Listen to jazz: Frederick Köster pays homage to Kafka

Cologne trumpeter Frederik Köster has worked with jazz greats Albert Mangelsdorff, Trilok Gurtu and Peter Herbolzheimer and with the Big Bands of West German Radio and Radio Hesse - but also punk diva Nina Hagen and rock group Sportfreunde Stiller. On his album "The Metamorphosis," the artist underscores his adaptablity.

In this podcast recorded live at the Jazzfest Bonn, Köster's quartet performs selections from that album named after the short story by Franz Kafka. Rather than being a musical setting of the story, the pieces reference works by American poet Allen Ginsberg, Japanese author Haruki Murakami, Irish author James Joyce and others - capturing the essence of a narrative or a character in the form of absolute music which can be understood that way but is open to interpretation.

For "The Metamorphosis," Köster assembled three musicians with whom he has worked for several years. The German online portal Jazzcity describes the result as "A German jazz combo with American jazz appeal."The band:

Frederik Köster, trumpet

Jonas Burgwinkel, drum

Sebastian Sternal, piano

Joscha Oetz, bass

Recorded by Deutsche Welle (DW) in the National Art Gallery, Bonn, on May 13, 2015.