Award
Scarf producer Eva Klesse receives SWR Jazz Prize
The drummer Eva Klesse receives the SWR Jazz Prize 2021. Photo: Sally Lazic / SWR / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The drummer likes strange stories, says the tribute. With her instrument, which has long since ceased to be a “rhythm servant”, she weaves her own colors into the sound carpet.
Sounds, melodies, emotions – the drummer Eva Klesse loves the overall musical experience, the togetherness in the sound. Next Monday, the professor at the Hanover Music, Theater and Media University will receive the SWR Jazz Prize.
The prize, awarded jointly with the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is endowed with 15,000 euros and is the oldest jazz prize in Germany.
“Resolutely haunting – that’s how you could describe Eva Klesse’s sound,” said the SWR about the decision in favor of the award winner. “On the drums it is important to have a balance, between rhythm and melody, between large gestures and small details, between energy and calm.” As a composer, she has “a great narrative talent and a weakness for the musical arrangement of strange stories”.
This can be heard, for example, on the latest album by the Eva Klesse Quartet with pieces such as “Brushing Hippopotami”. According to the musician, this composition arose from a dream in which she brushed a little hippo with a toothbrush.
“In jazz, the moment is very much celebrated and celebrated,” said the musician before the award ceremony in an interview with the German press agency. “It can sound completely different again in the next concert.” Because this always depends on the respective space and audience, “we’re glad that we can play in front of an audience again”. The drums have freed themselves from being merely a “rhythm servant” and contribute to the overall picture of a piece with their special colors.