tobias pustelnik
Born in 1991 in Graz (Austria). His first musical experiences were at the age of seven studying the recorder and violin with Ingeborg Weingerl-Bergbaur. After a couple of years of budding interest in jazz and attending a concert of a local big band he switched to the saxophone. Soon the fascination grew into a passion and by the age of fourteen he set his sights on becoming a professional musician. After a couple of years with Johann Prassl at the local music school in Fehring he began studying jazz saxophone at the University of Arts in Graz with professor Karlheinz Miklin from years 2010 to 2014. In this period he developed an understanding for the fundamentals of jazz music such as sound, time, articulation, sight-reading, arrangement, composition and music theory. Pustelnik gained a lot of experience especially in the field of big band music since Graz has a very strong big band scene. He was part of “Jazzorchester Steiermark”, “HGM Jazzorchester Zagreb”, “KUG Jazzorchestra”, “Graz Composers Orchestra” and “Emiliano Sampaio Mega Mereneu Project” just to mention a few.
In 2014 Tobias Pustelnik decided to move to Amsterdam to study his masters at the “Conservatorium van Amsterdam”, which he finished in the summer of 2016. These two years were spent searching for his own voice, focusing on jazz improvisation and transcribing a lot of music from the Tristano circle to broaden his perception of the construction of melodic and motivic improvisation. His master’s research was a transcription book of Warne Marsh’s Album “Coast to Coast”. During his time in Amsterdam he studied with Ferdinand Povel, Jasper Blom, Simon Rigter and Joris Roelofs.
In 2017 his musical journey led him to Vienna where he formed his first band as a leader and composer. The first album of the “Tobias Pustelnik Quartet” was released in 2021 with exclusively original compositions. Around this time Pustelnik joined various jazz groups such as Jonatan Sarikoski Search Party, Daniel Holzleitner Comprovisition Project, the Urs Hager Quintet, the Quarteto Uli Langthaler, the Paula Langthaler group and the Rapahel Käfer Constellation Project.
Over the years Pustelnik has had the chance to work and study with a number of renowned artists such as Don Menza, Mark Turner, Dick Oatts and Adrian Mears. He has also shared the stage with Miguel Zenon, John Fedchock, Eric Truffaz, John Clayton, Fay Claasen and many more.
Tobias Pustelnik has participated in various musical competitions such as:
Jazz nad Odra (winner in the category of best band with the “Piotr Pawlak Jazztett”) (2012) (Wrclaw/PL)European Jazz Contest (Finalist Top 4 with the “Piotr Pawlak Jazztett”) (2012) (Rome/ITA) Getxo Jazzcompetition (second place with the “Piotr Pawlak Jazztett”) (2012) (Getxo(ESP) Zilina International Jazz Contest (first place with the “Lajos Toth New Quartet”) (2018) (Zilina/SK) Generations Frauenfeld Festival (selected as the Saxophone Player of the “Generations Unit”) (2016) (Frauenfeld/CH)Marianne Mendt Nachwuchsförderung (winner) (2012) (St. Pölten/AUT) Downbeat Award (Best graduate Performance) (2014) “Kug Composers Ensemble” (Magazin USA) „21st Porin Award“ (winner with the „HGM Jazzorchestra Zagreb”) (2014) (Zagreb/HR) Fidelio Wettbewerb (winner with „LaDo“) (2017) (Wien/AUT)
Since September 2021 Pustelnik has been based in Paris (France).
Discography:
Tobias Pustelnik Quartet „Intentional Intuition“ (2021)
Discography (Sideman):
q´arteto Uli Langthaler (2023)
Paula Langhtaler Group “Lala” (2022)
Daniel Holzleitner Comprovisition Project “Romantic Symmetry” (2022)
Urs Hager Quintet “Megalopolis” (2022)
Paula Langthaler Quartet „Double Happiness“ (2021)
Raphael Käfer Constellation Project (2021)
Jonatan Sarikoski Search Party „The time is ripe“ (2020)
Daniel Holzleitner Comprovisition Project „Comprovisition“ (2020)
Emiliano Sampaio Mega Mereneau Project „Music For Large Ensembles Vol II“ (2020)
Roland Hanslmeier Quintet „Polaroid“ (2019)
Balazs Balogh Quintet „Borderline Inspirations“ (2018)
Jazzorchester Steiermark „The Big Base Band Live“ (2018)
Jazzorchester Steiermark feat. Karlheinz Miklin „Next Page“ (2017)
Emiliano Sampaio Mega Mereneu Project „Tourists“ (2015)
Andrej Urminsky Quintet „Four +1“ (2014)