Der Weise Panda

You think you know what a jazz band sounds like? Dare to be wrong and listen to this music. Playful from the heart, true to instincts, a pulsating expression in the form of songs. A band is a sound. This band is an animal. Undress and dance. DER WEISE PANDA is coming.

DER WEISE PANDA means the wise panda. Not white. This would only serve one of these many clichés again, be it about these mysterious, cute animals or even about this mysterious, cute jazz. DER WEISE PANDA as well as the Jazz can only be opened by the key of emotions. And also the formation around singer Maika Küster, pianist Felix Hauptmann, bassist Yannik Tiemann, drummer Anthony Greminger and cellist Talia Erdal can best be understood when you throw all intellectual ballast overboard and let yourself be guided entirely by your instincts - which does not automatically mean that the brain has to be left out. On the contrary: the music of DER WEISE PANDA challenges and touches, it develops a unique dynamic that you first have to understand and accept in order to be drawn into its powerful whirlpool. Already with their debut album 'MAM' they were considered another highlight in the dazzling "Jazz thing Next Generation" series. Maika Küster's voice hovers somewhere between night sky and earth, jumping back and forth between English and German without any warning. The jury of the Sparda Jazz Award 2015 was so fascinated by their music that they immediately awarded the newcomer ensemble with the 1st Prize. Klaus Doldinger, who was also a member of the jury at the time, especially praised the band's ensemble playing, their special stage presence - something natural and unaffected.

For their current, second album, which was released on January 24, 2020 on JAZZHAUS Records, the former quartet was joined by the wonderful Israeli cellist Talia Erdal to form a quintet that perfectly complements voice, double bass, drums and percussion.