Christian Lillinger

drums

Christian Lillinger (b.1984), based in Berlin, is "a drummer of remarkable skill and vision." (Downbeat); "the man taking drumming to a higher level" (Die Zeit); "a completely new type of jazz drummer" (Der Spiegel). Winner of the Artist of the Year Award at the inaugural 2021 Deutscher Jazzpreis, and of prizes from broadcaster SWR and the German Record Critics, there is nobody else who plays the drums like Lillinger. With astonishing technical prowess, he builds polyrhythmic, multi-dimensional structures and incorporates his own concepts of time and metre into a unique coalescence.

And yet Christian Lillinger is about so much more than this: he finds a form of self-expression is both authentic and without restrictions. As instrumentalist, composer, producer and founder of his own label PLAIST, he is always striving to create the new – "hyper-real and genre-free music", as he has described it. His wide range of activity includes the avant-garde ensemble "Dell / Lillinger / Westergaard", the high-profile piano trio "Punkt.Vrt.Plastik", the duo "Tirap" alongside electro artist Johannes Brecht, and his international top-flight nonet "Open Form For Society".

"The Wire" magazine drew attention to Lillinger’s "intelligent, highly creative music that repays multiple listens." Indeed, anyone who listens, thinks and feels their way into his intricate world will be blown away by not just by Lillinger's feverish, electrifying playing and his urge to explore. They will also respond to his irrepressible will to tear down boundaries - and to the limitless flow of ideas between the musicians.