Roman Bunka

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Roman Bunka
Bunka with Dissidenten in 2012
Born(1951-12-02)2 December 1951
Died12 June 2022(2022-06-12) (aged 70)
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Occupations
  • Guitarist
  • oud player
  • composer

Roman Bunka (2 December 1951 – 12 June 2022) was a German guitarist,

jazz fusion bands. He lived most of his life in Munich, Bavaria, where he was involved in various musical crossover
projects.

Career

Bunka was born in Frankfurt on 2 December 1951.[1] He started playing the guitar as a teenager. In the 1970s, he moved to Munich and joined the world music group Embryo. They toured in Morocco, India and Afghanistan, and the music of these countries made a strong impact on Bunka and his fellow musicians.[2][3] In 1979, Embryo traveled overland to India with three buses and their instruments.[4] The tour was documented in the movie Vagabunden Karawane.[5]

Besides the guitar, his second instrument was the Arabic oud, which he studied mainly in Egypt.[1][6][7] Having spent long periods of time there, he often played in the band of Egyptian singer and movie actor Mohamed Mounir,[1] for example at the New Year's Eve concert in 2000 at the Pyramids of Giza.[2][8]

In 1994, Bunka presented his

Berlin Jazz Festival, curated by George Gruntz.[9] The same line-up was recorded by Enja Records, with Rolling Stone magazine writing: "Bunka gets fame in a growing musical diaspora as 'best oud-player north of Mekka'."[10]

Bunka was known for his artistic collaboration with German and international musicians, such as the German world music groups Embryo, Dissidenten and Jisr, but also with jazz musicians Mal Waldron, Charlie Mariano and Malachi Favors, as well as with Indian and Egyptian performers Trilok Gurtu, Ramesh Shotham, Fathy Salama and others.[11] German music critic Ralf Dombrowski wrote about Bunka's 2004 record Orientación with fellow musicians Luis Borda and Jost Heckler: "He is one of the first European musicians who dared to seriously explore the oud and liberated it from exoticism and Orientalism."[12]

During his 50-year career, Bunka recorded and played concerts with numerous musical groups, and also composed soundtracks for movies. A few weeks before his death, he played with the Munich-based group Jisr (Arabic for 'bridge') at concerts in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

obituaries.[1][3][14]

Awards

Discography

  • 1973 Steig Aus (also released as: This Is Embryo)[18]
  • 1973 We Keep On with Embryo[19]
  • 1975 Surfin with Embryo[20]
  • 1976 Bad Heads and Bad Cats with Embryo and Charlie Mariano[21]
  • 1977 Apo-Calypso with Embryo[22]
  • 1979 Aera Live with Locko Richter, Klaus Kreuzeder, Lutz Oldemeier, Helmut Meier-Limberg, Freddy Setz[23]
  • 1980 Reise (CD) with Embryo (Schneeball)[24]
  • 1980 Dein Kopf ist ein schlafendes Auto[2]
  • 1990 Germanistan with Dissidenten[25]
  • 1993 The Jungle Book with Dissidenten (Exil)[26]
  • 1995 Color Me Cairo with Malachi Favors and Fathy Salama (Enja)[27]
  • 1997 Enshaallah with Rahala (united One Rec.)[28]
  • 2008 Freedom in Music with Embryo[29]
  • 2010 Embryo 40 (Trikont)[30]

Filmography (as composer and recording artist)

References

  1. ^ a b c d "German guitarist, oud player Roman Bunka, known for collaboration with Mohamed Mounir dies at 71 – Music – Arts & Culture". Ahram Online. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Biswurm, Roland (13 June 2022). "Musiker und Brückenbauer Roman Bunka gestorben". BR24 (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. ^
    Süddeutsche.de
    (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. Süddeutsche.de
    (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  5. OCLC 781352245
  6. ^ "City of Sounds". lighthouse-film.com (in German). 30 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Roman Bunka – Dein Kopf ist ein schlafendes Auto". lighthouse-film.com (in German). 26 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Artist Profiles: Roman Bunka". worldmusiccentral.org. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Jazzfest Berlin Archiv | Roman Bunka 'Color Me Cairo' feat. Malachi Favor". www.berlinerfestspiele.de, Berliner Festspiele (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Suchergebnisse für "Bunka" – enja records". www.enjarecords.com (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  11. ^ Romero, Angel (10 September 2019). "Artist Profiles: Roman Bunka | World Music Central". Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ^ Ralf Dombrowski: Rezension zu Borda / Bunka / Hecker, Orientación. Enja Weber ENJ CD 9155-2 in Stereoplay 8/2004
  13. ^ "The Sound of Faraway Lands". www.goethe.de. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Mohamed Mounir Mourns Death of Best Friend Roman Bunka – Sada El balad". 13 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. ^ hoerspielundfeature.de (11 November 2003). "Studiozeit Hörspiel – Tunguska-guska" (in German). Deutschlandradio. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  16. ISSN 0931-9085
    . Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  17. ^ Abendzeitung München (18 March 2014). "Auszeichnung! Die Preisträger stehen fest". www.abendzeitung-muenchen.de (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  18. OCLC 937026843
  19. . Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  20. OCLC 1077290394{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  21. OCLC 70662406{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )

Further reading

External links