BERNHARD REINKE_______________________________________________________________________________________

was born on the 20 october of 1952, as a Libra, ascendant Virgin. He started his musical live as a rockmusician. Bernhard loved Jimi Hendrix and formed his own trio. In time more experimental elements sneaked into his style: the English symphonic music, free improvisation concepts and ethnic styles from around the world. He was strongly influenced by the jazzrock of the seventies. Bernhard started playing with a number of people in various pop- and jazzstyles. He made a record with the Zappa / Turtles-like duo Paul and André, made music for a modern ballet, produced punkgroups and made the record "Love Vendetta" with bluessinger Harry Muskee (Cuby and the Blizzards). With the band Phony and the Hardcore he played a lot and did "live" radio and television. They recorded the album "Phoney Hits". He also performed with Northern Bunch, in which he played jazz- and funkmusic as well as jazzrock.

Bernhard was an autodidact untill 1981, when he decided to develop his jazzguitarstyle further more by studīng with Wim Overgaauw at the Hilversum Conservatory. He graduated in 1986. Since 1981 he works as a bandleader who composes and plays original material. He had a quartet in which he played with a.o. Denise Jannah an Tony Overwater.

From 1986 untill 1992 he worked in the trio Transfusion with Fred van Vloten (drums) and David de Marez Oyens (bassguitar). In this trio Bernhard used a sequencer to enrich (also 'live") the sound of the band with numerous keyboardeffects, which he programmed with the guitarsynthesizer. The group made two cd's and played in Germany, Belgium, Croatia and Slovenia.

After Transfusion he had a quintet with different line-ups. In 1995 he founded Bernhard Reinke's Roller Coaster as a band that combines the different musical influences that he came upon throughout his musical life. This band also made two cd's. They played in various jazzclubs and festivals and recorded 'live' on the radio.

In 2004 Bernhard founded Bernhard Reinke's Xpedition. In this band with Arthur Rombouts on keyboards, Taco Nieuwenhuizen Segaar, bassguitars and Ron van Stratum, drums, dynamic movement is very important, it varies between very subtle interaction between two bandmembers, to strong rocksounds in which the band breaks down barriers.

Bernhard's guitarplaying has matured as well as his writing. In the new band he can fullfill every musical wish and is finally able to combine all the musical elements he always wanted to in one band. He can play jazzy, funky, in melodic latinstyle, bluesy or heavy, the band can do it! With Xpedition he made the cd "Two Sides" that was released on Contrazzt Records in november 2004.<> After a few years with this quartet Reinke felt the need to go back to his roots and started looking for two guys he could form a trio with in which jazz is the key-style.

In 2009, with the new trio Reinke / Witte / Mahieu, guitarplayer and composer Bernhard Reinke is back to the open sound of the trio, but from a totally different view, baggage and background, compared with the days of Transfusion. And there is so much more to explore.