Lukas DeRungs KOSMOS SUITE feat. Jazzchor Freiburg

Lukas DeRungs, born in Freiburg in 1990 and living in Mannheim, is one of the most interesting young talents on the local jazz scene. He already won several competitions during his piano studies in Mannheim and London, and with his quintet he has proven on several stages how virtuosically he can translate a wide range of influences - from classical music to hip hop - into his jazz language. None other than Norma Winstone attested to the band's "fascinating compositions, outstanding instrumental playing and captivating vocals! This is music full of imagination, both tender and explosive. I absolutely loved it!" As we all know, you shouldn't rest on your laurels. And his latest project proves that Lukas DeRungs is by no means playing it safe: he has developed a highly complex, multi-layered composition for his quintet and together with the Freiburg Jazz Choir: Iridescent, polyphonic, spherical vocals, some of which drift into the atonal, unite with the bubbling improvisational energy of DeRung's quintet. This exerts a strong pull and is located somewhere "between 21st century jazz and Renaissance choral music, between pop song and avant-garde improvisation, between order and chaos", as one self-description puts it. "Kosmos Suite" is the title of the work, which is based on English texts and poems by contemporary authors. One of the poets and London-based musician is Immy Churchill. "I've never sung music like this before in my life, it's very challenging, but also very rewarding," says Churchill. It's about the really big themes, about transience and the meaning of existence, about darkness and light. "I've always been fascinated by philosophical ideas that deal with life and death," says DeRungs. "They are very basic human feelings that I have tried to express in this suite." The result is, to paraphrase Norma Winstone, quite fascinating.