Clemens Christian Poetzsch Plays Sven Helbig
Musicians Clemens Christian Poetzsch and Sven Helbig met in 2008 at Dresden’s conservatory, where Helbig taught drums and Poetzsch studied the piano. They played in the same Jazz trio, jamming to Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus every Sunday at the city’s famous Blue Note club.
After 10 years of developing their distinct solo work, the old friends rekindled for this special album where Poetzsch unravels the role of the interpreter masterfully.
“We both share a passion for the extravaganzas of the piano gods, but also for the unique aesthetics that jazz pianists bring to the instrument, and we can also get lost in electronic music from the ambient and experimental world.” -Helbig
On January 31st, this intimate and melancholic album sees Poetzsch play a selection of Sven Helbig's most moving and personal tracks. Having made a name for himself with his solo piano work, Clemens is known for a style marked by freedom and experimentation which seamlessly blends his passion for different genres of music, which includes: classical, jazz and electronic.
What are your greatest inspirations and influences Clemens?
My grandpa was an opera singer and when he retired he led a choir of enthusiastic amateur singers. Every Thursday there would be rehearsals. When I was 7 years old, he took me to the rehearsals and I sat at the back and listened to the music. Individual voices, different melodies were first sung alone and then brought together. A combination of energy, passion, and interaction - sometimes people sang so loud that the room shook. I found that unbelievable and today I often think of it when I compose.
What do you think, what are the biggest challenges of the music industry today?
As a composer and performer, I find more and more that music develops best and most naturally if you give it the time it needs. It dictates its own pace - I guess it's the same thing in other art forms. It's important to keep the music away from all the hustle and bustle and it's a challenge to find a setting where that’s possible. I am very happy to be in a setting like this right now.
I'd love to hear a bit more about your creative process while working on the album.
Sven and I have known each other for a long time, we met at the Musikhochschule Dresden, where he was a drum teacher and I studied piano and composition. He asked me if I wanted to play in his jazz trio and then we regularly played together in the Blue Note Jazz Club in Dresden. Then we lost sight of each other but still pursued our own careers. Sven has published works for orchestra, choir and electronics, I have released my own albums as a solo pianist. I am a great admirer of Sven's music and when he asked me to record his compositions on the piano it was a big honor for me. The creative process was very exciting. He sent me the pieces one after another, without a precise explanation of what the pieces were about. He wanted me to create my own interpretation of them. We made some notes during this process which we then brought together in the recording days - a kind of diary that accompanies each piece. The album became what we intended: you hear one half Sven and one half myself.
what about the visual aspect of your work? How important are visuals for your performance?
For me it's very important, visuals inspire me when I write for film and for my own albums.
The common theme of “Remember Tomorrow” visual language is a feeling of déjà-vu, which I created together with the Spanish film director David Campesino. David’s poetic-morbid images inspired me a lot. The focus of this new album was the path that takes a composition to its interpretation. If you look closely, you will recognize references from Glenn Gould to Bill Evans in the black and white aesthetics. For these musicians, interpretation and composition was a big issue. The idea of bringing our notes together also continues through the booklet, our social media channels and a documentary in which we talk about music. In the end, music and visualization play together and form an image.
How was it to collaborate with Sven Helbig on your latest album?
Playing his compositions on the piano, and getting full confidence and trust in my interpretation is a great honor. His compositions are played all over the world, he has written for so many different ensembles - It was an exciting learning process for me. The way we worked together gave the album facets that both of us didn't plan or expect, but hoped for. And it goes on: We're going to play some exclusive concerts and festivals together and I'm excited to see where the journey takes us.
How is playing live different for you from playing in the studio?
It's totally different, but it’s exactly that difference that makes it so appealing. In the studio, you compress a feeling, and in the concert, you bring the composition back to life, you decompress the feeling. And this is where it gets exciting, because it is unpredictable. How is the audience today, how close is it to you, how is the piano, how is the sound? You only have one chance in a concert, it's like a ski jump. Exciting for artists and audiences in the same way. You also don't know exactly how your recordings will be heard, you are not there - in a concert, this moment merges in seconds.
Something special your planning to do in 2020?
I’m going to spend some time in Japan next year. It is important for me to stay there for a while to get to know the country and its people better. After the concerts, there isn’t enough time for all of this usually so I want to change that.
