Tom Berkmann

He grew up in a small village in the beautiful Bavarian Alps, in the middle of Nowhere, a place so boring and quiet that the cows’ mooing and the churchbells were the only musical excitement in his early childhood. When he first heard his older sisters’ record collection – groups like Jimi Hendrix, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana – Tom’s life had changed. He started growing his hair and picked up the guitar, started playing along with records and experimenting with sound and effects. Soon Tom got into Jazz Music and eventually found his true love as a young teenager: The Contrabass.

Still being in high school Tom started studying Jazz Bass at the Richard-Strauss-Conservatory in Munich with Paulo Cardoso. After graduating from school he moved to Berlin to study at the Jazz Institute. He was a DAAD scholar (German Academic Exchange Service) and graduated from Manhattan School of Music in New York with a Master of Music degree.

He was a semifinalist in the Jazz Competition of the International Double Bass Convention “Bass 2010” in Berlin. For composing and performing the soundtrack of the movie “Oh Boy” he received the German Academy Award for Best Filmscore and the German Critic’s Award for Best Soundtrack at the Berlin Film Festival Berlinale in 2013.

With the Modern Jazz group “Scopes”, he is releasing the second album ‘Age of Reason’ on September 10th on Whirlwind Recordings.