Rolf Kühn
Rolf Kühn (29 September 1929 – 18 August 2022) was a German jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He was the older brother of the pianist Joachim Kühn.
Rolf Kühn

Photograph: Frank C. Müller, Frankfurt am Main · Frank C. Müller · Self-photographed · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Rolf Kühn
- Born
- 28 September 1929
- Birthplace
- Cologne, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany
- Died
- 18 August 2022
- Place of death
- Berlin, Germany
- Occupation
- Musician
- Nationality
- Germany
- Fields
- music · jazz · clarinet performance · saxophone performance
- Honours
- Berliner Bär
- Languages
- German
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Rolf Kühn (29 September 1929 – 18 August 2022) was a German jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He was the older brother of the pianist Joachim Kühn.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Rolf Kühn. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q314288 · wikipedia · Rolf Kühn
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is music, jazz and clarinet performance. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz, post-bop and dance music. Places of work recorded in the authority are Leipzig, Berlin and New York City. Distinctions recorded are Berliner Bär.

Rengha Rodewill und Rolf Kühn im Oktober 2000 auf dem verwahrlosten Gelände des „Waschhaus“. Heute ist das Waschhaus (Potsdam) in der Schiffbauergasse das größte freie Kulturzentrum Brandenburgs.
Micaela Porcelli Agentur Wort und Kunst · Scan of the original photograph

Bildinhalt: Rolf Kühn bei den 22. Jazztagen Idar-Oberstein 2017.
Photograph: Frank C. Müller, Frankfurt am Main · Frank C. Müller · Self-photographed
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rolf Kühn • Born — 28 September 1929 • Birthplace — Cologne, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany • Died — 18 August 2022 • Place of death — Berlin, Germany • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Musician • Instrument — Clarinet, saxophone • Past Member Of — Joachim Kühn • Website — rolf-kuehn.de
Life and career
Life and career
Kühn lived in the United States from 1956 to 1962. John Hammond favourably compared him with Benny Goodman. He moved to West Germany in 1962, where he became the director of the NDR Television Orchestra in Hamburg. He concurrently had a performing and recording career. Since the 1960s, his musical scope has encompassed not only traditional jazz but also free jazz and jazz-rock In 2008, he founded band with Christian Lillinger, Ronny Graupe, and Johannes Fink. Rolf Kühn died on 18 August 2022, at the age of 92.
As leader
As leader
• Streamline (Vanguard, 1956) • Rolf Kuhn and His Sound of Jazz (Urania, 1960) • Rolf Kuhn feat. Klaus Doldinger (Brunswick, 1962) • Solarius (Amiga, 1965) • Nana Und Rolf in Action: Make Love! (Intercord, 1969) • R. K. Sextet (Intercord, 1969) • Devil in Paradise (MPS/BASF, 1971) • The Day After (MPS, 1972) • Connection '74 (MPS/BASF, 1974) • Total Space (MPS/BASF, 1975) • Symphonic Swampfire (MPS, 1979) • Cucu Ear (MPS, 1980) • Don't Split (L+R, 1983) • As Time Goes By (Blue Flame, 1991) • Big Band Connection (Blue Flame, 1993) • Affairs (Intuition, 1997) • Inside Out (Intuition, 1999) • Internal Eyes (Intuition, 1999) • Smile: Famous Themes from Hollywood (Intuition, 2003) • Bouncing with Bud (In+Out, 2005) • Close Up (Jazzwerkstatt, 2009) • Rollercoaster (Jazzwerkstatt, 2009) • Stop Time! (Sonorama, 2014) • Stereo (MPS, 2015) • Spotlights (MPS, 2016) • Yellow + Blue (MPS, 2018) With Joachim Kuhn • Re-Union in Berlin (CBS, 1965) • Transfiguration (SABA, 1967) • Impressions of New York (Impulse!, 1968) • Monday Morning Hor Zu (Black Label, 1969) • The Kuhn Brothers & the Mad Rockers (Metronome, 1969) • Bloody Rockers (BYG, 1969) • Going to the Rainbow (BASF, 1971) • Brothers (Intuition, 1996) • East Berlin 1966 (Another Side (of Jazz), 2006) • Lifeline (Impulse!, 2012)
As sideman
As sideman
With Horst Jankowski • Gaste Bei Horst Jankowski (Metronome, 1962) • Follow Me (Intercord, 1972) • Starportrait/Follow Me (Intercord, 1975) • Wonderful (Opera, 2003) With others • Eddie Costa, At Newport (Verve, 1957) • Buddy DeFranco, The Three Sopranos (2001) • Klaus Doldinger, Jubilee (Atlantic, 1973) • Tommy Dorsey, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (Brunswick, 1958) • European Jazz Ensemble, 20th Anniversary Tour (Konnex, 1997) • Urbie Green, The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green (Command, 1960) • Urbie Green, The Message (RCA, 1986) • Friedrich Gulda, Music for 4 Soloists and Band No. 1 (SABA, 1965) • Friedrich Gulda, Austrian Jazz Art: Friedrich Gulda and His Big bands (Amadeo, 2004) • Greetje Kauffeld, Young Girl Sunday Jazz (Sonorama, 2015) • Eartha Kitt, Thinking Jazz (ITM, 1991) • Albert Mangelsdorff, Albert Mangelsdorff (Fabbri Editori 1981) • Albert Mangelsdorff, Early Discoveries (Jazzhaus, 2016) • Oscar Pettiford, Germany 1958/1959 (Jazzhaus, 2013) • George Wallington, The Workshop of the George Wallington Trio & Eddie Costa Trio (Norgran, 1975)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2022
Rolf Kühn died on 18 August 2022.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cologne.
Birth place
Berlin.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Rolf Kühn”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q314288: Rolf Kühn
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.auf www.swr.de, abgerufen am 22. August 2022
- 2.„Genau wie Perry Robinson, der schon erwähnte Buddy DeFranco, Eddie Daniels oder Theo Jörgensmann, dem unabhängig von Kühn in den 80er Jahren eine Klarinetten-Renaissance im Jazz zu verdanken ist, gehörte Rolf Kühn zu den letzten des Standes, die »den Stock mit den Löchern« (vgl. Bing Crosby/Louis Armstrong: »That’s Jazz«) unverwechselbar persönlich zu spielen vermögen“. In: Neues Deutschland, 18. Oktober 2009.
- 3.Maxi Sickert: Clarinet Bird: Rolf Kühn – Jazzgespräche. 2009, S. 19
- 4.„Die erste Liebe blieb bis heute“. 2017-05.
- 5.siehe Biografie von Maxi Sickert
- 6.Michael Rüsenberg. Rolf Kühn, 1929–2022. 2022-08-22.
- 7.Melodien für Generationen: Porträt des Klarinettisten Rolf Kühn, Deutschlandfunk Jazzfacts 17. November 2016, abgerufen am 19. November 2016
- 8.Preisträger:in 2023. Deutscher Jazzpreis. 2023-04-28.
- 9.Clarinet Bird S. 276–285
- 10.Rolf Kühn.
- 11.Clarinet Bird S. 276–285
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,375 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Rolf GrafPerson
- Rolf HarrisPerson
- Rolf HerrichtPerson
- Rolf KöhlerPerson
- Rolf LiebermannPerson
- Rolf LislevandPerson
- Rolf LøvlandPerson
- Rolf LukowskyPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Rolf Kühn?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.