Chris Hopkins feat. Shannon Barnett - Hoptimists

Chris Hopkins, born in 1972 in Princeton, New Jersey, is a versatile pianist and alto saxophonist on the international jazz scene. For over 20 years, he led the successful ensemble Echoes of Swing, with which he gained international recognition for his innovative approach to jazz traditions. Hopkins is a first-class swing and classic jazz pianist based in Germany.

Shannon Barnett, born in 1982, is an Australian trombonist, composer, and singer. Since April 2019, she has been a professor of jazz trombone at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne. In 2020, she received the WDR Jazz Prize for Improvisation and in 2022 the German Jazz Prize in the brass instruments category. Barnett currently lives in Cologne, Germany.

Chris Hopkins' Hoptimists perform with exceptional vibraphonist Matthias Strucken and a swinging rhythm section, including guitarist Rolf Marx and bassist John Goldsby from the WDR Big Band. The Jazz Club King Georg in Cologne is a place full of jazz, history, and artistic engagement on Sudermanstraße, which has delighted culture lovers and night owls for over 50 years.