Thomas Kugi was born 1964 in Villach, Carinthia, Austria. From 1984 on he studied Music in Vienna, Austria.
Within a few years he became one of the most flexible, valuable and busy Austrian saxophone players and arrangers with countless recordings in different styles, like Jazz, Funk, Pop, Latin Music, playing TV-Shows, theater-productions and concerts all over the world.
He has played with international superstars like Chaka Khan, The Pointer Sisters, Michel Camilo, The Surpremes, The Temptations, Gloria Gaynor, Omara Portuondo and Marianne Faithful,
Idries Muhammed, Adam Holtzman, Gene Jackson, Craig Harris, Kenny Davis, Matthew Garrison, Craig Harris, Mark Egan, Andy McKhee, Marco Minnemann, Keith Carlock, John Clark, Dave Taylor, Samuel Blaser,…
Thomas Kugi additionally was part of many famous Austrian music-projects, like Alegre Correa Group, Erich Kleinschuster Sextet, Marianne Mendt & Band, Erika Pluhar, Dancing Stars Orchester, Upper Austrian Jazz Orchester, Count Basic, Save The Robots, Ostinato, Outreach Orchestra, Dobrek-Brasil, Andre Heller, Kurt Ostbahn, Etta Scollo, Slow Club, Georg Danzer, Stella Jones, Georg Nussbaumer, Beat 4 Feet, Harald Juhnke, Bilgeri a.m.m.
He played the main part at recordings with Andre Heller, Kurt Ostbahn, Etta Scollo, Slow Club, Georg Danzer, Uwe Kröger, the young tenors, Stella Jones, Beat 4 Feet, Harald Juhnke, …
Thomas Kugi has played at international Jazz Festivals in Finnland, Poland, Mexico, Indonesia, South-Africa, USA, Germany, Switzerland, …
Teaching:
since 2011 Professor for jazz saxophon and Big Band at JAM Music Lab, Vienna, Austria
since 2008 Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Austria
Additionally: Workshops for jazz saxophon in Austria and abroad