Mountain" was released on the "Material Records" label. His CD "Song of Tchaikovsky", released in 2005 on "Unit Records" together with Fabian Gisler and Samuel Rohrer, adapted songs by Tchaikovsky. The release received excellent reviews, and Brodbeck now frequently records compositions from the classical period and arranges them for the jazz context. The band performed three tours in Europe. Since 2009, he has worked more and more with Johannes Enders, and plays in his quartet along with drumming legend Billy Hart. In addition to CD productions on Enja, various concert tours followed, including a performance at the Elbjazz Festival in Hamburg.

The Jean-Paul Brodbeck Group, which he founded in 2008, is active at home and abroad and released the highly acclaimed CD, "Hang on Hippie". With this band, Jean-Paul Brodbeck revisits his days as a teenager when he mostly played funk and hip-hop in addition to jazz. In 2010, he took over the musical direction in the musical play "Geri" by Martin Suter and Stephan Eicher at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. At that time, he also composed songs for an album together with the soul singer Seven. In 2011, he was awarded the New York Atelier Scholarship by the City of Zurich, where he recorded his trio CD "A different Mind", released by ENJA, among other projects. Jojo Mayer, Ben Street, and Jochen Rueckert are also involved. He established contacts with many New York musicians and visited Billy Hart, with whom he played a gig in New Jersey. After his return from New York, he mainly focused on playing in a trio in addition to his work as a sideman. In 2016, he toured South Africa with South African trumpeter Feya Faku, giving workshops at various local schools. Another major tour as a trio followed alongside Lukas Traxel and Claudio Strüby, he performed as a duo with saxophonist Nat Su, and he worked more and more as a solo pianist. 2019 saw the recording of his solo program "Expansion", released on Enja Records. As a leader he has now released ten CDs, and he is a sought-after sideman in various band contexts and CD productions. His new project, a co-leading quartet with legendary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, adapts compositions by Frédéric Chopin. The ensemble features Lukas Traxel on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums, and the CD "The Chopin Project" was released in April '22 by Heartcore Records. From 2022, the band was on tour with performances in Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In spring 2023 they toured in Europe and Asia (Japan, Taiwan, China), followed by concerts in the US. Among other venues in the United States, they played a 6 Night-Engagement at the prestigious Village Vanguard in New York City.

Jean-Paul Brodbeck received the canton of Basel-Landschaft's culture division award in May 2023. This includes a cash prize of 20,000 francs.

Brodbeck has worked with artists including Lionel Hampton, Herbie Mann, Andy Scherrer, David Liebmann, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Nat Su, Nils Wogram, Matthieu Michel, Maria Schneider, Johannes Enders, Billy Hart, JoJo Mayer, Jochen Rueckert, Ben Street, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jorge Rossy, and many more.

Festival performances:

Elb Jazz Festival Hamburg
Joy of Jazz Johannesburg
Montreux Jazz Festival
Jazz Baltica
Voll Damm Festival Barcelona
Burghausen Jazz Festival
Avo Session Basel
St. Moritz Jazz Festival
OffBeat Festival Basel
Jazz Festival Langnau
Jazz Onze Lausanne
Unerhört Festival Zürich

Discography:

Jean-Paul Brodbeck Trio – Ways to You (2002, Universal)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck (Solo) – Lyrical Output (2003, Universal)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Trio – Ground (2005, Universal)
Brodbeck's Playground – Mood Hunter
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Song of Tchaikovsky – None but the Lonely Heart (2007, Unit Records)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Group – Hang on Hippie (2009, Material Records)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Trio – A different Mind (2012, Enja)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Trio – Extra Time (2017)
Jean-Paul Brodbeck Solo – Expansion (2020, Enja)
Kurt Rosenwinkel & Jean-Paul Brodbeck: The Chopin Project (Heartcore Records 2022), with Lukas Traxel and Jorge Rossy