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Irene Schweizer

Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer (1941), who had cut her teeth in a local trio with drummer Mani Neumeier. A few months after British saxophonist Joe Harriott, she pioneered Indo-jazz fusion by recording Jazz Meets India (october 1967), that featured a jazz quintet with trumpeter Manfred Schoof and Neumaier improvising with and a trio of Indian musicians (Diwan Motihar on sitar, Keshav Sathe on tabla, Kasan Thakur on tamboura).

She achieved notoriety in a trio with bassist Peter Kowald and drummer Pierre Favre that debuted on Santana (october 1968), with the 14-minute Santana. That trio became a Quartett (november 1969) with the addition of British saxophonist Evan Parker (the 19-minute Where are all the old cop sets Clancy). Ramifications (september 1973) began a collaboration with tenor saxophonist Ruediger Carl (it also featured drummer Paul Lovens, trombonist Radu Malfatti, bassist Harry Miller) that continued with the quartet of Goose Pannee (september 1974), containing the 21-minute Goose Pannee. Carl and Schweizer formed a trio with drummer Louis Moholo that recorded Messer (may 1975) and Tuned Boots (november 1977), with the 20-minute Tuned Boots .

Her first solo album, Wilde Senoritas (november 1976), contained two lengthy improvisations: the 15- minute Wilde Se¤oritas and the 18-minute Saitengebilde. Hexensabbat (october 1977) contained seven shorter pieces and the 12-minute live Rapunzel Rapunzel. Compared with the harsh avantgarde of the time, her style, blending classical, bebop and free-jazz elements, was folkish and oneiric.

But she was more famous for an aggressive style of playing that abused the possibilities of the keyboard and indulged in neurotic timbral detours. The duo with Carl yielded the live The Very Centre of Middle Europe (october 1978) and Die V-Mann Suite (october 1980), containing the 19-minute Frizeit. A trio with bassist Joelle Leandre and drummer Paul Lovens debuted in the 20-minute Trutznachtigall, off Live at Taktlos (february 1984). The collaboration with Leandre led to the 26- minute Now And Never for a quintet with American trombonist George Lewis, vocalist Maggie Nicols and drummer Guenter Sommer, off the live The Storming of The Winter Palace (march 1988).

She relished a series of piano-drum duos (Andrew Cyrille, Pierre Favre, Han Bennink, Louis Moholo, Mani Neumeier), best probably being the one with Sommer that yielded the ebullient 19-minute Schweizersommer (february 1987).

Piano Solo 1 (may 1990) contained very short pieces, while Piano Solo 2 (may 1990) was a set of live (and longer) improvisations.

The trio of Schwiezer, vocalist Maggie Nichols, and bassist Joelle Leandre, all members of EWIG (the European Women's Improvising Group), recorded Les Diaboliques (april 1993), a series of brief absurdist skits.

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Radio & Podcasts

Schweizer & Drake, Tom Rainey & El Negocito Artists

Read "Schweizer & Drake, Tom Rainey & El Negocito Artists" reviewed by Maurice Hogue


This episode features some excellent new releases: veteran free jazzers, pianist Irène Schweizer and drummer Hamid Drake, tearing it up at a European festival, the sublime trio Ocelot from Brooklyn, South Korean drummer Soojin Suh, pianist Dahveed Behroozi, Tom Rainey & Obligato live in Europe, and Split-Bit from jny: Berlin, plus tracks from several artists who record for the left-leaning El Negocito label from Belgium. Playlist Tiziano Tononi & Future Ancestors “Mantra Of The Wind And Water" from ...

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Album Review

Irene Schweizer / Hamid Drake: Celebration

Read "Celebration" reviewed by Troy Dostert


If John Coltrane was the dominant figure behind the rise of Impulse Records in the 1960s, and Wayne Shorter played a similar role for Blue Note in the same decade, one could argue that pianist Irène Schweizer has placed her stamp upon Intakt Records. Certainly the Swiss avant-garde label has embraced that relationship, as aside from a handful of releases on FMP, Intakt has been Schweizer's exclusive home since the 1980s, with dozens of releases over the years documenting her ...

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Album Review

Irene Schweizer / Hamid Drake: Celebration

Read "Celebration" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Celebration is a walloping storm of free jazz, rolling in on a hard-hitting percussion mode. Pianist Irene Schweizer holds down the piano chair, Hamid Drake is behind the drum kit. The pair has played and recorded together often. The opener, “A Former Dialogue," introduces us to a drum thunder and a splattering of fat piano-crafted raindrops. Schweizer's piano approach sounds as if it is an attack full of elbows and knees, making madcap, Cecil Taylor-like pandemonium interspersed with moments of ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Mostly Outside

Read "Mostly Outside" reviewed by Patrick Burnette


Time for a traditional mixed-bag podcast ranging over the decades and through musical styles, though 2001 gets special treatment for whatever reason. Artists range from an Ornette Coleman-esque quartet from the sixties to an uplifting piano trio from right now, with an outward questing pianist and trumpeter in the middle of the sandwich. Pop matters dwells on some recent vinyl re-issues of old skool alternative rock classics and--good lord--is that some Thin Lizzy in there? Playlist Discussion of ...

Album Review

Irene Schweizer, Joey Baron: Live!

Read "Live!" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Inciso a Zurigo a fine 2015, l'album riunisce due improvvisatori di scuole e generazioni diverse: Irène Schweizer, settantasei anni, svizzera di Sciaffusa, attraversa l'avanguardia europea praticamente fin dal suo primo affermarsi (se non affacciarsi), mentre Joey Baron, sessantaduenne di Richmond, quella stessa avanguardia (ovviamente dall'altra sponda dell'Atlantico) l'ha accompagnata, per così dire fiancheggiata, nel corso di una carriera ultratrentennale abbracciando però anche esperienze “altre." La prima volta che l'abbiamo ascoltato, per dirne una, era nel trio di Jim Hall, la ...

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Album Review

Irene Schweizer / Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by John Sharpe


For such an assuredly rhythmic player Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer shows an unexpected affinity to drummers, who feature disproportionately as partners in her discography. But even so Welcome Back constitutes only the second entry to pair Schweizer with maverick Dutch drummer Han Bennink, following their eponymous debut (Intakt, 1996), which was itself preceded by years of engagement stretching back further still. In spite of their impeccable avant-garde credentials (both have been at the forefront of European improv for the last ...

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Album Review

Irene Schweizer, Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Correte ad acquistare questo strepitoso CD, se non lo avete ancora fatto. In questo progetto si ritrovano i risultati più inaspettati raggiunti dal jazz contemporaneo. Vi aleggia una gioiosa comunicativa, che si contraddistingue rispetto all'attuale produzione europea di stampo avanguardistico. A ciò si aggiungano ritmi ipnotici e danzanti che fanno di questo disco una rara avis. Il duo Irene Schweizer-Han Bennink ricorre ad una nuova chiave di lettura di un processo destrutturante, che riguarda la storia e l'estetica jazzistica.

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Recording

Jurg Wickihalder European Quartet Feat. Irene Schweizer - Jump! (Intakt, 2011)

Jurg Wickihalder European Quartet Feat. Irene Schweizer - Jump! (Intakt, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

The third release on Intakt by soprano saxophonist Jurg Wickihalder finds him in the company of the highly regarded pianist Irene Schweizer along with Fabian Gisler on bass and Michael Griener on drums, and they make for a formidable group. The spirit of Thelonious Monk seems to hang in the air as the group navigates five Wickihalder original compositions, all spirited and ripe with opportunity for the musicians to improvise. The group leads off with “Triple Rittberger Exercise" which really ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Celebration

Intakt Records
2021

buy

Live!

Intakt Records
2017

buy

Welcome Back

Intakt Records
2016

buy

Welcome Back

Intakt Records
2015

buy

Live in Zurich

Intakt Records
2014

buy

Live In Zürich

Intakt Records
2013

buy

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