Tremendous the fruits of this German-English collaboration from Lukas DeRungs.
It arrives two years on from DeRungs’ Deutscher nominated debut, Kosmos Suite.
DeRungs – born in 1990 – studied jazz piano at the University of Mannheim and London’s Royal Academy of Music.
Contours and shapes of the music keep you guessing. I liked the added tabla dubbed in on Colours and in a bolt from the blue the John McLaughlin like electric guitar swagger of Londoner Karim Saber – one of the stand out new generation names on the febrile UK jazz scene to emerge last year.
Immy Churchill – daughter of pianist Nikki Iles and singer-pianist-professor Pete Churchill – is a revelation, moody and bluesy on In the Dark.
Grounding notes from pianist DeRungs that act as a rhythmic frame make ample use of some quartal harmony.
The DeRungs sound is so different. Complex, sure. But there’s no sense of Mondays overthinking because the emotions and sheer humanity of the expression shine through.
Churchill does brilliant vocalese against the guitar line on E Bright. Later on the same track Saber, again in the McLaughlin vein, wigs out. One – dearly dishevelled – to head bob, sans syrup or that bit more carefully avec, feck it, along to. It’s a great passage.
DeRungs who’s a fantastic writer shows his up tempo highly detailed chops on the intro to Inner City Flux.
Churchill does spoken word briefly – in other words goes in and out of what approximates to sprechgesang – which adds drama and a new point into the vocalese when it comes.
The vocal line is like an instrument riffing against piano and guitar.
Drummer Jonas Esser has more to do here and operates in a James Maddren-like space.
By contrast later on the dreamy Azimuth-like ‘London’ you get to hear his slowed down brushwork.
In terms of pulsating heat the longer of the Inner City Flux pieces factors this in and is the best track (trumpeter Johannes Stange adds to the sound fleetingly on this).
It is immediately followed (great contrast in terms of mood and tempo) by a very achey-not-too-breaky ballad Ophelia led off by the pianist. Highlights also include the dreamy, Bildungsroman quality of Goodbye Younger Self with its sumptuous piano intro and the Norma Winstone-esque quality of Churchill’s incredible vocal, her best contribution.
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