February 2013 – Swiss Vibes Archive

Samuel Blaser on records

Samuel Blaser released his new CD, “As The Sea”, on HatHut records ont the 26th of February. You can listen to “As The Sea Part One” and download the full album on his bandcamp page.

Two years ago at Cully Jazz Festival, he was the opening act for Wayne Shorter. He played his cards magnificently well. With an original concert-concept, he gave a jazz interpretation to Baroque and Renaissance music. It was a première before the launch of his CD in New York. Since he had a plane to catch for New York at the crack of dawn, it’s via mail that he explained to us the why’s and wherefore’s of his project « Consort in Motion » with Paul Motian.

“I’ve always been influenced by baroque music. My professor at the Conservatory at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Pierre Henry, was an excellent teacher, but at that time I used to only listen with one ear because the only thing I could think about was playing jazz. Today I play jazz and I find myself immersed in classical music. For this record, I reworked a lot of Claudio Monteverdi’s material because he is an innovative person, the inventor of opera. It seemed important to me to set off from someone like him in order to build something new. I’ve also reworked some compositions by Marini and Frescobaldi.

Each track was approached differently. Sometimes, as with the track that’s on the Swiss Vibes compilation, (« Lamento della Ninfa »), I kept the melody intact. In the original version, the melody is played by a soprano and 3 tenors, whereas in this case it’s played by piano. In other instances, I only took the beginning and end of a composition and played around with it. Each time I try to extract the original material and to simplify it.

The record « Consort in Motion» was recorded in 5 hours in New York with Paul Motian. I wanted to work with him because he’s played with everyone and because his very particular cymbal sound suited the project. The other musicians are a mix of people I knew well and some who had previously played with Motian.

It was important to record the CD in these conditions. For the Cully concert, I played with a different bassist and drummer (Gérald Cleaver). We rehearsed for an hour the day before, that was enough for us because my music is largely improvised and we’re used to playing together. I was really proud to get up on stage at Cully Jazz with this music, improvised music of the day!”

Samuel Blaser

PS. This article was first published on swissvibes.org in french in April 2011. Translation Beatrice Venturini.

Plaistow, video and interview…

Three questions to Cyril Bondi, drummer of Plaistow, a band formed in 2007, currently kicking up a storm everywhere they play. Plaistow’s next album, “Citadelle”, will be released on Two Gentlemen Records in April.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/52917016]

Interview first published in french in May 2011. Translation: Beatrice Venturini. Photographer: Raphaelle Mueller

What does Plaistow mean?

 Cyril Bondi : Plaistow means two things. Firstly, it’s a disused metro stop in London. Many of our compositions refer to the metro because we love everything that is underground. It’s another way of saying that we can always dig. Plaistow is also a track by Squarepusher. We later found out that it’s also a playground, which fits in nicely with the spirit of the band.

Why have you chosen such a classic format as the jazz trio?

Cyril Bondi: We have fun with it. We act as if we were a jazz trio but in fact we transcend this format by bringing to it a dub, punk or electro side. There has always been this desire to gather up extremes, to bring together all our basic different influences. Johann Bourquenez, the pianist, comes from electronic music. Raphaël Ortis, our former bassist, from metal. Vincent Ruiz, our new bas player, comes from jazz. As for me, they say I come from jazz, but I think I come more from improvised music. All three of us have strong personalities and the formula ‘piano-bass-drums’ is the most comfortable for us, it allows us the most freedom to play. We never play any of our tracks the same way twice.

You’re often labelled with the term ‘post-jazz’, does it suit you?

 Cyril Bondi: This ‘post-jazz’ idea actually came from us; it’s handy because it doesn’t really mean anything and it allows us to go far and wide with it. In the same track there are moments where we try to just improvise together, others where we try to play the same thing over a long stretch, and others again where we slow things down to the max. And then we might decide to throw ourselves into pure noise…..

Welcome to New York Bonaparte!

A gig on a Tuesday night can be a lonely experience in New York City for a punk rocker, who made a name for himself with his large multi-ethnic band across the Atlantic. But Bonaparte aka Tobias Jundt took on that challenge this month at Pianos in the Lower East Side of Manahattan and there already are some signs that Big Apple will enjoy the eccentric and energetic Swiss artist’s solo act and residency there in the coming weeks. The lead singer of the quiet folk band St.Claire opening for him on February 19, told the crowd that it would get loud after her show, because “it’s what happens after 10.00 pm in Manhattan”. And loud it got. Bonaparte, who recently moved to New York to write his 4th album, showed his crowd how to make punk music with just a guitar, pedals and a computer.

Sporting his usual black eye and half-cow half-horse hat, he quickly brought the crowd to its feet with his powerful guitar riffs and his clever lyrics. He opened his show with”Wrygdwylife” aka “What are you gonna do with your life” and filled the room with his energy. One could feel that the crowd did not know what to think of this wild troubadour throwing lines at her such as “No I’m not drunk, I’m just dancing” and “No I’m not dead, I’m just sleeping”. But one guy started dancing crazily in the packed room and he helped Bonaparte break the ice. The slightly drunk dude, who had never heard of Bonaparte before and kept screaming “that’s right motherf…..r”, got his reward at the end of the gig. The rocker invited him to his next show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn the following night.

[vimeo 60116532 w=500 h=281]

Bonaparte played several songs from “Sorry we are open”, his band’s latest record that will be released in France in April. He also played tracks from his previous record, “My Horse likes you” (2010). Among them was the energetic “Boycott Everything”. “I boycott everything that’s not made by my hands”, he sung. During his 45-minute show, he rolled on the floor, sweat, drank from somebody’s drink, jumped into the crowd, unleashed his guitar, ran with it around the place and ultimately got the crowd to convince the deejay to grant him an encore. He closed his show with the electro-punk track “Computer Love”.

Bonaparte has another solo gig at Pianos on February 26 before being joined by his “divas” at Pianos on March 5 and then moving on to Austin for the cool South by Southwest festival. The whole band will be with Tobias Jundt for 5 shows in Texas and two more shows in New York at Union Hall and Pianos.

Bonaparte’s upcoming shows

BONAPARTE SOLO – “PIANOS RESIDENCY”

26.02 | USA – NYC, Pianos (upstairs) – solo set | 10pm

05.03 | USA – NYC, Pianos (downstairs) – solo w/divas | 10pm

26.03 | USA – NYC, Pianos (downstairs) – solo w/divas | 10pm

BONAPARTE – “MAÑANA FOREVER TOUR” (full band)

13.03 | USA – Austin, SXSW – The Belmont

14.03 | USA – Austin, SXSW – Javelina

15.03 | USA – Austin, SXSW – Iron Bear

16.03 | USA – Austin – Marching Down 6th Street

17.03 | USA – Austin – Gay Bi Gay Gay

18.03 | USA – Brooklyn, NY – Union Hall

19.03 | USA – NYC – Pianos

09.04. | CH – Stans – Musiktage Stans

Rusconi versus la Fanfare Kadebostany

Après la grande opération pop des Swiss Music Awards, où Bastian Baker a remporté sans surprise la place de la meilleure performance de Suisse romande, place à un concours qui nous concerne plus, lancé par le festival M4Music en partenariat avec mx3 et les festivals du film de Soleure). celui du meilleur vidéo clip.

Parmi les 5 nominés, deux artistes Swiss Vibes entre lesquels notre cœur balance:

1) Les Suisses allemands de Rusconi proposent court métrage surréaliste pour un de leurs titres qui ne l’est pas moins “Alice in The Sky”, auquel le grand Fred Frith a prêté sa guitare.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XDdzOFYnLuo#!]

2) La mystérieuse Fanfare Kadebostany dont seul le président, Guillaume Kadebostan, connaît l’origine exacte s’est lancée il y a quelques mois dans un clip en forme de parodie d’une parade militaire où danse classique percute hip hop et électro. Le titre s’appelle “Walking with the Ghosts” et la vidéos est un véritable carton sur Internet depuis sa parution.

Pour participer au vote du public, rendez-vous sur la page créée à cet effet par mx3 avant le 20 mars 2013. Les clips seront projetés et les prix remis lors de la journée d’ouverture du M4Music festival aux Docks de Lausanne, le 21 mars.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQDK6x1i8jY]