Jazz im Studio - Young Talents

The Heartgroove Quartet is a young international band (Germany, Netherlands, China) based in The Hague. Max Kuitems (piano), Ilia Gurianov (guitar), Tianyi Zhang (bass) and Phileas Loh (drums) met at the conservatory in The Hague and have been playing together ever since, performing original compositions by band members - stylistically diverse and experimental works. The group cites contemporary jazz musicians such as Paul Cornish, Aaron Parks and The Bad Plus, as well as groove-oriented artists like Louis Cole and Sam Wilks as influences.

For their autumn tour, the quartet is expanded with tenor saxophonist Max Treutner - a permanent member of the SWR Big Band and nominated for the German Jazz Prize 2026 for his debut album recorded in New York with Matt Penman, Jochen Rückert and Silvan Joray.