JazzLab is a haven for improvisation in all its forms. For the past 13 years, this laboratory has provided a space for concerts, performances and an open stage that invites the audience to join in. In this instalment of the music series, three experienced sailors and musicians set sail: Martin John Milner (guitar, vocals, composition), Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq (saxophone) and Nicolas Schulze (piano, double bass). Together, they explore the open seas of musical improvisation, navigating between planned and unplanned sonic events and creating a multifaceted archipelago of songs.
Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He has lived and worked in Berlin since the early 1990s. Influenced by Horace Tapscott and the African-American jazz tradition, he blends jazz with blues, funk and African and Latin American influences. Through his own ensembles, such as the Ebony Big Band and the Pan African Peoples Arktet, he is dedicated to the vibrant evolution of these musical traditions.
In 2026, Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq was awarded the German Jazz Prize in the ‘Live Act of the Year’ category.
Martin John Milner is a musician, composer, poet and teacher from Liverpool. After spending years in England and Canada, he has lived in Potsdam since 2008. As a guitarist, singer and songwriter, he blends influences from folk, reggae, blues, funk, jazz and Latin music. With his band The Need, he performs his own songs, which combine musical diversity, improvisation and social themes. He is also involved in music, art, integration and educational projects.
Nicolas Schulze is a pianist, composer and musician. After studying piano, jazz and popular music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, he has been living and working in Potsdam since 2007. His focus is on improvised music, which he explores in groups such as TWIRLS, MOLE and The Great Boredom, as well as in interdisciplinary dance and performance projects. Since 2013, he has been initiating and curating the JazzLab concert and session series at fabrik Potsdam, and has been the artistic director of the international music festival Rare Birds since 2019.
