Air by Philip Zoubek Solo

In 2001, when Philip Zoubek began his jazz studies at the academy in Cologne, he was particularly fascinated by free improvisation. Specifically, he was taken by music that broke with the traditional division of roles and the function of instruments, music which encompassed expanded techniques in its sound design. By then, Zoubek had already gained experiences with various forms of free music, notably free jazz. Through these engagements he realised that the piano, with its quantised temperament, often seemed like a foreign body in relation to the advanced variations that other instruments were capable of. Thus, with the utmost ingenuity, he began manipulating the piano’s interior with diverse materials. Using different objects he either applied them directly to animate the chords or, like Cage, placed them in-between the chords. In the course of this process of sound research he became aware of the orchestral possibilities of prepared piano: it could, for example, sound like a gamelan orchestra, or like a synthesizer, a percussion ensemble or like Xenakis-inspired glissandi. And something else became clear to him:

“(…) that I thereby created an open field for myself in which I could project into the prepared piano’s sound space everything I knew about music and in which I could ultimately find my own voice. But the internalisation of musical material is, as is often the case in music, only a vehicle for that which interests me most: to relay to the listeners my self-discovered emotional clarity, communication and transcendence.”

Over the years his set-up for preparations has continuously changed – and so has the music. »Air« is but an extract of this development. In contrast to his usual live concerts, which comprise improvisations of one or two pieces with developmental character, this recording features shorter and more concentrated pieces.

Philip Zoubek, Cologne based piano/synth player and composer.

philipzoubek.com