The Jazztett Forum Graz was founded at the end of 1993 by Berndt Luef as an ensemble variable in instrumentation, which is to develop its musical identity not only by working out special compositions and improvisations, but also through discussions and exchange of opinions among the musicians.

The Jazztett Forum Graz project is a kind of musical antithesis to the process of separation that has also found its way into the work of composers and instrumentalists in jazz. The music of the group is supposed to guarantee a communication that is created by the willingness and the will of the musicians to develop the different opinions and ideas into common listening images, into a same wavelength. In the music of the Jazztett Forum Graz more should be made audible than interesting sounds and technically refined cabinet pieces. It should contribute to the understanding of the musicians among themselves and with the audience.

Berndt Luef deliberately wanted to work with a large ensemble, knowing full well how difficult it is to organize concerts for such groups, even with an independent program. Due to the often precarious financial situation of the musicians (and also of the organizers), there are a lot of trios and quartets in jazz, on the other hand there are the big bands which are often supported by municipalities, but which usually play a very catchy program.

In the late capitalist society, the music has become more than ever a commodity always available due to the technical development, which has been extremely commercialized by the concentration of the industry and the media. The powerful recording companies with their profit orientation and the audiovisual media (but also the radio stations) with their quota mentality flood the audience with a concentrated load of sprinkling and distraction music, coupled with an increasingly grotesque star cult.

For Berndt Luef and his fellow musicians, this means always being aware of the danger of being sucked in and not following the prevailing fashion and originality models in their work. They try to live and organize counter-concepts and to take a stand on current political events. Hence their examination of the war in the former Yugoslavia in "Bosnian Tragedy" and the reappraisal of Austrian history during the Nazi dictatorship in "Epitaph".

And therefore also the collaboration with "non-jazz people" such as the large brass band St. Ulrich and the local culture house. Or the collaboration with the painter Viktoria Dusleag, who designed the cover picture of all CDs since the production "Deviation" from the 2000s. Berndt Luef's compositions are also often musical narratives, as in the instrumental fairy tale "Snowman's tales," his musical travelogues, and the humorous confrontations with the Graz public transport system and the ÖBB.