Skip to main content
Lariza, LOFT
Photo: Lariza © Sophie Hegewald

LOFT

Lariza

Lena-Larissa Senge - Gesang, Synthesizer Lorenz Schönle - Saxophon, Flöte, EWI, Gesang Raissa Mehner - Gitarre, Elektronik, Gesang Duy Luong - Bass, Elektronik Lukas Schwegmann - Schlagzeug, Elektronik

Lena-Larissa Senge - Gesang, Synthesizer Lorenz Schönle - Saxophon, Flöte, EWI, Gesang Raissa Mehner - Gitarre, Elektronik, Gesang Duy Luong - Bass, Elektronik Lukas Schwegmann - Schlagzeug, Elektronik

(english: see below)

.

Das Quintett Lariza um die Bandleaderin und Sängerin Lena-Larissa Senge (Deutscher Jazzpreis 2023 / Luah) webt mit intuitivem Gespür für Dynamik und Textur musikalische Erzählungen, die tief unter die Haut gehen. Mit Fingerspitzengefühl erschaffen die fünf Musiker*innen ausgefeilte Songs, denen eine unbeschwerte Leichtigkeit und gleichzeitig eine immense Tiefe und Resonanz innewohnt. Die Musiker*innen bedienen sich dabei ihrer Stimmen sowie einer Vielzahl von Instrumenten und Möglichkeiten der elektronischen Klangerzeugung und -verfremdung. Fließend wechseln sie ihre Rollen im Bandgefüge, gehen Verbindungen ein, lösen sich voneinander und treten solistisch hervor, um schon im nächsten Moment wieder eins zu werden mit dem farbenreichen Klanggewebe, das sie im gemeinsamen Spiel erschaffen.

https://www.lenasenge.com/projekte/lariza/

Auf dem Programm des heutigen Abends stehen Stücke der jüngsten Veröffentlichung Luminance, sowie neue Stücke. Luminance (Unit Records, 2024) führt in unberührte Landschaften und unergründliche Sphären. Jeder Song des neuen Albums der Band Lariza beschreibt eine eigene Welt voller Klang, Licht und Schatten. Melodien und Geräusche verschmelzen zu rätselhaften Formen, die Orte von scheinbar vollkommener Dunkelheit erleuchten. Vor dem inneren Auge erscheinen enge Räume und endlose Weiten, entstehen Gefühle von Einsamkeit und Hoffnung. Melodien drängen in das Bewusstsein, zart und doch kraftvoll. Ruhiges Glimmen verwandelt sich in tanzendes Feuer. Alles leuchtet. Mit dem neuen Album öffnet die Band ein Fenster zu ihrer künstlerischen Entwicklung der letzten Jahre und gewährt Einblicke in ihre eigene Version von Contemporary Jazz. Die Songs von Luminance handeln von Lebensmut („Morass”) und Zukunftsträumen („Altitude Angle”), von Entscheidungszwängen („In the Swirl”) und der Komplexität menschlicher Beziehungen („The Maze”). Auch gesellschaftliche Themen wie Klimaschutz und Emanzipation werden in Songs wie „White Lake” und „Agoraphobia” aufgegriffen. Der Albumtitel „Luminance” symbolisiert die innere Leuchtkraft und die positive Zuwendung zum Leben, die letztlich triumphiert.

Das neue Album der Band Lariza lädt dazu ein, dem Neuen unvoreingenommen gegenüberzutreten und im Unbekannten Freiräume für individuelle Interpretationen zu finden. Luminance ist ein Sinneserlebnis, das die Zuhörer:innen in eine Welt leuchtender Klänge entführt.

Klingt so: https://youtu.be/jQXTk_Q7Rg0

Lena-Larissa Senge - vocals, synthesizer Lorenz Schönle - saxophone, flute, EWI, vocals Raissa Mehner - guitar, electronics, vocals Duy Luong - bass, electronics Lukas Schwegmann - drums, electronics

.

The Lariza Quintet, led by bandleader and singer Lena-Larissa Senge (2023 German Jazz Prize / Luah), weaves musical narratives that get right under your skin with an intuitive sense of dynamics and texture. With great sensitivity, the five musicians create sophisticated songs that possess a carefree lightness and, at the same time, immense depth and resonance. The musicians draw on their voices as well as a wide variety of instruments and techniques for electronic sound generation and manipulation. They fluidly shift their roles within the band’s structure, forming connections, breaking away from one another, and stepping forward as soloists - only to become one again in the very next moment with the richly colored tapestry of sound they create through their collective playing.

The evening's program features tracks from their latest release, Luminance, as well as new pieces. Luminance (Unit Records, 2024) leads listeners into untouched landscapes and unfathomable realms. Each song on Lariza’s new album depicts a world of its own, filled with sound, light, and shadow. Melodies and sounds merge into enigmatic forms that illuminate places of seemingly utter darkness. In the mind’s eye, confined spaces and endless expanses appear, evoking feelings of loneliness and hope. Melodies push their way into consciousness, delicate yet powerful. A quiet glow transforms into a dancing fire. Everything glows.

With their new album, the band opens a window onto their artistic development over the past few years and offers insights into their own take on contemporary jazz.

The songs on Luminance explore the courage to face life (Morass) and dreams of the future (Altitude Angle), the pressures of decision-making (In the Swirl), and the complexity of human relationships (The Maze). Social issues such as climate protection and emancipation are also addressed in songs like White Lake and Agoraphobia. The album title Luminance symbolizes inner radiance and a positive outlook on life, which ultimately triumphs.

Lariza’s new album invites listeners to approach the new with an open mind and to find space for individual interpretations within the unknown. Luminance is a sensory experience that transports listeners into a world of luminous sounds.

Further information

Venue:

LOFT

The LOFT in Cologne's Ehrenfeld district is exactly what its name suggests: a spacious loft on the top floor of a former perfume factory. Since 1989 it has been home to the city's musical avant-garde as well as a scene hub and a jazz laboratory for students.

Over those decades it has grown into a respected stage for improvised music, contemporary music, and jazz, with a reputation reaching well beyond Germany. Most of the Cologne jazz musicians who have made their mark nationally and internationally in the past thirty years took their first career steps here, among them Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, Angelika Niescier, Frank Gratkowski, Robert Landfermann, Pablo Held, and Sebastian Sternal.

The Cologne Triennale, WDR, and Deutschlandfunk stage concerts and recordings at the LOFT, and the venue has been invited to the Moers Festival five times. Its own label, 2ndFloor, releases selected recordings, and more than 1,000 live and studio productions made in the LOFT studio have appeared on other labels. Supported by the association 2ndFloor e. V. and the collective jungesloft, it presents over 200 events a year.

Top-tier instruments – including a Steinway D grand, one of the finest concert pianos in any German jazz club – a professional recording studio with award-winning engineers, and the room's distinctive atmosphere have drawn many prominent guests, from Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, and Peter Brötzmann to Kurt Rosenwinkel, Marilyn Crispell, and Jim Black. Still, the programming focus remains on supporting Cologne's own musicians.

Since 2009 the LOFT has received the NRW venue programming award every year, an honor that specifically recognizes work with emerging regional artists. In 2016 the British Guardian named it one of the ten best jazz clubs in Europe, and at the German Jazz Prize it was voted "Club/Venue of the Year" in 2021 and again in 2023 — a category decided not by the expert jury but directly by the more than 1,300 members of the German Jazz Union.

more info

More dates at LOFT: