Florian Döling had planned a quartet with trombonist Uli Binetsch for the 2025 summer garden concerts of the Freiburg musicians' initiative Jazz am Schönberg, but unfortunately Uli had to cancel all concerts in the summer due to illness. We wish him a fast recovery! He will be replaced by the young Spanish saxophonist Juan José Cabillas.

This commitment has transformed the Uli Binetsch/Florian Döling Quartet into the European Quartet: alongside Cabillas, who hails from Cádiz in Andalusia, the Czech-born Václav Pálka is on drums and Tilman Günther, a pianist from Müllheim, is on piano.

Even though all four musicians currently live in Basel and Freiburg, this quartet exudes a European spirit that draws on the musical roots of its protagonists and blossoms in the free spirit of jazz. The programme consists exclusively of compositions by the bassist, supplemented by one composition by Tilman Günther.

The programme reflects the turbulent times we live in, where people increasingly shout at each other, simply drown out and ignore different opinions. This makes it all the more important to take time for the subtle, the quiet, but also the dynamic and spontaneous... Time to listen, to prick up your ears for floating, melodious, sometimes melancholic, occasionally archaic, but always communicative sounds that relax the soul. Of course, there will also be groovy songs with surprising sounds and twists that go deep and sweep you away.

Line-up:

• Juan José Cabillas (ESP) - Altsaxophon

• Tilman Günther (D) – Piano

• Florian Döling (D) – Kontrabass

• Václav Pálka (CZE) - Drums

Juan José Cabillas is a passionate and accomplished musician from Cádiz, Spain. He fell in love with the saxophone at the tender age of seven. His career as a musician began when he received formal training at the renowned Manuel de Falla Royal Conservatory.

Juan José Cabillas continued his musical education at Musikene, the renowned music academy in San Sebastián, Basque Country, where he realised several successful projects, including Juan José Cabillas with Strings, Ekhilore Quintet and Red Cheeks Quartet, with which he thrilled audiences throughout Spain.

Of special note is that in 2019, Juan José Cabillas collaborated with a symphony orchestra to record his debut album under the name Juan José Cabillas with Strings. In 2021, he continued his studies in Switzerland and began a Master of Arts in Musical Performance (Jazz Production/Performance) at the Jazzcampus in Basel. He also founded his own quartet, with which he released his second album in 2021.

Tilman Günther studied in Munich and lives in Müllheim in southern Baden, where he was also born.

He has played in various formations such as the Stafford James Trio, the Zipflo Reinhardt Quartet, the Rainer Pusch Quartet, the Peter Bockius Quintet, etc.

In addition, he has made various guest appearances in Europe and Asia with musicians such as Herbie Man, Paul Horn, Didier Lockwood, Birelli Lagrene, Silvain Luc, John Schröder, Nigel Kennedy, Philip Cathérine, Bill Elgart, Carla Cook, Dave Peterson, Tony Lakatos, Marcel Papaux, Wolfgang Engstfeld, Joris Dudli, Darek Oleszkiewicz, Gunter Hampel, Janusz Muniak, Leszek Zadlo, and others.

He has enjoyed a musical collaboration and friendship with Florian Döling spanning more than three decades, which has been documented on several CDs, most recently on the live duo CD "Rede vom Glück" (Talking about Happiness), released in 2023 by

Václav Pálka, born in the Czech Republic in 1992, is a drummer, composer, arranger, and educator based in Basel, Switzerland. In addition to his main focus, jazz drumming, he studied classical drums, composition, arranging, and producing in Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland.
Recent projects include various large ensembles - This Is What’s Love Big Band, Poens (self-titled album released in 2020) and What’s Love Large Ensemble (including 7 horn players, a string quartet, and a rhythm section), a sextet, quintet, quartet, and a quartet LOVE with Lionel Loueke, Fabian Willmann and Lukas Thoeni.
Over the years, Vaclav has shared the stage and recorded with artists such as Sullivan Fortner, Mark Turner, Tineke Postma, David Virelles, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Iva Bittova, Guillermo Klein, David Doruzka, Didrik Ingvaldsen, Sam Barnett, Melanie Scholtz and many others.