photo © Nicholas Mead
Karl began drumming at the age of seven in his home province of Manitoba, Canada. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in JazzPerformance from McGill University in 1998 and moved to Paris in 2001 after having spent nine months in New York studying with Tom Rainey having received funding from the Canada and Quebec Arts Councils. Karl quickly became one of the most in-demand drummers in the French capital. Appearing on over sixty recordings, he has recorded and/or performed with musicians including LeeKonitz, Randy Brecker, Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Christine Jensen, François Bourassa, Michel Donato and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Karl’s first cd as a leader, “Liberating Vines” on the Effendi label, received an Opus award for “Jazz and World Music Record of theYear” and at the 2004 Montreal International Jazz Festival the drummer was awarded the CBC Etoiles Galaxie prize for “Most Original Composition”. In 2010 Karl was a runner-up in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition. Founding member of the French musicians collective, Paris Jazz Underground, Karl has recorded four cds as a leader. The two most recent releases, “Streaming” and “The Halfway Tree” feature Sienna Dahlen and are released on the collective’s label, PJU Records.