Keno Harriehausen Quartet: Record Release | LeipJAZZig

Many have tried to blend jazz and classical music. Most failed because of the theory. Keno Harriehausen takes a different approach: The Leipzig-based pianist, composer, and bandleader prioritizes the human experience over the musical challenge—and that’s exactly what makes the difference.

On his third album, *There For You*, Harriehausen explores one of the most intense phases of a person’s life: gratitude, humility, and pure joy at the moment when life begins anew. The album is dedicated to his newborn child and is also a gift to all those who stood by his family during a crucial moment. From this personal depth emerges music that embodies all its complex influences without ever becoming cold or academic.

Harriehausen has developed his own language—not a fusion aesthetic, but an autonomous vocabulary that picks up where Bach, Mozart, and Liszt left off: in the living connection between composition and improvisation on stage. Joining him are Latvian saxophonist Kārlis Auziņš, Dutch cellist Maya Fridman, and German-Polish double bassist Thomas Kolarczyk—four musicians who distill their diverse influences into an unusually cohesive chamber sound.

The evening follows the structure of the album: It begins with the turbulent “Nachtgewitter” and progresses—becoming lighter piece by piece—toward a conclusion that leaves behind something one rarely takes away from a concert hall: a genuine sense of redemption.

Kārlis Auziņš (LV) – saxophone
Maya Fridman (NL) – cello
Thomas Kolarczyk (DE/PL) – Double bass
Keno Harriehausen (DE) – Piano & Composition