Claus Raible
Claus Raible is a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader with a profound command of Modern Jazz and a distinctly contemporary artistic voice. For more than three decades, he has developed an international career as a performer, composer and bandleader, rooted in the history of the music yet firmly focused on the present.
His musical journey began early through radio and recordings, with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Art Tatum and Earl Hines among his formative influences. As a teenager, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk became fundamental reference points, while the radical explorations of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor expanded his understanding of freedom, sound, rhythm and form. His fascination with Bebop and the emerging Modern Jazz aesthetic became central to his artistic development.
After graduating with honors from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in 1992, Raible moved to New York City in 1995. There he immersed himself in the music firsthand, forming his own sextet with alto saxophonist Brad Leali and performing and recording with musicians including Ben Dixon, Manny Duran, Jimmy Lovelace and Jon Faddis. He also studied with the legendary pianist and educator Barry Harris, whose approach to harmony, improvisation, composition and arranging became an important influence. Jazz Hot portrait and interview
Since returning to Munich in 1998, Raible has maintained an active international career, collaborating with artists such as Jimmy Cobb, Benny Golson, Ed Thigpen, Andy Bey, Charles Davis, Herb Geller, Alvin Queen, Jesse Davis, Art Farmer and Mark Murphy, among many others. His work spans piano trios, small groups, sextets, quintets and large ensembles, including his acclaimed BOP-chestra, for which he created the complete arrangements. Jazzzeitung portrait.
As a composer and arranger, Raible brings the rhythmic force, harmonic sophistication and expressive urgency of Modern Jazz into the present. His music combines strong formal architecture with the freedom of improvisation, creating space for individual personalities to shape the music in real time.
Alongside his performance career, Raible teaches Jazz Piano and Jazz Combo at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and leads international workshops and clinics. Today, he continues to lead his own ensembles and develop new projects, including the Claus Raible Quintet featuring Brad Leali and Steve Fishwick.
His artistic philosophy is simple: continuity without imitation — taking a profound musical inheritance, making it personal, and bringing it fully into the present.
Reviews
Fugitive Figures
"Pianist Claus Raible thrills as always with his versatile keyboard magic. When Raible reaches for the full (...), it is always an event (...)"
Fugitive Figures
"So, this is how modern, contemporary bebop can sound: edgy in the intro, with all kinds of alienated quotes and broken expectations, then zippy in the finish, charming and relaxed grooving (...)"
Fugitive Figures
"(...) The eleven songs of Fugitive Figures radiate spirit and spirituality, joy of playing, and captivating unity. (...)"
Fugitive Figures
„ (…) Claus Raible develops a mature form of the trio at its best on our continent, without weakness, without concession to fashions, yielding nothing to the ease of the zeitgeist. (…) Claus Raible is one of those European miracles capable of making us dream that jazz is alive and kicking in Europe, and that it has a bright future ahead of it (...)“
TRIO!
“(...) Claus Raible has his own format as only a few internationally known artists in this genre have achieved. With his superlative technique and his smooth fluency, Raible’s style bursts with energy. (...)”
TRIO!
„(… )This is indeed Piano-Jazz-Trio music in its purest sense. Fresh and vibrant. Magnificent! (...)“
TRIO!
„(…) The incisiveness of Raible’s original compositions opens infinite possibilities for variations. Thus they reside seamlessly along side Monk’s classics. (...)“
TRIO!
„(…) An album of fluency and elegance that is thrilling from the very beginning. (…)“
TRIO!
„(…) Not in the least, Raible’s original compositions demonstrate his exceptional position. (...)“
TRIO!
„(…) Claus Raible is an exceptional pianist. He and his crew indeed really boil it down to the essence: swinging intensity and timeless relevance. (...)”
TRIO!
„(…) Spending an evening listening to Claus Raible must be a great experience that I wish to have soon in France (...) This is a fascinating recording, (...)there is no doubt that he is one of the players today. (…).“
TRIO!
„ (…) The climax of the album: Monk‘s „Round Midnight“. Rarely someone succeds to capture the essence of a composition and at the same time transfers it in such a distinct and exciting fashion into the present. (...)“
TRIO!
„(…) One of the most important living Bebop-pianists is revisiting the classic trio set up. To our and his own audible and live visible joy: Captivating, contemporary Bop (…). (Raible‘s) originals have what it takes to become as timeless, as is the music all together with it‘s freshness and originality. (...)“
Online Interviews / Reviews:
Jazz Hot (France)
review on „Searchin‘ For Hope“ and „Mo Is On“ - the Music of Elmo Hope“
2020
