Hannes Beckmann, born August 24, 1950, was a German jazz violinist, bandleader, and composer born in Bielefeld. He received his first violin at age six from his great-grandfather and studied at the conservatory in Düsseldorf before pursuing composition and law in Munich. He played in the avant-garde ensemble Between and with various swing bands. In 1972, he co-founded the afro-brazilian jazz band Sinto, which performed over 1,800 concerts across Europe and Japan. Beckmann's recordings with Sinto included Right on Brother (1972), Sonho Negro (1978), and Tango des Friedens (1981). Eight bars of his composition “Outra Vez” from Sonho Negro were later sampled in the hit song “Ich lebe für HipHop” (2000) by DJ Tomekk. He played on the album The Gipsy Jazz Violin Summit (1978) and founded the Hannes-Beckmann-Quartett in 1985. His subsequent releases included The Violin Man (1995), Violin Tales (1999), Die Blaue Krone – Kreuzwegstationen (1999), and the orchestral cycle Canto Migrando (2007). He collaborated with artists such as Pery dos Santos, Baden Powell, and Biréli Lagrène, and co-founded both the Jazzmusiker-Initiative München and the Jazzfest München in 1990. He also taught jazz violin at the University of the Arts Belgrade and the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. He died in Munich on March 17, 2016.
