In 2008 saxophonist / flutist Heinrich von Kalnein, drummer / electronic musician Gregor Hilbe and accordionist / pianist Christian Bakanic met for the first time starting to develop their own music mainly based on compositions by Heinrich and Christian. In 2008 they released their debut CD “Global Dialects”. German critic Martin Laurentius (Jazzthing Magazin) called it “a piece of luck!”. Maybe because of their very special instrumentation (accordion) especially „Global Dialects“ (2009 Intuition Music) had sort of a “world music” flavor. With their second production „Orbital Spaces“ (Natango Music 2012) KAHIBA delved into more open territory improvising freely with live electronics and two iPhone Apps developed by Peter Chilvers and Brian Eno. On their last album „The Sixth Sense“ (Natango Music 2014) they blended both worlds adding some high-energy jazz playing as well as the smooth and velvet sound of three trombones and tuba. Their current CD “The Neuroscience of Music” is the result of a mesmerizing live performance during the 2016 “Bayerisches Jazzweekend” festival in Regensburg, Germany and is scheduled for international release on March 19, 2018.

German saxophonist / flutist Heinrich von Kalnein has been an active force on the European scene for many years. In the 1990ies he got wider acclaim with his HvK Group (featuring  French guitarist Nguyên Lê among others) as well as the Indo-Jazz fusion project ‚Free Winds’. Tours to Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Mexico, the US and all over Europe followed. He performed on most European major festivals playing with some of the biggest names in Jazz.

Swiss drummer and sound designer Gregor Hilbe was a long time member of the now defunct Vienna Art Orchestra. For many years he worked in the electronic scenes in Paris and London. Next to KAHIBA he is performing worldwide with the ensembles Tangocrash, Swiss vocal artist Christian Zehnder and Johannes Enders “Enders Room”.

Austrian accordionist and pianist Christian Bakanic came to national fame with the ensembles Beefolk and Folksmilch and is one of the rising stars of the Austrian scene. He has a profound knowledge of the Argentinian tango. Besides being a virtuoso on all of his instruments and a fine composer in his own right he is leading his own ensemble Trio Infernal as well as lately performing with cellist / singer Marie Spaemann.

2016 the young Turkish pianist Anıl Bilgen replaced Christian. Anıl is a stunning virtuoso as well as a sensible and creative accompanist. With him KAHIBA is reaching out for new musical territory.