Phil   Stöckli   was   born   1973   in   Basel,   Switzerland   and   started   playing   alto   saxophone   at   age   thirteen.   1993,   Phil   moved   to   Boston   and   enrolled   at Berklee   College   of   Music.   His   teachers   included   Joe   Viola,   George   Garzone,   Hal   Crook   and   Ed   Tomasi,   among   others.   In   addition,   he   studied privately with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi for about three years. Phil   was   working   with   different   local   Boston   bands   in   styles   ranging   from   R&B,   Blues,   Top40,   Jazz,   Funk   or   Reggae   -   and   founded   1995   the   Phil Stöckli   sextet,   which   subsequently   played   a   few   concerts   in   Switzerland.   In   1996,   tours   to   Turkey, Argentina   and   Brazil   followed   with   the   Sanlikol Group   under   Mehmet Ali   Sanlikol. .   He   also   worked   on   Carnival   Cruise   ships   in   the   Caribbean   and   with   Boston   local   legend   "Little   Joe"   Cook.       In 1997,   he   received   his   Bachelor's   degree   "Magna   cum   laude"   from   Berklee   College.   In   1998,   he   recorded   his   first   album   "The   Horizon"   for   the BRAMBUS   label   with   Swiss   Flügelhornist   and   ENJA   recording   artist   Franco   Ambrosetti.    Trumpeter   Matthieu   Michel   (Vienna   Art   Orchestra) replaced   Ambrosetti   on   the   following   two   tours   through   Switzerland   and   Italy.   In   the   fall   1999,   Phil   moved   to   New   York   City   where   he   performed with   musicians   such   as   Mike   Moreno ,   Matt   Penman,    Jochen   Rueckert,    Pete   Rende ,   Jeff   Ballard ,   Guillerme   Monteiro ,   Anat   Cohen,   and   many more. During the four years in New York, Phil studied privately with Dick Oatts,   Vincent Herring and Steve Slagle . Phil   released   his   second   album   "Third   Eye"   2003   on   the   Fresh   Sound   New   Talent      label   featuring   all   original   compositions.   The   band   consisted   of Jeff   Ballard    (Chick   Corea,   Kurt   Rosenwinkel)   on   drums,   Matt   Penman    (Rosenwinkel,   Chris   Cheek)   on   bass,   Pete   Rende    (Chris   Cheek)   on   piano and Mike Moreno (Jeff Watts, Greg Osby) on guitar. Apart   from   freelancing,   Phil   became   a   member   of   the   Haitian   Band   "System   Band" .   With   them   and   other   Haitian   bands,   he   did   many   recordings and   performances   from   Haiti,   Montreal,   Boston,   Chicago,   Philadelphia,   Washington,   Miami,   Orlando,   to   the   Bahamas,   New   York   and   Paris.   In 2001   Phil   played   concerts   with   his   Quintet      at   the   "MIDEM"   in   Cannes   (France),   and   in   Switzerland.   In   the   fall   of   2003,   Phil   returned   permanently to his home country Switzerland to study Psychology graduating 2009 with a Masters degree and 2014 with a PhD. In   2006,   Phil   started   the   project   “Intuition” ,   commemorating   the   music   of   Lennie   Tristano   with   old   friend   pianist   Michel   Beck.    Using   Tristanos compositions,   they   put   together   a   program   of   contemporary   arrangements   and   added   about   a   half   dozen   of   their   original   compositions.   The   band members    were    saxophonist    Domenic    Landolf ,    bassist   Andreas    Zitz    and    drummer    Elmar    Frey,     respectively    Claudio    Strüby.    The    collective consequently released a CD titled “ Lennies line ” on the Altrisuoni label. Phil   has   performed   with   Jeff   Ballard,      Mike   Moreno,   Matt   Penman, ,   Benny   Golson,   Phil   Woods,   Dusko   Goykovich,   Buddy   deFranco,   Matthieu Michel,   Franco   Ambrosetti,   Roman   Schwaller,   Bernardo   Bosisio ,   Nico   Assumpção,    Kiko   Freitas ,   Carlos   Bala      Brad   Leali,   Don   Friedman,   "Little Joe" Cook and "The Dells". Apart   from   playing   music,   Phil   has   been   working   since   2000   as   a   regular   writer   for   the   Swiss   Jazz   Magazine   "Jazz'n   More" .   Since   2009,   Phil's main focus shifted onto Psychology where he holds a phD and he is working as a Psychotherapist in his own practice .