Martín Iaies is an Argentinian jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator currently based in Vienna, Austria. With a musical language rooted in jazz tradition but always exploring new forms, he’s part of a generation of emerging jazz artists pushing the boundaries of the genre — blending contemporary jazz, Latin American influences, and modern ensemble writing.

Born into a family of musicians, Martín started playing piano at age 4, guided by his grandmother and his father, Adrián Iaies — a respected jazz pianist and composer. As a teenager, driven by his love for rock, he picked up the guitar and soon realized that music was more than a passion — it was his path.

Over the years, he has studied with renowned teachers in Argentina, Austria, and New York, and has collaborated with a wide range of inspiring and influential musicians. These experiences shaped his voice as a guitarist and composer, both in small formats and in large jazz ensembles.

In 2022 he recorded his second album, New Beginnings — released in October 2023 by the US-based label Ears & Eyes Records — an album that showcases his work as a jazz composer and bandleader. That same year, he founded the Martín Iaies 11tet, a modern jazz large ensemble that explores expansive textures, rhythmic experimentation, and ensemble-driven improvisation. Their debut album was recorded in February 2025 and will be released in 2026.

Currently, Martín divides his time between composing for large ensembles, performing across Europe and Latin America, recording new projects, and teaching jazz guitar, composition, and ensemble work. Whether leading his own projects or producing for others, his focus remains clear: to keep exploring the edges of sound through jazz.

Klaus Gesing is a writer, player, bandleader and teacher on the vanguard of jazz.
He got into improvisation at the age of 10, listening to an English clarinet player who regularly played on backing tracks from a battery-run speaker in the pedestrian zone of his hometown Düsseldorf/Germany.
After some years under the inspiring guidance of his first saxophone and improvisation teacher, Johannes Seidemann at the Clara-Schumann Music School in Düsseldorf, he continued to be professionally trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague in Jazz (John Ruocco) and Classical (Leo van Oostrom) Saxophone - and finished his studies with a special remark for his compositions and artistic expression.
He had additional studies with David Liebman.
Gesing has been awarded Best Soloist at the Jugend Jazzt Competition in Germany/NRW (1988), Best Soloist at the Middelzee Jazz Festival (1994), the Van Merlen Jazz Prize (1995) and Best Soloist at the Vienne International Jazz Competition (1996).
He published several CDs in Duo with Glauco Venier (“Klaus Gesing and Glauco Venier play Bach”, “Klaus Gesing and Glauco Venier play Songs”) and began to collaborate with Norma Winstone in 1999.
As a leader, the well received debut album “First Booke of Songes”, was followed in 2006 by “Heartluggage”, recorded and performed by Gwilym Simcock on piano, Yuri Goloubev (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (percussion).
Described in a recent review in All About Jazz as “one of those hidden gems that commands attention from the get-go”.
His collaboration with Italian pianist Glauco Venier led to the trio with Norma Winstone and five critically acclaimed albums on Universal and ECM.
"Chamber Music" (2004, Universal Universal); "Distances" ( 2008, ECM 2028) "Stories yet to tell" (2010, ECM 2158) "Dance without answer" (2014, ECM2333) "Descansado - Music for Films" (2018, ECM 2567) The second album, Distances, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album and the prestigious French Académie du Jazz award.
Another appearance on the Label ECM is marked by the publication of Anouar Brahem’s “The Astounding Eyes of Rita” (2009, ECM 2075), a CD that is dedicated to the memory of the lately deceased Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish.
On this album Klaus Gesing appears playing only Bass Clarinet, an instrument that has become increasingly important during recent years.
2014 saw the publication of a new album by the Tunisian Oud player Anouar Brahem,”Souvenance”, (2014, ECM 2423/24) featuring Francois Couturier on piano, Björn Meyer on bass, and a 18piece string orchestra on which Klaus Gesing delved further into the combination of bass clarinet and live electronics.
2011 showed the publication of the „loopspool“, a video made in Switzerland, where he presents his duo with American born percussionist Jarrod Cagwin. This project focuses on extended live-looping on a purely acoustic basis, bringing the use of computer in the process of acoustic music making to an all new level.
The work on "loopspool" led to Klaus Gesing’s first Solo project "reaLTime", that was published on his own label, Edition TonSpuren, in 2015.
A critic remarked that Klaus Gesing "on reaLTime elicit[s] from it [the bass clarinet, (KG)] a range of expression not heard since John Surman." (Tyran Grillo, All about Jazz) In 2016 he published his new loop-solo work "sound of mind" (2016, Edition TonSpuren) on which he put the focus on the compositional possibilities of live looping. The piece was commissioned by the Italian organisation Consorzio Il Mosaico. They are co-funding the work of the African Gregoire Ahongbobon, who has created a network of alternative treatment for the mentally disturbed in Ivory Coast and Benin/Africa.
2016 also saw the publication of "amiira" (2016, arjuna-music, AMAC-CD711//AMAC-LP711) by the trio “Gesing_Rohrer_Meyer”.
This ensemble - featuring Swedish bass player Björn Meyer on his six-string electric bass, and Swiss drummer Samuel Rohrer - concentrates on crossfading improvisation and composition on a very contemporary level, using live electronics with an analog approach.
In 2017 "amiira" has been licensed and published on Hermes Records, an Iranian Label concentrating on improvised music in all its forms.
As a composer – next to writing the main body of the musical material for his own projects and contributing extensively to the music of the ECM releases with Winstone / Gesing / Venier – Klaus Gesing‘s commissions have included a music soundtrack composed for the the Stadtmuseum Gmunden, Austria.
He has also composed a soundtrack to the 1928 silent film, “Joan of Arc” by the Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, in collaboration with italian organist and director Paolo Paroni.
As a member of the ‘Jazz Big Band Graz’, two of his compositions appear on the album “A Life Affair” released by Universal Music (2004).
In 2022 he launched his new project "Music for Voice and Big Band" and had a first and very successful premiere in Jurmala / Latvia featuring Ana Pilat, voice, and the Latvian Radio Orchestra.
In 2022 he concluded the work on the music for the Swiss documentary "Bratsch - Ein Dorf macht Schule" by the Swiss Film director Norbert Wiedmer.
The film narrates the first 6 years of a Swiss school project initiated by Damian Gsponer The concept of the school focuses on the personal develpoment of the pupils, to let them grow into self-dependent, responsible and socially orientated members of a society in change, while complying with the educational needs of our contemporary work environments.
The documentary was a success and attracted 30.000 visitors in the German speaking part of Switzerland, was shown at the Hofer-Filmtage. In 2023 he recorded his program "Music for Voice and Big Band" in Riga/Latvia, together with Ana Pilat, voice and the Latvian Radio Big Band. This recording will be published in 2024.
Finally, in 2023 the long awaitedited second full-length CD of the trio Amiira was published to great response. Klaus Gesing has so far collaborated with (among others): Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Björn Meyer, Anouar Brahem, Samuel Rohrer, Francois Couturier, Paolo Paroni, Khaled Yassine, Gwilym Simcock, Asaf Sirkis, Yuri Goloubev, Glauco Venier, John Taylor, Johannes Berauer, Dave Liebman, Christian Muthspiel, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Uli Rennert, Jazz Big Band Graz, Paolino dalla Porta, Wolfgang Puschnig, Peter Herbert, Jarrod Cagwin, John Hollenbeck, Henning Siewerts, Helge Andreas Norbakken, Mario Brunello

Thomas Quendler was born on November 16th, 2000 in Wolfsberg, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. His musical journey began at the age of 8, when he began lessons with Monika Furian at the St Andrä Music School on the Styrian accordion—an instrument that would accompany him until the age of 17. At 13 he discovered his enthusiasm for the piano and began to receive classical tuition from Margit Gastrager. Alongside his studies he accumulated valuable stage experience in various ensembles, performed in regional events, and took part in competitions with great success. With the beginning of his studies at the Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium in Wolfsberg, his passion for jazz began to intensify. At the age of 15 he began to study jazz piano under Roman Wohofsky—a turning point in his musical development.
He soon began to play in jazz groups, such as Black Coffee, as well as in duo combinations with various singers and instrumentalists. In 2017 he became a member of the jazz fusion band Kernfusion, with which he has had many important successes, including participation in various competitions as well as his international debut at the Bratislava Jazz Days. In the same year, Quendler began jazz piano studies under Professor Robert Bargad at the Conservatorium in Klagenfurt (now the Gustav Mahler Private University for Music). In 2020 he was accepted into the renowned jazz institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, where he joined the class of Professor Olaf Polziehn. There, a world full of new musical possibilities opened up to him—he played in many different ensembles, made contact with musicians of diverse nationalities, and continued his own personal development.
In summer 2024 Thomas Quendler completed his Bachelor studies in jazz piano. His passion for music grows with every new experience. Openness for diverse stylistic directions and continuous musical development are essential for him—but the joy of music-making always takes centre stage.