Lucas Niggli

Barry Guy Blue Shroud Band: all this this here

by John Sharpe
October 17, 2023

Bassist and composer Barry Guy combines a number of his passions on All This This Here in a stunning act of synthesis. For the third major work for his Blue Shroud Band, following its eponymous debut (Intakt, 2016) and Odes And Meditations For Cecil Taylor (Not Two, 2018), Guy sets to music Nobel winning playwright Samuel Beckett's last poem What Is The Word (in two versions, both the original French and the English translation, which bookend the program).

Lucas Niggli: Alchemia Garden

by Glenn Astarita
April 20, 2018

Powerhouse Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli augments this solo effort with ethnocentric percussion instruments, that largely emphasizes his well-rounded musical approach. He draws inspiration from his gardening hobby, classical composers and fellow countryman, drumming great Pierre Favre. As a leader and collaborator, Niggli's longstanding affiliation and extensive discography with this pioneering Swiss label features a cavalcade of genre-busting endeavors. The artist has recorded with the likes of New York experimental guitarist Elliot Sharp and Chinese zither performer Xu Fengia along with ...

Lucas Niggli - Andreas Schaerer: Arcanum

by Glenn Astarita
October 31, 2014

Whether leading his Drum Quartet, seven-piece Zoom ensemble or supporting fabled improvisers, bassist Barry Guy and guitarist Fred Frith, Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli is not one to play it safe or dodge risk-taking processes. His mantra is firmly implanted in a musical world that is assuredly outside the box, after appearing on nearly two-dozen albums for Intakt Records. On Arcanum, Niggli takes another leap of faith by teaming with free-form vocalist Andreas Schaerer. Besides the drummer's colossal sound and enviable ...

Lucas Niggli Zoom Meets Arte Quartett: Crash Cruise

by Glenn Astarita
November 14, 2007

Venerable New York City-based modern jazz saxophonist Tim Berne composed the liners for Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli's Crash Cruise. And while both have generated a signature musical persona, the artists do share similarities due to their proclivities on various musical fronts.

With his long-running and irrefutably excitable band Zoom, the drummer reaffirms his stature as a progressive jazz motivational force via his energized comps, loaded with pulsating beats and knotty digressions. On this endeavor he aligns ...

Lucas Niggli Zoom: Spawn Of Speed

by Glenn Astarita
June 1, 2001

Multi-talented Swiss drummer/percussionist Lucas Niggli extends his already vast repertoire with this tightly organized trio featuring trombonist Nils Wogram and guitarist Philipp Schaufelberger. With the opener, “Oxygene Beats” the listener will be treated to sprightly Caribbean motifs interspersed with rapid fire, jazz-based unison choruses. Throughout, Niggli handles the percussion chores yet exhibits a thoroughly musical approach via his acute multihued tonal shading, propelling rhythms and feisty interaction with his band-mates.

The trio’s often complex arrangements feature free-jazz type dialogue, rock ...

Lucas Niggli & Sylvie Courvoisier: Lavin

by Glenn Astarita
December 1, 1999

Keeping in line with “Intakt” records long-standing track record of pairing percussion and piano instrumentalists in duo settings, namely Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer and her collaborations with Han Bennink and others, they offer the modern jazz community this new recording simply titled, Lavin. Here, Swiss-based percussionist Lucas Niggli teams with compatriot pianist Sylvie Courvoisier for a series of duet improvisations that offer varying degrees of nuance, subtleties and altogether cunning if not striking ingenuity. As their respectively diverse backgrounds might ...