Projects

Theresia Philipp ( sax )
David Helm ( kb )
Thomas Sauerborn ( dr )

A distant call moves through the body. Can you hear the chaos? Have faith. Follow the sounds of footprints that turn into hooves and claws. They stomp, stamp, and caress the ground—sand becomes earth, becomes soil, becomes water, becomes warm wind on the skin.

POLLON is a project by Theresia Philipp (Cologne Jazz Prize 2020, WDR Jazz Prize 2022, German Jazz Prize 2024, Nica Artist Development), David Helm (Cologne Jazz Prize 2019, Arvore Foundation) and Thomas Sauerborn (Nica Artist Development). Their music is the poetic translation of a reality that can be grasped through the senses. On the one hand ,they improvise fearlessly and wildly, making their pieces both impulsive and dynamic, while on the other hand resonating with a gentle vulnerability that rounds off their compositions.

Since their formation in 2013, the trio has released three albums: Herb (2016), Pollon With Strings (2020), and △△△ (2022, nominated for the German Jazz Award for Best Album 2023). Their interplay, refined over many years, allows them to merge harmony and exuberance at every concert—the mysticism of their music is always palpable and audible.

Photo: c Florian Fries

Theresia Philipp ( sax, cl, comp. )
Lynn Cassiers ( voc, fx )
Shannon Barnett ( tbn, voc )
Keisuke Matsuno ( git, fx )
Robert Lucaciu ( db )
Kresten Osgood ( dr, voc )

Seeds of Sweat combines contemporary jazz with electroacoustic elements, carried by collective dynamics and improvisation. The sounds turn to each other, like the six musicians themselves—attentive and in constant exchange.

Theresia Philipp's compositions are inspired by the collective creative process and literary texts such as those by Ber Anena, Koleka Putuma, and Trinh T. Minh-ha. The poetry lends their music a special depth that does not shy away from the heaviness of the world, but rather negotiates it sensually and subtly, setting it in motion: instruments and vocals interweave like lines that arrange themselves into organic patterns or digress into wild improvisation and then dissolve again—experimental, yet improvisation, then dissolve again—experimental, yet accessible.

Her compositions oscillate between the exhaustion of daily struggles for solidarity and the expression of collective connectedness. The title stands for exactly that: Seeds of Sweat—sweat, commitment, perseverance.

Photo: c Niclas Weber

Theresia Philipp ( sax, cl, comp. )
David Helm ( kb )
Thomas Sauerborn ( dr )
Axel Lindner ( vln )
Axel Porath ( vla )
Elisabeth Coudoux ( cl )

Those who speak several languages may not always have to choose one of them. Perhaps the decision has already been made, for example, if one of the languages is their native language. But it is also possible to have several native languages and feel at home in a language that is ambiguous to others.

In some ways, this is similar to the situation that jazz musicians sometimes find themselves in. Depending on how you define jazz, it has different roots, some deeper than others. And you can only feel at home where there are multiple connections to multiple roots.

In Theresia Philipp's double trio pollon with strings, this simultaneous ambiguity quickly catches the eye and ear. However, it is by no means the case that the string trio refers to different musical roots than the jazz trio, which consists of saxophone/clarinet, bass, and drums. All six musicians are multilingual and therefore know exactly what to do. Sometimes it's an Eastern Orthodox hymn (“Trishagion”), sometimes an early Christian prayer (“Vaterunser”), sometimes pointillistic, nervous new music pizzicati (“Secret Reality Part I”), sometimes a sense of vertigo (‘Vertigo’) and sometimes truths that are anything but simple (“Simple Truth”).

Much of it is carefully composed and played with great discipline. Sometimes the music is full of open spaces, which are just as disciplined in their ambiguity and multilingualism. pollon with strings is not merely an addition of different elements, but a coming together, a musical event of great coherence, whose strengths lie in its ambiguity.

Hans Jürgen Linke

Photo: c Tino Kukulies

Theresia Philipp ( sax )
Jozef Dumoulin ( pn, fx )
Thomas Sauerborn ( dr )

An memorable journey of sound awaits music enthusiasts when the three musicians come together.

With their highly distinctive soundscape in “Losing Color”, the trio presents a fascinating musical fusion.

The compositions serve as a playing field and anchor, carried by a shared band sound. The result is an intimate interweaving that repeatedly flows into energetic passages and spans large arcs. Yet it never feels arbitrary. What stands out above all is the personal vibe, which embodies a mixture of science fiction, 80s space pop, and avant-garde jazz.