Clemens Christian Poetzsch Plays Sven Helbig
Known for a style marked by freedom and experimentation — seamlessly blending classical, jazz, and electronic.
His compositions are played all over the world — written for orchestra, choir, and countless ensembles.
Two old friends. Ten years apart. One album where interpretation meets composition — and the result surprises both of them.
Clemens Christian Poetzsch and Sven Helbig met in 2008 at Dresden's conservatory, where Helbig taught drums and Poetzsch studied piano. They played in the same jazz trio, jamming to Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus every Sunday at the city's famous Blue Note club.
After ten years of distinct solo careers, the old friends rekindled for this special album — where Poetzsch unravels the role of the interpreter masterfully. He received Helbig's compositions one by one, without explanation. He was trusted to find his own meaning.
The result is what they intended: you hear one half Sven, and one half Clemens.
"We both share a passion for the extravaganzas of the piano gods, but also for the unique aesthetics that jazz pianists bring to the instrument — and we can also get lost in electronic music from the ambient and experimental world."
Your greatest inspirations and influences?
My grandpa was an opera singer — when he retired he led a choir of enthusiastic amateur singers. Every Thursday there would be rehearsals. When I was 7 years old, he took me and I sat at the back and listened to the music.
What are the biggest challenges of the music industry today?
As a composer and performer, I find more and more that music develops best and most naturally if you give it the time it needs. It dictates its own pace — I guess it's the same thing in other art forms.
Tell us about your creative process working on this album.
Sven and I have known each other for a long time. He asked me if I wanted to play in his jazz trio and then we regularly played together in the Blue Note Jazz Club in Dresden. Then we lost sight of each other — but still pursued our own careers.
I am a great admirer of Sven's music and when he asked me to record his compositions on the piano, it was a big honour for me. He sent me the pieces one after another, without a precise explanation of what they were about. He wanted me to create my own interpretation of them.
We made some notes during this process — a kind of diary that accompanies each piece. The album became what we intended: you hear one half Sven and one half myself.
How important are visuals for your performance and work?
For me it's very important — visuals inspire me when I write for film and for my own albums. The common theme of "Remember Tomorrow" visual language is a feeling of déjà-vu, created together with the Spanish film director David Campesino.
In the end, music and visualisation play together and form an image.
How is playing live different from the studio?
It's totally different — but it's exactly that difference that makes it so appealing. In the studio, you compress a feeling. In the concert, you bring the composition back to life — you decompress the feeling.
"In the studio, you compress a feeling. In the concert, you bring the composition back to life — you decompress it. And this is where it gets exciting, because it is unpredictable."
Clemens Christian PoetzschThe visual world of "Remember Tomorrow" was created with Spanish film director David Campesino, whose poetic-morbid images inspired Poetzsch deeply.
The black and white aesthetic deliberately references Glenn Gould and Bill Evans — two pianists for whom interpretation and composition were inseparable. The idea continues through the booklet, social media channels, and a documentary in which both musicians talk about music.
After the concerts, there isn't usually enough time to truly know a country. Poetzsch plans to change that — spending extended time in Japan, getting to know the country and its people beyond the rush of touring.
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