"An imaginative shaper of sound who is extremely communicative, gives every format new kicks, structures and free spaces at the same time. Rarely has the WDR Jazz Prize been awarded more deservedly in the field of improvisation,” says the jury of the 2019 about Jens Düppe. Düppe feels comfortable in the smallest line-ups as well as in large formations and reconciles form and freedom in his drumming. He is an active bandleader and has released three albums with his quartet since 2015, the last of which was nominated for the ECHO Jazz in 2018. Musically, he also likes to think out of the box. For the festival ACHT BRÜCKEN Köln, Düppe designed a 45-minutes multimedia performance for choir, instrumentalists and dance in the theme of faith and music together with director Peter Schanz. He taught as a lecturer for the national young talent promotion prize of the German Music Council “Jugend jazzt” and the German Youth Big Band “Bundesjazzorchester”. The Jazz Zeitung calls him “one of the most innovative exponents of improvisation music from here” and Chris Spector of Midwest Record already talks about Düppe’s first album as “a leading light for modern jazz”.