Pianist – The Jazzaar Festival Latin Band

Jacob Sur (civil name Jakob Reitinger, *1995 in Altötting, Upper Bavaria) is a southern German musician (piano, guitar, vocals) who currently lives in Lucerne, Switzerland. Growing up in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, he came into contact with music at an early age and received lessons on the piano and violin. After completing an education in the medical field, he moved to Zurich, where he fell in love with jazz and improvised music one evening at a jam session.

The following year he began studying piano at the Lucerne School of Music with Jean-Paul Brodbeck and Michael Arbenz, while also taking courses with numerous renowned teachers. Master classes with Lynne Arriale, Ethan Iverson, Angelica Sanchez, Aaron Parks, Bill Carrothers, Melissa Aldana, and Jovino Santos Neto followed.

Sur has played concerts with international greats such as Ingrid Laubrock, Daniel Schnyder, Michael Formanek, Perico Sambeat, Kristin Berardi, Hermeto Pascoal, Marius Neset, and Anton Eger, among others. He is comfortable in many genres and doesn’t like to be pigeonholed into one particular musical style, though traditional jazz continues to serve him as a springboard and vehicle to other styles:

“Experiencing the world from only one perspective wouldn’t do justice to its crazy beauty, so in a way, I’m forced to be ‘multiple’.”

Currently, he is in the “Master of Arts in Music Education” at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, is a pianist of the “Big Band Zug”, the “Maurice Storrer Quartet” and guitarist/songwriter of the Lucerne Indie – Band “Mono Mochi”.