Saturday 17 January 2026
Bruno Heinen’s quartet, The W, is a newly established contemporary jazz group!
Like the four equal lines that make up the letter ‘W’, the four members of the group come together as one to create a perfectly balanced and compelling new sound. They are a band in the true sense of the word. They meet regularly, learning the music by heart and shaping Bruno’s distinctive compositions together.
Line up:
Bruno Heinen - piano/compositions
Heidi Vogel - voice
Andrea Di Biase - bass
Gene Calderazzo – drums
This concert will feature music from The W's forthcoming album which is inspired by Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos, which Bruno studied as a child. Bartok composed these books of short pieces as an educational tool to teach his own son at the piano. In this album, Bruno uses cells and ideas taken from book 6 of Bartók’s work, as well as lyrics in the form of quotes from Bartók himself, to create a new suite.
"Top class, super project" - Gilles Peterson
"Demonstrating that originality doesn't have to be complicated" - The Observer
Drawing on twentieth century classical compositions, as well as the jazz tradition, Dr. Bruno Heinen is a German-born, London-based pianist and professor of jazz piano and composition at Trinity Laban conservatoire. Coming from three generations of classical musicians, Bruno started playing piano at the age of four. His compositional voice has been informed by his love of composers from Duke Ellington to Béla Bártok and from Wayne Shorter to György Ligeti. His work has been described by the Guardian as eclectic, eccentric and unobtrusively erudite, following on from his studies with John Taylor, Fred Hersch, György Kurtág, Sir Simon Rattle, and his doctoral investigation of improvised counterpoint. His quartet, The W is a newly established contemporary jazz group.
As vocalist for the Cinematic Orchestra for over 15 years and the go-to vocalist for acts such as Thundercat and Soweto Kinch, Heidi Vogel has long been a critics choice for her extraordinary voice and velvet tone.
On drums is London-based New Yorker Gene Calderazzo, a leading figure on the international jazz scene whose vast portfolio includes work with Pharoah Sanders, Radiohead and Freddie Hubbard to name a few.
On double bass is Italian Andrea Di Biase who has performed with many leading figures such as Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler.
www.instagram.com/brunoheinen_the_w
www.instagram.com/heidilevo/?hl=en
Video 1 (The W – promo video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NibCBSg21mM
Video 2 (Heidi Vogel & Bruno Heinen “It Ain’t Necessarily So”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViIq8c2xvPw&list=RDViIq8c2xvPw&start_radio=1
