Awakening Lennart Allkemper

• 1Awakening05:31
• 2Blossom07:45
• 3Bottrop07:32
• 4Down The Vortex06:11
• 5Ginseng06:12
• 6Streetlights In Paris07:41
• 7Rear Up08:56
• 8Haboob06:40
• 9Red Sky04:15
• 10Shimmering Surface06:13
• 11Spring07:37
• 12Steigerlied02:23
• Total Runtime01:16:56

Info for Awakening

Debut album from German saxophonist and composer Lennart Allkemper. The quartet on 'Awakening' is extremely grounded over long stretches, taking time for improvisations that often begin with the smallest motivic work and steadily increase dynamically and emotionally. There are also metrical changes, but there is no trace of ostentatious complexity, on the contrary: much, if not everything, flows...

Listening to the twelve tracks (all penned by the leader) is fun. Undoubtedly a lot of pieces, but they don't tempt Lennart Allkemper to something, which is the problem with many a debut: namely the (understandable) temptation to want to pack everything into it. Even though each composition reveals a different facet and tells a different story, Awakening as a whole is cohesive and homogeneous.

The rhythm section also has roots in the west of the republic. Bassist Stefan Rey - like Allkemper - occasionally fills in with the WDR Big Band. Drummer Niklas Walter is originally from Hamm and has already played with Allkemper in the Jugendjazzorchester NRW and is also an occasional "sub" for the WDR Big Band. Pianist Billy Test is an American from Philipsburg/Pennsylvania, but has been a permanent member of the Cologne-based WDR Big Band since 2018.

Lennart Allkemper, saxophone
Billy Test, piani, Fender Rhodes
Stefan Rey, double bass, e-bass
Niklas Walter, drums

Lennart Allkemper
Cologne-based saxophonist and composer Lennart Allkemper (*1992) discovered his passion for music at an early age. At the age of just 12, he won 1st prize in the soloist category of the NRW state competition Jugend Jazzt on the alto saxophone, which was followed by two more 1st prizes when he switched to the tenor saxophone. As a result, he became a permanent member of the Jugendjazzorchester NRW at the age of 15, with which he won the WDR Jazz Prize in 2013. At the same time, he began studying at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, where he studied for six semesters with Prof. Matthias Nadolny and Prof. Ansgar Striepens. After graduating from high school, Lennart studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne with Prof. Wolfgang Engstfeld and Claudius Valk (graduating in 2017 with top marks) and in the meantime spent a semester at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam as part of the European ERASMUS program.

This album contains no booklet.