Lukas DeRungs
Lukas DeRungs
WAKE – Lukas DeRungs
Lukas DeRungs’ new album WAKE is released by BERTHOLD records on 28th February 2025. The lineup: Immy Churchill (UK) – vocals; Karim Saber (UK) – guitar; Jonas Esser (USA) – drums; Jan Dittmann (GER) – double bass; Lukas DeRungs (GER) – piano, composition.
„The moment you make music, everything makes sense; there are no questions—only before and after,“ says Lukas DeRungs whose sense of creative tension and music dynamic has made his second album WAKE an “extraordinary sound world” (Beat Blaser, Aargauer Zeitung). His jazz music is lyrical and grooves.
Whereas his highly successful previous album KOSMOS was conceptual and controlled, DeRungs says of his new recording, “I was far more spontaneous. I often overthink and over philosophise, but it was nice here with WAKE to be more intuitive.” Indeed, the album title came from a feeling, an ambiguity as in the track Wake. “I like double meanings,” says the composer. “You have to guess; it could be waking up or it could refer to a wake when someone dies. The title just came to mind when I was writing the music, and it was right for the track and the whole album.”
The overall instrumentation and use of instruments is highly individual, with much improvisation and risk taking, not least by the London based guitarist Karim Saber. On the track Inner Cell Flux DeRungs displays his hidden talent – beatboxing to his own piano playing.
Immy Churchill’s warm and expressive voice is also used as an instrument, and the young British singer is an excellent poet. “I sent Immy two of the melodies,” explains DeRungs. “She finds the lyrics by relating vowel sounds to the music, which works well. When she sings them, it’s amazing.” In Ophelia, Churchill tells and sings a compelling story of the tragic figure, which, for DeRungs, gives his music a whole new meaning.
The creative process in other tracks was quite different, with texts from Constanze Zacharias (the performance, visual, and sound artist) coming first. “I changed the words quite a lot whilst writing the music. In Colours, for example, I had to ask her permission to use my changes, and we came to a mutually agreed compromise.” The results are stunning and compelling.
Above all the band is a creative collaboration between friends and musicians. The project was born out of live gigs – a nine concert tour in Germany and the UK. “I was surprised by how much people liked the music, with standing ovations” recalls DeRungs. “Someone in one audience said, we saved his year. He came to the gig and felt motivated and confident again. Quite a compliment. Then we were invited to play in his art gallery.” After the tour the band went straight into the studio to record.
DeRungs compositions, some of which are purely instrumental with no lyrics, reflect influences from classical choral music, groove, and contemporary jazz from Europe, the USA, and the Middle East. His piano playing forms the framework for a world of sound in which each band member improvises.
Alongside DeRungs, Churchill and Saber, Dortmund-born bassist Jan Dittmann, and drummer Jonas Esser, who lives in New York, complete the band. The album also features three guests, prominent figures from the European jazz scene: Rainer Böhm on piano, Bodek Janke on tabla, and Johannes Stange on flugelhorn and trumpet. When playing, the band members listen, interact and collectively shape the bandleader’s compositions, from the evocative songs to rhythmically intricate interlocking structures. The playing is subtle, yet powerful, merging into a compact, complex, yet highly entertaining sound.
Ian Bild. 29.12.2024
