Thomas Sauerborn

Appears on:

• JORDAN WHITE
  Music for Imaginary Spaces

Thomas Sauerborn is a Cologne-based drummer, composer, and bandleader. He studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, and later completed a master’s degree at the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen on a DAAD scholarship, where he developed his artistic focus on improvisation and solo music for suspended cymbal.

Since 2024, he has been part of the NICA artist development program at Stadtgarten Köln.

His work explores the balance between long-term collaborative processes and spontaneous improvisation. He leads and contributes to several projects, including the experimental trio Das Ende der Liebe, whose latest album Persist received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2025, as well as Mount Meander and the Cologne-based trio Pollon.

His debut album KYIWI was released in 2021. In 2024, he presented his first solo album [zimbel], focusing on cymbal-based sound research. He also co-runs the label Anunaki Tabla.

In addition to his own projects, Sauerborn is active across the international jazz and improvised music scene, collaborating with numerous ensembles and touring extensively worldwide.