Rolf Kühn

Rolf Kühn was born in Cologne and raised in Leipzig, surviving Nazi persecution due to his mother's Jewish ancestry through forced labor and underground hiding. Developing a passionate love for swing music and the clarinet, he moved to West Germany after World War II and joined the RIAS Dance Orchestra in West Berlin before emigrating to the United States in 1956.

In New York, Kühn made an instant impression on American jazz royalty, leading his own quartet at Birdland, recording for Vanguard, and playing in the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey orchestras. Returning to Germany in the 1960s, he formed a daring avant-garde partnership with his younger brother, pianist Joachim Kühn, recording for MPS and impulse!. A master of both classical chamber elegance and fiery modal experimentation, he continued performing clarinet concerts well into his nineties.