Jazz Quartet Bridge The Gap (Cologne/Germany)
Marianne Steffen-Wittek - vibraphone
Martin Kübert - piano, keyboard
Stefan Potschka - e-bass, double bass
Fritz Wittek - drums
Bridge The Gap emerged from the Trio Scordatura. The long-standing Trio of Marianne Steffen-Wittek, Stefan Potschka and Fritz Wittek was expanded into a quartet in 2017 by guitarist Georg Grau. The band´s plans were interrupted in spring 2019, when Georg Grau suddenly and unexpectedly died at the age of 54. After a period of mourning over the loss of a great friend and musician, the jazz pianist Martin Kübert joined in and since then has expanded the band´s sound spectrum with piano and keyboards.
Bridge The Gap improvises with (non) conventional music material in search of surprises and unpredictability. Playfulness, musical interaction and vital grooves can be found in the music of the quartet. Influences from the jazz, rock, latin and contemporary music genres, encounters with musicians from all over the world, concert tours to Latin America, Australia, Africa, China and the Middle East are reflected in the pieces of music with their own unique style. Curiousity, openness and a fine sense for nuances characterize the collaboration of the jazz quartet Bridge The Gap.
CD: Insert Coin (Trio Scordatura, 2004)
Concerts
20 June 2024, 8:00pm, Loft Köln, Wissmannstr. 30, 50823 Köln
https://www.loftkoeln.de/event/double-bill-bridge-the-gap-feat-jelena-potschka-blushda-live-recording/
20 May 2023, 8:00pm, Altes Pfandhaus Köln, Kartäuserwall 20, 50678 Köln https://altes-pfandhaus.de/event/bridge-the-gap/
08 July 2022 Mon Ami, Goetheplatz 11, 99423 Weimar
15 January 2022 Loft Köln: Hommage à C. C. https://beta.musik-in-koeln.de/de_DE/konzertkalender/hommage-a-c-c.17128317
29 February 2020 Loft Köln: Debut Concert Bridge The Gap
Videos Bridge The Gap
Bridge The Gap (Trailer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSNybUEAYRY
Hommage à CC (Concert 15 January 2022) https://youtu.be/60iC80kTdRs
Hommage à CC (Studio) https://youtu.be/xYV4MbkoyIo
Dartfordian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_am1QwCr2xM
Man Without Shirt https://youtu.be/lmyUYjwOFks
Shab https://youtu.be/7AQFxEzoMGk
Mockju - Pao Lele - Februar https://vimeo.com/354239696
Dalcroze https://vimeo.com/396735016
Wuhan https://vimeo.com/396781775
Bridge The Gap
弥合空隙
Marianne Steffen-Wittek (Vibraphone)
Studied eurhythmics in Essen and classical drums with Christoph Caskel in Cologne; Lessons with Gary Burto; played drumset in rock and jazz bands, among others in the female jazz quintet “F”, with which she won the Langener Jazz Award; participated in various (theater) orchestras and improvisation groups and designed her own solo projects; performed at jazz festivals at home and abroad and recorded LPs and CDs; developed and performed children´s concerts; concert activities in Palestine and China; played vibraphone, percussion and drumset in the Duo Scordatura with Fritz Wittek and in the Trio Scordatura with Stefan Potschka and Fritz Wittek as well as in the Trio STRUZ with Klaus Runze and Markus Zaja; composes jazz music and plays vibraphone in the jazz quartet Bridge The Gap.
Martin Kübert (Piano, Keyboard, Accordion)
Studied music education in Würzburg and jazz piano in Cologne; Tours and concerts in West and East Africa, Madagascar, Australia/New Zeeland, India, Myanmar, Dubai, Bahrain, and Turkey; played and plays among others with Ballhaus, Bantu, Christina Lux, Dunyabélé, Ebi, Finküberthurm, Mama Afrika, StevenOumaBand, Tabadoul Orchestra, Ulla Oster, Wütrio; LP and CD recordings as sideman and under his own name; Production of various music for textbook CDs, film and CDs; Theater music and musicals as accompanist, composer, arranger, conductor and instrumentalist (also on melodica, violin, viola, mandolin, guitar) at the theaters Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Bochum and Koblenz and various independent theaters.
http://martin-kuebert.de/
Stefan Potschka (E-Bass, Double Bass)
Studied double bass in Würzburg; was a bass player in the Berlin rock, pop and jazz scene; later working as a musician in the Cologne area in the fields of musical, folk, blues and jazz; Soloist and member of philharmonic orchestras; as a jazz bass player participating in various jazz festivals and tours in Europe; Plays e-bass and double bass in various jazz bands and rock groups; Recording of LPs und CDs; Composer of rock and jazz music.
Fritz Wittek (Drums)
First band experiences as a teenager in Beatbands in the late 1960s; Drummer with Nick Nikitakis, Vollmond (LP), Wittek-Kaiser-Manderscheid (3 LPs), TOME XX (several LPs and CDs), Anne Hartkamp (CD), Duo Scordatura, Trio Scordatura (CD), Maturato, Helge Schneider and others; Radio and television productions at home and abroad; Tours commissioned by the Goethe-Institut in Eastern Europ, Scandinavia, Estonia, Central and South America, North, South and East Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va1m6Ub7N1Y
Audio Clips Trio Scordatur
CD Insert Coin (2004)
https://soundcloud.com/user-391389620/04-azolloh
https://soundcloud.com/user-391389620/02-dalcroze
https://soundcloud.com/user-391389620/03-charlie
https://soundcloud.com/user-391389620/05-americoi-junubi