Irene Schweizer

[Rabshakeh]

I think that there is a lot of variety there. There aren't many musicians of whom I know whose sound varies so much with their playing partners.

For my part, I think the Favre duo is my favourite for the reasons you mention above. As a drummer he is a bit heavier and more aggressive than the others and he pushes Schweitzer into a more Cecil Taylor-type zone, although always tempered with that late Romantic lyricism.

Sommer, for example, seems to bring out a more playful side that I enjoyed too but found perhaps a little less convincing.  

Edited August 20, 2020 by Rabshakeh

[Onxidlib]

On 19.8.2020 at 6:58 PM, clifford_thornton said:

Ah -- I really need to dig these out again, as it's been many years (they're in storage like most of my CDs). The duos with Moholo, Sommer, and Cyrille stood out the most to me at the time. I recall being less into the one with Bennink. I should revisit the duo with Favre; they did another duo CD called Ulrichsberg somewhat later that's quite nice, as well as trio and quartet dates in the '60s that are wonderfully heavy.

Too bad she and Mani Neumeier didn't link up again for some duets (at least not that I know of)...

Actually Schweizer and Neumeier made a CD for the Japanese label Captain Trip in 1997 (but recorded in 1990). Some more info at Discogs.

[clifford_thornton]

ah, thanks for the info! Never saw that one.

[Clunky]

I've been enjoying Celebration - with Hamid Drake (Intakt) It sounds like the two of them are having a lot of fun on this live set from 2019. 

[mjazzg]

20 hours ago, Clunky said:

I've been enjoying Celebration - with Hamid Drake (Intakt) It sounds like the two of them are having a lot of fun on this live set from 2019. 

I'll give it a spin.

Schweizer with Leandre and Maggie Nichols was the most fun and humorous improv gigs I've seen. Not a lot of competition of the humorous front it has to be said, except perhaps Alan Wilkinson solo

[Clunky]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

I'll give it a spin.

Schweizer with Leandre and Maggie Nichols was the most fun and humorous improv gigs I've seen. Not a lot of competition of the humorous front it has to be said, except perhaps Alan Wilkinson solo

For me  it'd have to be jazz+ humour= Han Bennink ( with the Eric Boeren quartet) in a small basement club with a small but appreciative audience.

[mjazzg]

12 minutes ago, Clunky said:

For me  it'd have to be jazz+ humour= Han Bennink ( with the Eric Boeren quartet) in a small basement club with a small but appreciative audience.

I bet, I'd forgotten Han 

[clifford_thornton]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

I'll give it a spin.

Schweizer with Leandre and Maggie Nichols was the most fun and humorous improv gigs I've seen. Not a lot of competition of the humorous front it has to be said, except perhaps Alan Wilkinson solo

Les Diaboliques! Incredible.

She's definitely up there for me as far as pianists go, though admittedly I've probably spent much more time with the LP era material (on up through the early Intakt duos) than some of the CDs.

[colinmce]

Upcoming archival release on Blaser Music:

https://samuelblaser.bandcamp.com/album/bird-food

Quote

Recorded live at Radio Studio Zurich on February 19, 1968, nearly seven months before Santana, previously considered the trio's debut , Bird Food is the earliest known document of the Pierre Favre Trio. The tape lay dormant in the drummer's personal archive for over half a century, until Pierre Favre and trombonist Samuel Blaser uncovered it while sorting through old recordings.

The trio brings together Pierre Favre on drums, Irène Schweizer on piano, and Jiří Mráz on bass, who would later become George Mraz in the United States, a legendary sideman for Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, and Tommy Flanagan.

Four tracks, 29 minutes: Bird Food by Ornette Coleman, and three compositions by Irène Schweizer (Sounds II, Hinten, The Attack). A free jazz at once fiery and attentive, where every musician listens as much as they play.
 

 

[clifford_thornton]

sweet!!