Florian Arbenz

As director, drummer and composer for the acclaimed Conversation_LAB, Florian Arbenz is best known as a leading figure in the world of jazz, a music he fell in love with at the age of four. Yet his route to today’s distinctively mature and original performing style is culturally rich and diverse, taking in a wide range of international influences, and many years as percussionist, performing contemporary classical music in some of Europe’s best orchestras, as well as jazz.  

Florian is inspired by the school of the great Max Roach. Stunned audiences described Roach as a drummer who composed while he played, who approached his music through much more than just rhythm: he understood harmony, melody, and the texture of the sound. Florian Arbenz approaches drumming in the same multi-faceted way, but creates a European sound, with a melodic tuning of the drums, using natural heads for depth and texture, and the ability to play with a light touch. He develops improvisation based on both rhythm and sound. 

Florian’s jazz technique is a blend of free and extended improvisation developed through experience with some of Europe and America’s most acclaimed musicians, including Dave Liebman, Greg Osby, Ron Carter, Mike Stern, Peter Evans etc.

Florian has also been influenced by his study of international styles of drumming, particularly the Cuban bata, but also the dancing rhythms of timbales, the rhythmic layering and complexity of Indian percussion, and the the warm resonance of a Persian tonbak, or zarb. On the contemporary scene, he follows the careers of the most innovative practitioners, such as Marc Giuliana, Chris Dave, Eric Harland and Stefan Pasborg.  

Originally from Basel, Switzerland, Florian studied classical music at the conservatory in that city, and for many years played with internationally recognised orchestras, composers and conductors in Europe and worldwide, including, among others, Rudolf Buchbinder, György Kurtag, Christoph von Dohnanyi, NDR Hamburg and the Basel Symphony Orchestra. At the same time, he was getting to know jazz through acquaintances such as Kirk Lightsey and Famadou Don Moye, and early in his career studied with Ed Thigpen and Steve Smith. He also traveled to Havana to immerse himself in afro cuban rhythms for six months at Cuba’s University of the Arts.