Pascal Klewer
Born in Groß-Gerau in 1997, he discovered the trumpet as a primary school pupil through an instrument carousel, and it has remained his instrument to this day. For many years he was a member of the state youth jazz orchestras of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and North Rhine-Westphalia, and in 2018/2019 he also played in the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Since 2015, Cologne has been the center of his life, where he studies with Niels Klein, Andy Haderer, and Jürgen Friedrich at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. As a composer and trumpeter, he is strongly influenced by Arnold Schoenberg, Kenny Wheeler, and Ornette Coleman. He organizes his own bands, such as the avant-garde trio Bräumer/Klewer/Eftychidou, the duo Evan Parker is my Hero with saxophonist Victor Fox, and the hip-hop brass band MOZAH. As a sideman, he plays in the Aurora Octet and the Shaikh9 Nonet, and of course regularly in new constellations with musicians from the Cologne scene. Tours have taken him throughout Europe and as far afield as China, the USA, Bolivia, and Canada. Particularly close to his heart is his Pascal Klewer Big Band, consisting of musicians from the Cologne, Mainz, Berlin, Essen, and Basel scenes, which performs exclusively his compositions with the aim of combining avant-garde but atypical big band soloists (e.g., Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Kit Downes, and Christian Lillinger) with the big band sound and all its possibilities.
He is organizing his first festival at LOFT in March 2020 with 222.
222 Festival – on March 9 and 10, 2020, starting at 7 p.m. each day
to the concert announcement on March 9th 2020
to the concert announcement on March 10th 2020
L: Organizing such a festival requires a lot of time and energy. What motivated you to organize this two-day program alongside your many other activities, and then present it at the LOFT?
P: When I was thinking about my bachelor’s degree in the middle of last year, I couldn’t decide on a band. I wanted to present my existing ensembles and also take advantage of the opportunity to stand on stage with my role models on such a day. This gave rise to the idea of organizing a professional festival where I could combine both and at the same time create a new concert experience. The experience of putting together such an event, acquiring funds, and designing and composing a transparent program is an additional challenge that is another learning process in my development. From the beginning, it was clear to me that I wanted to present this at the LOFT. Whether with a trio or a big band, I had and still have the opportunity to perform here, and there is no better place in Cologne, both acoustically (the best grand piano in town and optimal recording conditions thanks to the fantastic sound of the hall) and organizationally (the LOFT manages to put together an amazing program with concerts almost every day of the month and always has an open ear for the musicians), for which I am very grateful.
L: What was the main factor in your decision to choose the 222 program?
P: The number 222 stands for the following focal points. The first 2 obviously stands for the 2 days, i.e. the time frame in which the festival takes place. The second 2 stands for Cologne and Berlin, i.e. 2 for 2 cities. For years, Cologne and Berlin have been the two German jazz strongholds, with important artists shaping the scene, not least thanks to the Cologne University of Music and the Jazz Institute Berlin. The third 2 stands for 2 generations. The idea was to connect the generation above me, roughly +15-25 years old, which is currently shaping and revolutionizing the sound of European jazz (e.g., KLAENG Kollektiv, Pablo Held Trio, Christian Lillinger, Jazzkollektiv Berlin), with my generation and its highly active musicians in the two metropolises (including Future Bash series, SALOMEA, Johanna Summer).