Frank Gratkowski started playing the saxophone at 16 and, following a period at the Hamburg Conservatory (Hamburger Musikhochschule), moved in 1985 to study at the Cologne Conservatory of Music with Heiner Wiberny, graduating in 1990.

Gratkowski has been working as a soloist in various international formations (Grubenklang Orchester, Klaus Koenig Orchester, Musikfabrik NRW, Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Bentje Braam, WDR Big band, etc.). Since 1990 he has been giving solo performances throughout Europe, Canada and USA.

Since 1992 he has been working in a duo with the pianist Georg Graewe. The duo is often extended through the participation of different additional musicians, such as Paul Lovens (dr) and John Lindberg (bass).

In 1995 he founded the "Frank Gratkowski Trio" with Dieter Manderscheid, bass, and Gerry Hemingway, drums.  In 2000 the trio was been extended to a quartet by Dutch trombonist Wolter Wierbos.

In 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana was been formed. Since 2001 Frank Gratkowski has been performing with a trio including Wilbert De Jode on bass and Paul Lovens on drums.

Frank Gratkowski played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia and Bucharest.

Furthermore he has performed with Robert Dick, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, Herb Robertson, Marcio Mattos, Eugenio Colombo, Peter Kowald, Ray Anderson, Michael Moore, Ken Vandermark, Greg Osby, Kenny Wheeler, Louis Sclavis, John Betsch, Jane Ira Bloom, Connie and Hannes Bauer, Xu Fengxia, James Newton, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Lindberg, Michael Formaneck, Ernst Reijseger, Fred van Hove, Theo Jörgensmann, Phil Minton, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Hamid Drake, Michiel Braam, and Mal Waldron among others.

Melodie und Rhythmus
   Georg Gräwe (piano)
   Frank Gratkowski (reeds)
   Kent Kessler (bass)
   Hamid Drake (percussion)

"This exquisitely recorded disc should appeal to listeners with an ear for adventure. The musicians produce extremely alert, free-flowing improvisations, with Gräwe's piano and Frank Gratkowski's reeds striking a delicate balance with Hamid Drake's percussion and Kent Kessler's bass.

Not surprisingly, the music owes as much to the classical European avant-garde as it does to cutting-edge Chicago jazz. But the merger of those idioms produces alluring, shimmering music packed with ideas." -- Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

7 tracks in 61:15 minutes      More Okka

If you missed this cd, you might also enjoy listening to:

Kollapse (Gratkowski, Wierbos, Manderscheid, and Hemingway)

Concert in Berlin, 1996, (Gräwe, Gustafsson, Tramontana, Mattos and Sanders)

Other Songs, (Gräwe, van Bergen, Phillips)

The Flume Factor (Gratkowski, Manderscheid, Hemingway)

Gueule de Loup (Moore, Kaufmann, Sieverts, Hollenbeck)

GratHovOx (Gratkowksi, Fred Van Hove, Tony Oxley)

Spellings (Gräwe, Butcher, Schneider, and Blume)

Live At Glenn Miller Cafe, Vol 1 (Janson, Kullhammar, Nilssen-Love)