Tim Allhoff

Tim Allhoff (born 1980) is a German pianist, composer and arranger. He learned to play the piano autodidactically from an early age and later completed a jazz pianist degree at the Richard Strauss Conservatory. He released eight albums as a leader, arranged for many renowned artists and composed music from string quartet to symphony orchestra.

2006 2nd place at the Munich Gasteig Competition
2009 Album “Prelude” (awarded with the ECHO)
2010 New German Jazz Award
2012 Album “Hassliebe” (awarded with the ECHO)
2013 Awarded the Bavarian Arts Promotion Prize
2014 Album “Kid Icarus”
2015 Album “Lovebox Sessions”
2017 Album “There Will Be Light”
2019 Nomination for the German Music Authors Award
2019 Album “Lepus”
2020 Album “Sixteen Pieces for Piano”
2022 Album “Morla”

Tim Allhoff has played/arranged/worked with/for Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Robbie Williams, Fatma Said, Jules Buckley, Vision String Quartet, Nils Wülker, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Filmorchester Babelsberg, Philharmonie München…

For the new album “Silence Is Something You Can Actually Hear”:

“Allhoff walks the line between jazz and classical. And so it seems entirely organic […] This mixture is exceedingly easy to listen to and is what makes the album so charming.” – Star

“Tim Allhoff named his album of contemplative piano music after a quote from a novel by Haruki Murakami: “Silence Is Something You Can Actually Hear” – “For all those who need an acoustic respite.” – Star

“With “Silence Is Something You Can Actually Hear,” pianist Tim Allhoff addresses a subject that gets short shrift in today’s world: silence.” – GALORE, Album of the Week

“[He finds himself] in a music between sound worlds that transfers the esprit of improvisation into quietly shimmering spheres.” – AUDIO+stereoplay, Jazz CD of the Month

“a captivating sound journey through the most diverse genres […] Stimulating and enchanting!” – inMusic

“[…] he plays perfectly and each with his own tempo. With his beautiful album he appeals not only to classical or jazz fans, but to all those who don’t want to die for music, but to experience it.” – The Culture Blog

Older:

The Donaukurier on the concert series in Neuburg’s Birdland with Craig Taborn, Jacky Terrasson, Emmett Cohen, and many more: “They all belong to the world elite. And now Tim Allhoff, who is well on his way there. Like all the others, he gives his musical calling card in his very own way and, as in all the other cases, the audience is enraptured. – No wonder with a musician who captivates you for two hours like that.”

“Storyteller on the grand piano with charm, warmth of heart and in musical terms with an enormous stylistic background.” – Donaukurier

“Flying high without ever crashing” Jazzthing Magazine

“between freestyle arrangements, jazz interludes and classical moments. (…) An album to be enjoyed at ease!” inMusic

“Here a barely hearable delay in the flow of the tones, there a surprising interjection from the improvisational feeling of the moment – and one is already embraced by a beguiling euphony, which, however, nowhere crosses the line into sentimentality.” Neuburger Rundschau

“The champions league of solo pianists” Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Intelligent music for the masses” Die Zeit

“With his eight album MORLA, Tim Allhoff presents a musical milestone that once again proves his proficiency as a composer and a pianist.” Jazzthing Magazine

“…that human mankind wages war at all, seems absurd when listening to Tim Allhoff’s piano playing.” Welt am Sonntag

“Piano Shooting Star of the German Republic” Jazzthing Magazine

“A piano virtuoso who combines the best of the distant worlds in ten fingers.” Augsburger Allgemeine

“(…) the champions league of solo pianists” Augsburger Allgemeine

“Allhoff touches through his music and awakens emotions between classical and jazz” SCHALL

Pianist Tim Allhoff announces with great joyful anticipation the release of his new album, which will be released at the end of this year. It is a fascinating work that once again blurs the boundaries between genres and invites the listener on a musical journey. It is titled “Silence Is Something You Can Actually Hear.”

CAN YOU REALLY HEAR SILENCE?
Tim Allhoff claims so, at least the title of his new album SILENCE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEAR suggests it.

It is not the first time he has referred to a book with an album title. For MORLA, his last release, it was Michael Ende’s “Neverending Story” and for his current album it is a quote from “Kafka on the Shore”, a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. “Murakami’s sentence just fitted perfectly with what I wanted to say,” explains Tim Allhoff. The novel is a story of two different worlds, the conscious and the subconscious, and takes you out of the real world and into your own inner self. Tim Allhoff masterfully takes up the theme of inner contemplation in his music and invites you to close your eyes and really listen. His aim is to create an antipole to the ever louder and faster world, to linger in the moment, to immerse oneself in one’s own inner world, carried by atmospheric melancholic sounds.

His own composition KANON reflects this in a special way. It has a kind of meditative mood that does not fail to have an effect. “When I started writing for this album, I quickly realised that I wanted to present works that are more contemplative and draw their energy from silence. The world around us is getting even faster and louder by the day – it often seems like there’s no time left to stay in the moment and really listen.” The Munich native, who describes himself as a border crosser, disregards genre conventions as a matter of course and creates an unprejudiced, fascinating sound world. In the album’s opener, Edvard Grieg’s ARIETTA, he freely improvises on the harmonic structure of the piece and easily makes room for two worlds, classical and jazz. The boundaries between the genres become blurred – like the boundaries between reality and dream in Murakami’s novel.

Working with strings or wind instruments is nothing new for Tim Allhoff, who has already written for many different instrumentations as an arranger and commissioned composer. It is therefore hardly surprising that this album does not only feature solo piano pieces, but also fantastic guest musicians such as the Vienna Morphing Soloists and the SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet.

Für die berührende Bearbeitung von Henry Purcells DIDO’S LAMENT begleitet ihn das Streichquartett, ebenso bei Theo Mackebens SCHLUMMERLIED, Sibylle Baiers I LOST SOMETHING IN THE HILL oder seiner Version des Depeche Mode Klassikers ENJOY THE SILENCE, dessen Titel so wunderbar die Botschaft des ganzen Albums widerspiegelt. Das Quartett kommt außerdem noch einmal bei Allhoffs Eigenkomposition PRISMA zur Geltung. Ein weiterer Albumgast ist das bekannte SIGNUM Saxophonquartett, gefeatured auf Allhoffs wunderschöner Komposition KANON. „Ich habe mich außerordentlich über die Zusammenarbeit mit den „SIGNUMS“ gefreut“, schwärmt Allhoff. „Die vier haben die meditative, fragile Stimmung der Komposition einfach perfekt zum Ausdruck gebracht.“

SILENCE IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING YOU CAN HEAR ist das neunte Album, welches Tim Allhoff unter eigenem Namen veröffentlicht. Es spannt den Bogen von klassischen Stücken wie Bach oder Grieg, hin zu Singer-Songwriter-, Jazz-, und Pop-Covern und enthält natürlich auch neue Kompositionen des Pianisten. Alle Werke eint eine warme, mystische Ruhe. Tim Allhoff eröffnet mit seinem neuen Album eine unfassbar fesselnde Klangwelt und folgen wir seiner Einladung dieser musikalischen Stille zu lauschen, dann werden wir in uns vielleicht eine ganz eigene innere Welt entdecken.