Kilian Kemmer Trio - Und Zarathustra Tanzte (CD)

Release Date: 04/23/21

Nietzsche's idea of the 'eternal return' inspired pianist and philosopher Kilian Kemmer to write this album

'I find the idea that I have to live this life, as I live and have lived it now, once again and countless times, extremely fascinating,' Kemmer says. 'Who can say that with complete conviction?'
In musical aphorisms, the trio takes up various facets and motifs of the idea. The pieces are called, for example, the 'Eternal Return', 'Shepherd' or 'On Blissful Islands'. The trio also sets a poem by Nietzsche to music: 'The Other Dance Song'. And what many do not know: Nietzsche himself sat at the piano and composed. Kemmer interprets his piece 'Das Fragment an sich' in a short solo fragment in his very own way.
'In all the pieces, there is a central idea,' Kemmer says. 'I read `Thus Spoke Zarathustra` in such a way that Zarathustra does not allow himself to be crushed by this very heavy thought of the eternal return. On the contrary, he grasps it as the most divine thought that makes him dance.' And so the only jazz standard on the album fits the program perfectly: 'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got the Swing' by Duke Ellington.
In a review of the magazine 'Jazzthing' it says about the debut album 'Jetzt Und In Echt' by Kilian Kemmer, released in 2018: 'this is jazz to come down and enjoy, which is characterized by a timeless quality.' And the 'Jazzpodium' attests: 'The music (...) makes you forget the time, makes you aware of the quality that harmony and slowness can have. Kilian Kemmer leads his music sometimes minimalistic, sometimes lyrical, but then again with a lot of energy, back to the roots, to storytelling, to forgetting time, to euphony, to real life beyond all unreal time.'
Perhaps what 40-year-old Kilian Kemmer plays and writes is the balance for his other life - he earned a doctorate in philosophy and is now employed in human resources at a large company. But music has never played a minor role in his life. Kemmer was classically trained, and when it came to jazz, he learned as a student of Leonid Chizhik.