Pianist and bandleader Malcolm Braff (1970) was born in Rio de Janeiro where his father was a missionary. Later on, he lived at Cape Verde and in Senegal before eventually settling in Switzerland. Although his parents were scrupulous in keeping the doors closed abroad, the sound of African drums permeated his life irrevocably. He has since held a great love for African music that is easily combined with his other passion: jazz. For the past twenty years, Braff has played with many prominent artists including Eric Truffaz and Alex Blake. For his latest record Inside he worked with American bassist Reggie Washington and Austrian drummer Lukas Koenig for the first time. Washington grew up with jazz music. He has played with Roy Hargrove, Branford Marsalis and Uri Caine, among others. Since 2005 he has been touring with several orchestras. Koenig was classically schooled in Vienna. The trio performs very free jazz with an African hue.
