Daniel Gubelmann

“I try to express eternity in music. A spiral that moves on and on. There is always something new on the way, but it still relates to what came before.”

A saxophonist searching for the perfect tone, if there is one – that’s how Daniel Gubelmann describes himself. Klassik Heute calls him a “bridge builder”. And we appreciate him as a versatile, innovative and sensitive sound wizard.

Born in Zurich in 1978, Daniel Gubelmann studied performance and pedagogy at the Zurich University of the Arts with Christoph Grab and at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern with Andy Scherrer. He refined his skills through masterclass workshops and lessons with Chris Cheek, Kenny Garret, Perico Sambeat, Art Lande, Enrico Rava, Claudio Fasoli, Stefano Battaglia, Franco D’Andrea and Achille Succi. In 2004 he won the Friedel Wald Foundation’s sponsorship award, then in 2006, the “Accademia Nazionale del Jazz” award in Siena, Italy. Longer stays abroad in South Africa, Asia, and South America followed, including in 2014, to study classical and modern composition with Daniel Hector Montes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition, Daniel Gubelmann has many years of experience as an instrumental teacher, theory teacher, and band and orchestra leader. For physical balance, he taught Korean martial arts.
The range of his activities also runs through his concert portfolio. In addition to classical concerts for solo saxophone with the Winterthur Orchestra Society and as principal and soloist of the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, he has performed with the Zurich Jazz Orchestra, Pepe Lienhart Big Band, Flamenco Big Band with Perico Sambeat, Bert Joris, Joris Roelofs, Michael Zisman, Paul Kuhn, Isfar Sarabsky and many others. But he has also been on stage with musicians from show business, such as Seven, Stefanie Heinzmann, Max Mutzke and Ronan Keating.

As composer and bandleader of the jazz quartet FIVE ON FIRE, he always looks for new challenges and sound ideas. After falling head over heels in love with the sound of violins, violas and cellos, he founded the new formation FIVE ON FIRE strings attached in 2013, with which he has already released several albums – a fusion of jazz and classical music. In 2022, he expanded the project again: on the album “Eternal Movement”, FIVE ON FIRE plays with a large string ensemble from the renowned Musikkollegium Winterthur.

But he can also be found in smaller formations and regularly plays with Duo Lumbago, among others, which convinces with diverse grooves, warm sounds and sonorous improvisations.

FIVE ON FIRE strings attached
The warm sound of string instruments holds a special place in Daniel Gubelmann’s heart. And since he added four fantastic female string players to his jazz quartet FIVE ON FIRE in a stroke of genius, he has been sharing these enchanting and lilting sound creations with music lovers worldwide.
FIVE ON FIRE strings attached stands for the five fingers of each hand (Five) that create overwhelming music from dreams, experiences and thoughts. Gubelmann and his musical companions unconditionally place passion (on fire) at the centre of their performance, and with “strings attached”, they expand the diverse spectrum of their expression to include vibrations, moods and timbres, thanks to which they embark on new journeys of discovery together with their audience.

In FIVE ON FIRE strings attached, jazz and classical music meet, a male and a female quartet, great melodies and profound expressiveness. Daniel Gubelmann’s lyrical saxophone wants nothing less than to touch people’s souls. Thus the soloist wordlessly tells stories with the colourful carpet that his formation weaves for him – always perfectly fitting the moment and the feeling.

FIVE ON FIRE feat. Musikkollegium Winterthur
In 2022, this project was expanded again: on the current album “Eternal Movement”, FIVE ON FIRE plays together with a large string ensemble from the renowned Musikkollegium Winterthur.

The title “Eternal Movement” testifies to the saxophonist and composer’s claim to think big. It is about the subjective view of the whole of life, realised in a sensual musical language that tells a lot about the life of the Swiss composer: The piece “Preludio de Buenos Aires” is drawn into the incomparable colour of the Argentine capital, where he studied with Daniel Hector Montes in 2014. “El Rio de las Estrellas” describes the nightly impressions of the crystal-clear starry sky above the Atacama Desert. And it is – in pieces like “La Flor del Amor” – about great love and passion. No question: Gubelmann got much of the “Piazzolla” gene in Buenos Aires. Influences from John Coltrane to Alexander Scriabin also make their appearance. All of this is intelligently woven together in “Eternal Movement” and, according to Gubelmann’s statement, wants to get close to the “essence of feeling”.

“I do think this is an excellent album with great production!” – Greg Calbi, Sterling Sound (New York)

“The appeal of this music lies in its diversity, drawing from different styles, genres and eras. It succeeds in an impressive symbiosis of the foreign and the familiar, which invites you on a journey through the very special cosmos of this music. One is happy to follow the highly professional formation on their wanderings through ever new, surprising worlds of sound.” (Klassik Begeistert)
“A masterpiece!” (O-Ton)