Philipp Rüttgers Trio: ‘Etudes of Shapes and Forms’

Palette of emotions

"Imagine that you are under a blue sky, drinking cold water and watching a David Lynch film: this is what the music sounds like," says Philipp Rüttgers about his new album Etudes of Shapes and Forms. The pianist took ideas from masterpieces by innovative composers such as Ligeti, Schönberg and Debussy. With this, he portrays various emotions, from joy and excitement to relaxation.

Philipp Rüttgers

Pianist and composer Philipp Rüttgers, of German descent, has been active in Dutch jazz for fifteen years. He formed an acoustic piano trio for his new album with two leading instrumentalists: Sun-Mi Hong on drums and Thomas Pol on double bass. In addition to classical work, the music is inspired by improvising pianists such as Craig Taborn and Kris Davis and by the visual arts of Escher and Philipp's late father Ralph Klaus, alias Tom Fleischhauer, whose work appears on the cover of Etudes of Shapes and Forms. The album will be released this spring on ZenneZ Records.