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John Wolf Brennan

Celtic Roots and Swiss Watchmaker Exactness

Pianist and composer John Wolf Brennan, born in Dublin, Ireland, has been widely acclaimed as an outstanding musician. His distinctive style, marked by a deep interest in contemporary archeology, a very personal quest for an adventurous avantgarde, an ongoing research of his Celtic roots and his "Swiss watchmaker exactness" ("The Wire") sets him apart. His compositions cover a wide spectrum of musical concepts and methods, ranging from piano pieces ("inside and outside" - prepared and unprepared) to vocal scores ("Night.Shift" - an opera after a libretto by Rudolph Straub, based on W.H.Auden's "The Age of Anxiety"; "Sculpted Sound", "Euratorium", "Bestiarium", "PaniConversations", works for choir), from chamber ("Epithalamium" after James Joyce's "Chamber Music"; "Alef Bet - an Ori-ental Peace Piece" for Israeli oboist Ori Meiraz; "A Golly Gal's Way to Galway Bay" for James Galway, "Nearly Charming") to orchestral works, both for classical and jazz ensembles, creating music rich in (a)tonal textures. Composition, Improvisation and...

At the University of Fribourg, he studied musicology, film and literature. He continued his studies at the Musikhochschule Luzern: piano (Eva Serman), harmony (Peter Benary), conducting (Alois Koch, Hans Zihlmann, belcanto singing (Walter Meier) and organ (Monika Henking). Further studies in composition with Karl Berger at CMS Woodstock/New York and James Wilson at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Masterclasses in composition with Ennio Morricone, Edison Denissov, Klaus Huber, Heinz Holliger and Hanspeter Kyburz.. Together with Marianne Schroeder, Jean-Luc Darbellay, Michel Schneider, Christian Henking, Alfons Karl Zwicker and Michael Radanovics he is a member of the Swiss composer's group "Groupe Lacroix". ...Comprovisation: Performances and Projects

Concert tours regularly bring him to Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Canada and the USA. He has recorded five solo albums ("Flügel", "The Well-Prepared Clavier", the blue trilogy) as well as with Lindsay Cooper, Norma Winstone, Julie Tippetts, Corin Curschellas, Magda Vogel, Alexandra Prusa, Charlotte Hug, Shirley Anne Hofmann, Gabriele Hasler, Marianne Schroeder, Alex Cline, Robert Dick, Hans Kennel, Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theißing, Daniele Patumi, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Chris Cutler, Peter Whyman, Eddie Prévost, Simon Picard, Marc Unternährer, Urs Leimgruber, Christy Doran, Gene Coleman, Christian Wolfarth, Christian Weber, Bertrand Denzler. Brennan has also worked with Guillermo Gregorio, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff, Jennifer Walshe, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Chris Massey, Joëlle Léandre, Tim Berne, Ray Anderson, Elton Dean, Nana Vasconcelos, Klaus Koch, Fredy Studer, Don Friedman, Mark Sanders, Paolo Moura, Steve Goodman, Peter Schärli, Lars Lindvall, David Hopkins, Fritz Hauser, Peter Hollinger, Steve Argüelles. Currently he is performing with his international quartet "Pago Libre" (w/Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theißing & Daniele Patumi); "Momentum" (w/Christian Wolfarth, Bertrand Denzler & Christian Weber), "Trio Aurealis" w/Robert Dick & D.Patumi); "MinuteAge" (w/Margrit Rieben and Reto Senn); "pipelines" (w/Hans Kennel and Marc Unternährer); "Shooting Stars & Traffic Lights" (w/Alex Cline, John Voirol, T.Theißing and D.Patumi) and Gabriele Hasler in "OrganIC VoICes". With "SinFONietta" and the "Creative Works Orchestra", he has also conducted and written for major orchestras. Sculpted Sounds: "Calculated Ecstasy"

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Album Review

Klanglabor, John Wolf Brennan: Studio Live Session

Read "Studio Live Session" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Il pianista (in realtà polistrumentista: qui, in aggiunta, unicamente alla melodica) elvetico-irlandese John Wolf Brennan si unisce in questo recente album (incisione dell'ottobre 2021, edizione in vinile del gennaio di quest'anno) al trio Klanglabor, proveniente dal Liechtenstein (e già questa è una discreta primizia), confezionando un lavoro variegato in cui la componente jazzistica risulta una delle tante (anche come chiave di lettura), visto che i terreni toccati sono diversi, e neppure così definibili e/o delimitabili (e perché mai lo si ...

Album Review

John Wolf Brennan: Nitty Gritty Ditties

Read "Nitty Gritty Ditties" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Sotto l'insegna Nonsolopiano (sottotitolo del CD), John Wolf Brennan ci offre una nuova prova del suo enciclopedismo musicale, fatto di un polistrumentismo tastieristico in cui il piano rimane pur sempre il faro e di input stilistici (meglio ancora linguistici) decisamente variegati. In questi fittissimi trentatré brani (svarianti da meno di un minuto a quasi quattro, per un totale poco inferiore all'ora e un quarto di musica decisamente tirata) si passa in effetti dagli Stones a Pat Metheny e Chick Corea ...

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Album Review

Pilgrims: Oriental Orbit

Read "Oriental Orbit" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


This International trio's second album contains an East meets West nomenclature, but a case can be made that their unique bridging of various modalities defies strict categorizations. Enhanced by audiophile qualities, the recording radiates a mystical communion of diverse instrumentation that toggles between conventional world jazz norms and a horde of tasty abstracts or pieces where Marco Jencarelli's electric guitar lines signal glimpses of jazz fusion. Vocalist, percussionist Tony Majdalani's Middle Eastern-based chants on various pieces float above John Wolf ...

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Album Review

Brennan/Denzler/Weber/Wolfarth: Momentum 3

Read "Momentum 3" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


With its third release, this European band surges onward as a floating collective that explores atonal sounds amid throaty whispers, split tones and much more. Here, Christian Weber employs close-handed bass techniques atop Christian Wolfarth’s free-jazz drumming approach. But the group’s methodology rings more like a transformation in progress. The musicians provide downright eerie undercurrents amid edgy maneuvers and radiant voicings. They integrate a seamless flow into the grand proceedings. At times, it becomes difficult to discern who is playing ...

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Album Review

John Wolf Brennan - Daniele Patumi: Time Jumps - Space Cracks

Read "Time Jumps - Space Cracks" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Recorded at an arts museum in Switzerland, the duo infuses easy to grasp, melodious pronouncements with chamber and avant-garde jazz sensibilities. However, pianist John Wolf Brennan (Ireland) and bassist Daniele Patumi (Italy) also intermix non-Western modalities into this beautifully constructed program. Known for their work with the multinational quartet, “Pago Libre,” the artists render interesting variations of generally, tuneful themes augmented by prepared bass and piano digressions. On, “Suite Arabique,” Patumi dishes out a pattern of complex bass lines for ...

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Album Review

John Wolf Brennan: Momentum

Read "Momentum" reviewed by Robert Spencer


This trio of pianist John Wolf Brennan, bass clarinetist Gene Coleman, and percussionist Christian Wolfarth are mainly interested on this disc in exploring sounds and textures and various possibilities of rhythm and dynamics. The Momentum of the title is honest and hard-won, for these performers are not relying on the already-realized potentials of steady rhythms for forward motion, but are attempting to establish new means of development and continuity.Some of the moments in this momentum are quite simply ...

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Album Review

John Wolf Brennan / Gene Coleman / Christian Wolfarth: Momentum

Read "Momentum" reviewed by Robert Spencer


This trio of pianist John Wolf Brennan, bass clarinetist Gene Coleman, and percussionist Christian Wolfarth are mainly interested on this disc in exploring sounds and textures and various possibilities of rhythm and dynamics. The Momentum of the title is honest and hard-won, for these performers are not relying on the already-realized potentials of steady rhythms for forward motion, but are attempting to establish new means of development and continuity.

Some of the moments in this momentum are quite simply astounding, ...

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