Trombonist and band leader Shannon Barnett is a “soul-meltingly communicative brass player”.
Born and raised in Victoria, Shannon established herself in the Australian music scene through her work with artists like Vada, Andrea Keller, The Vampires, The Bamboos and the Black Arm Band. After a stint in New York, she moved to Cologne, Germany to take up a position with the WDR Big Band and quickly became a valued part of the German jazz scene. During her tenure with the band she had the opportunity to work with musicians and composers including Ron Carter, Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Maceo Parker, Jimmy Heath and Jacob Collier.
In 2020 Shannon received the WDR Jazz Prize for Improvisation and in 2022 the German Jazz Prize in the brass instrument category.
Upon moving to Cologne in 2014, Shannon also began performing in the scene outside of the big band, soon crossing paths with David Helm, Fabian Arends and Stefan Karl Schmid and subsequently forming this quartet. They have since released three albums together (Hype, Bad Lover and Alive at Loft) and have toured throughout Europe and Australia.
