r i v e r
With their ensemble river, electric bassist Nina Feldgrill and saxophonist Robert Unterköfler present a quartet that has established itself as a fixture in the Austrian jazz scene. Together with Erik Asatrian on keys and Simon Springer on drums, the four musicians perform original compositions written by all members of the band. Stylistically rooted in modern jazz, river opens up space for the individual artistic voices of its members. The result is a multi-layered sonic landscape that spans virtuoso, high-energy outbursts to delicate, ballad-like moments, guaranteeing an exciting and richly textured listening experience. The quartet released its debut album Chameleon Circuit in 2024 on the international jazz label SkyDeck Music, followed in 2026 by an EP created in a special collaboration with jazz great Alex Sipiagin. The 2025 Austrian Jazz Award–nominated album Nina Feldgrill, on which river played a major role, further underscores the ensemble’s artistic presence.
Nina Feldgrill: e-bass
Robert Unterköfler: saxophone
Erik Asatrian: keys
Simon Springer: drums
News
Coming soon: Three single releases featuring Alex Sipiagin!
Press Reviews / Interviews
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Performances
31.01.2026 Friedrichshafen (DE)
01.05 kelagBIGband feat. river, KIB Bleiburg
26.06.2026 Jazz am Schießberg, Calw (DE)
27.06.2026 Kunsthaus Troisdorf (DE)
30.06.2026 Musikwerkstatt Wels
2026:
02.01.2026 Jazz im Sägewerk, Bad Hofgastein
2025:
27.03 Kulturkotter, Graz
27.05 Porgy & Bess, Vienna
13.11 Loop, Vienna
14.11 Dachboden Theater, Bruck/Mur
15.11 Kultur Aktiv, Radenthein
30.12 Zwe, Wien
2024:
18.01 Arte-Hotel, Salzburg
09.03 Jazz for Hope, Vienna
18.05 Musik.Markt, Vienna
27.07 Porgy & Bess, Vienna
01.08. Outreach Festival, Tyrol
12.09. Take the A-Train Festival, Salzburg
20.09. Herbstgold Festival, Burgenland
26.09. Mädchenbühne, Vienna
12.10. ZWE, Vienna
22.11. Radiokulturhaus – 5 Mio Pesos, Vienna
About
Robert Unterköfler (*1992, Villach)
Robert Unterköfler is an Austrian saxophonist and composer. Besides the saxophone as his main-instrument, he also plays clarinet, flute &electronic wind instruments.
Robert holds a Bachelor-degree from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien (MUK) and finished his Masters at the Jam Music Lab University. For his studies he also was living in Groningen and Rotterdam.
Robert has been collaborating with musicians all over the world. He is a very versatile musician and therefor part of many different projects such as Orjazztra Vienna, lead by Christian Muthspiel, Slowklang, founded by the Austrian singer Amina Bouroyen, or the Valentin Duit Quartett. With his own projects Rote Welt Quintett, zwölf nach vier and his latest solo-project Sidrat he was able to celebrate great achievements.
Awards:
Bruno-Gironcoli-Prize (2022)
Oe1-Jazz-Scholarship (2018)
Latest Releases:
Album “Bernstein in Vienna” with PETER ERSKINE (Origin Records), 2024
Album “Synergy” with Alan Bartus (Quinton Records), 2024
Album “La Melodia della Strada” with Orjazztra Vienna (Col-legno), 2023
Album “Conspiracy” with Tobias Hoffmann Jazz Orchestra (MONS Records), 2022
Erik Asatrian (*1997, Klagenfurt)
Erik Asatrian is an Austrian / Armenian piano player and producer, who specializes in the field of electronic sound-design.
He holds a Bachelor-degree from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien (MUK) and is currently teaching Pop-Keyboard and Production at the Gustav Mahler Privatuniversität (GMPU) in Klagenfurt.
Through the mixture of different influences from jazz, classical music,
Armenian folk music and electronic elements, Erik created his own,
individual musical language. He can be heard in many projects such as the
Joander Cruz Quartet or in his collaboration EXEA with the Iranian singer EMMA, in which he mainly acts as an producer and sound-designer. With this project they could celebrate great achievements, as they were invited to perform in San Francisco, LA and London.
Latest Releases:
EP „The Last One“ with EXEA, 2023
EP „Run Away With You“ with EXEA, 2023
EP „Cookin‘ Up“ with LOKY, 2023
Album „Native“ with the Joander Cruz Quartet, 2023
Nina Feldgrill (*1999, Vienna)
Nina Feldgrill is a Viennese electric bass player. She studied BA Jazz-Bass at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien (MUK) and is currently pursuing her Masters at the Jam Music Lab University, where she is honored with an overall-scholarship.
Nina has been collaborating with musicians from the Austrian Jazz-scene such as Thomas Kugi, Herwig Gradischnig, Oliver Gattringer, Mario Gonzi, John Arman etc. in different kinds of projects, such as the Werner Feldgrill Project or George Benson Collaboration since the age of 15.
She is currently part of several projects such as VIBERQUEEN, founded by
Austrian vocalist Magdalena Hahnkamper, Planet Yoni, founded by Australian saxophonist Alana McPherson and is collaborating with the famous Iranian singer EMMA. Besides river she also leads the duo-project Unterköfler/Feldgrill.
Awards:
Oe1 Jazz-Scholarship (2024)
2nd place „arte4artists“ Scholarship – river (2023)
Latest Releases:
EP “Papageier Playa” by VIBERQUEEN, (Unit Records) 2024
EP “Indigo” by VIBERQUEEN (Unit Records), 2024
EP “Kraftkonsum” by VIBERQUEEN, (Unit Records), 2024
EP “Turn Left” by Unterköfler/Feldgrill, (Rote Welt Records), 2023
EP “Who Knew?” by Unterköfler/Feldgrill, (Rote Welt Records), 2022
Simon Springer (*1991, Innsbruck)
Simon Springer is an Austrian drummer. He holds a Master from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien (MUK).
Simon is a big part of the Austrian Jazz, Fusion and Contemporary Music- scene (Jakob Zimmermann Trio, Gene Pritsker, Rens Newland, etc.) as well as the Austrian Pop-scene (Wolfgang Ambros, Gert Steinbäcker, Franz Morak, etc.) and has been performing all over the world (Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Poland, Romania, USA, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India)
Awards:
Winner of the Hansjürg Hensler Jazz Award (GER) with Tiktaalik (2018)
First place with distinction at the 1st Tyrolean Drummer Contest (2016)
Best Newcomer at the academy of the MeranOJazz Festival, Italy (2014)
Young Master of the Outreach Music Academy (2011)
Latest Releases:
Album „Singles, Grooves & Memories“ with Rens Newland (Jive Music), 2022
Album „Resistance“ with Jakob Zimmermann Trio, Edition Oe1 (ORF), 2021
EP „Be Yourself“ with KØLEEN, 2021
Album „Blues Indeed“ with Rens Newland & Fuse Bluezz (Jive Music), 2021
Photos
