in the midst of the first year of the pandemic, we, the pascal klewer bigband, played a concert at the khg church in köln in october of 2020.

after the initial concert series "pascal klewer bigband meets" in 2019 and 2020 with 6 different programs and musical guests/heroes, those being peter brötzmann, evan parker, kit downes, christopher dell, christian lillinger and pablo held, this was the first band-only program since our debut record "chasing memories" on unit records, that we've recorded in april of 2018.

to feature the band, and all the strong soloists, i had the huge pleasure to arrange some of the music of my dear friends and colleagues playing in the band.

now while we've already recorded another album in november of 2021, listening back to this concert, i´ve felt that it strongly represents the process that the concert series had on us, as well as the exciting, and back then new, feeling of playing rubatesk without myself conducting.

so I hope you can enjoy those two tracks from this concert as much as i still do.

the first tune "choral in e", a simple choral for piano, with beautiful lyrics by lina knörr, represents the "painful realization of the truth".
it still means a lot for me emotionally, as i initially wrote it in the night after a recording session, for my back then partner and closest companion.
only a few months later i played it at again at the funeral of my grandfather.
this piece is connected to loss.

the second tune "argi epela" is a beautiful composition my dear friend florian fries, who is also featured on this one. it means "warm light", which i tried to replicate with the arrangement. it was a first experiment in playing without conducting and without anyone clearly leading, just playing together, like in a small group context, a concept we regularly use these days.
this tune and the recording gives me comfort and hope.
i feel incredibly privileged and grateful for the amazing friends and super inspiring musicians in this band, ever growing and redefining the concept of bigband together.
each note that i write for these incredible musicians sounds immediately better, fuller, more touching and special than i could ever have imagined.