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Erika Stucky Bubbles and Bands’ tour @Pully City Club, 15th of March 2013

Erika Stucky_2 Erika Stucky has been nicely described as “a Swiss post-modern jazz singer and yodeller”. My version would be “an anarchic Heidi sight & sound experimentalist with a spunky, punky, funky performance art ethic”. Truly a national treasure who sticks out like a welcome sore thumb in a country only too well-known for quiet, order, efficiency, occasional dullness and no toilet flushing after 10pm. I left the concert last Friday night joyfully dazed and confused and wishing she were my next-door neighbour. Give Erika the chance for referendum and dullness would be effectively banned from the Swiss idiom.

Accompanied by great talent on the drums (Lucas Niggli) and tuba (Marc Unternährer) and a bit of fiddling on the lights, Erika turned the comfy Pully City Club into a mad powerhouse of sound, sights, textures and sensations. The musical content was made up of of random songs heard whilst on the road touring, a kind of musical diary that got played around with on the tour bus and dressing rooms. But do not mistake this as night of karaoke standards.

It’s a loose and baggy monster of interpretation where Donovan (“Sunshine Superman”), The Beatles (“Helter Skelter”) and The Stones (“Gimme Shelter”) give way to Stucky’s vocal range, musical styles and provocational ways. Her delivery varies from minimal to positively orchestral, gentle to deranged, soulful, bluesy hoochie-coochie to African chanting, Japanese scatting, or was it Swiss German?…. lordy, there were so many languages… She has able pipes and she knows how to use them, skillfully creating a constantly fluctuating sense of light and shade, one minute lulling you into a safe muscial comfort zone to then have you climbing out of your skin. Never has the occasionally annoying been so engaging.

Visually too, it’s more than a cosy, quirky circus act. The backdrop aided by clever lighting tricks creates multiple Erikas: little, looming, friendly, scary. Snippets of Scorsese-style home movies accompany the music; we were spared the famous baby-tossing sequence that caused outrage in Italy, but were subjected to the blood-curdling cup of coffee which cutesy Madame overfloods with sugar and proceeds to sip cautiously, tortuously as if being held at gunpoint.

Interaction with the audience is warm and delightful, (oh the joy tales of hanging out with Japanese bonadage ladies in Norway), it showcases her polyglotism – though never a show off – and informs us that Erika is over 50 and a recent mum. Information which, to my mind, adds to her general boundary-expanding charismatic ways. Here’s a woman who can weave one song out of two (The Beatles’ “Revolver” and Dylan’s “It’s Alright Ma”), kick ass into Eminem’s Lose Yourself, create crazy soundscapes out of playing the accordion, banging a shovel and sampling herself yodelling live AND be totally sexy with it.

“When you come to see me live, you pay to be surprised” she modestly quips near the end of her show. Damn right in bold, italics and underlined. Stucky tells us that the gig has to finish bang on 10pm because of strict anti-noise laws, “eh, oui, c’est bien la Suisse” shouts out a member of the audience. But no-one left the auditorium unhappy with Swiss rules and regulations, clearly one and a half hours of Bubbles and Bangs had filled us with enough anarchic musical vibes to start our own personal revolution.

Erika Stucky (vocals, accordion, sampler, light show and anything else she could get her hands on), Lucas Niggli (drums), Marc Unternährer (tuba).

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

From Louisiana to New York via …..Geneva.

Mama Rosin New York 10 These three are decidedly untenable. No sooner had Mama Rosin got back from New York where they’d recorded their new studio album under the aegis of Jon Spencer, that they announced the release of three screen-printed limited editon singles. The first recording by the Souchet brothers (same line-up but without drummer Xavier Bray) is also awaited before Christmas. Guitarist and banjo player, Robin Girod, is very chatty on skype – it’s kind of normal since his head is still a bit in the USA.
How did you meet Jon Spencer?
Robin Girod : Jon Spencer plays with Matt Verta-Ray in an incredible rockabilly band called Heavey Trash. It’s real rockabilly, fine and subtle, never vulgar. His Swiss tour manager, David Schindler, gave him a bunch of Swiss CDs to listen to including ours. Once back home, Jon Spencer called him to say that he’d really liked our stuff. He suggested that we do the start of a small German tour with him as part of Blues Explosion. We had a great time together. On the last day, Jon asked us to do some recording with him at his studio in New York. We weren’t expecting any of this since up until then our relationship had been very professional.
Are you scared about working with someone of this stature?
Robin Girod : We were scared beforehand, but we were also very excited about recording and playing together. Once we saw the place we were even more excited. Jon Spencer has a studio from back in the day, everything is analogue just like we like it and he shares it with Matt Vera-Ray and Iggy Pop’s drummer. We were stunned to be hanging out with people of this calibre. They were very modest, much more so than the Europeans. Jon behaved like a surgeon or possibly more like an old savant. He let us climb on board a truly fantastic ship. There was a piano and a vibraphone. He told us to try out whatever we liked. We worked nine hours non-stop everyday with a short pause and then it was over. Even if we felt like staying longer in order to work on a difficult part, he’d force us to sleep on it and come back the next day with a rested head.
The result?
Robin Girod: We’d gone with the idea of making a really different album. Whereas in fact, we made something which is an extension of our “Voodoo Rhythm” LP, but with two years of experience added on, a few rock tracks and also some rather sad ballads.
Why do you keep on bringing out limited edition vinyl tracks at the same time?
Robin Girod: It’s a bit of a joke we’ve got going on with MP3 and downloading. Of course we download stuff too, but we like to put out these little hidden gems that would otherwise get lost. They bear witness to a tour or to a specific moment in our group’s existence.

(Translation Beatrice Venturini)

The new Mama Rosin, “Bye Bye Bayou” is out since november and will be released in France early 2013. You can listen and buy their music on bandcamp.

Mama Rosin will tour France and Europe at the same period.

“You need to have discipline to create freedom for your band”

Swiss composer Nik Bärtsch and his band Ronin just wrapped up a US tour to present their new two-disc set called “Live”. Everywhere they go, music critics are raving about the groove of a music that is flirting with rock and pop. Swissvibes talked to Nik Bärtsch in New York.

Nik, tell us about your recent US tour with your band Ronin.

Nik Bärtsch We played in Oakland and Portland, where we had already played in the past. We also played at Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle. It was our first time there and it is a very good festival. Finishing the tour in New York was great. The headquarters of our label ECM are there. We played there last year and it was named by Jim Fusilli, the Wall Street Journal music critic, one of the best live shows of 2011 alongside Radiohead, Patti Smith and Björk. For us, it was amazing to be named with artists like them.

How did your new live album come about?

Nik Bärtsch We recorded about 50 shows. We made a first selection of about 30 tracks from all these shows. We reduced the number to 11 and worked with Manfred Eicher, our producer at ECM, to end up with a final selection of 9 tracks from different shows. The idea was to show the deveopment and activity of the band. It is a funny mix of small venues and bigger ones. For instance, we played in a theater in Lörrach. It was organized by a friend of mine and they had built a lounge. So we had young people lying in front of us when we played. It was kind of strange but also a really special show.

When you talk about Ronin, you often highlight the discipline of your band. Why?

Nik Bärtsch When you listen to great bands like Radiohead or musicians like Herbie Hancock, you can feel they have a lot of discipline. You need to have discipline to create freedom for your band. Our discipline come from our Swiss roots. Our sound is clean and precise. But we only do that to give ourselves freedom during our shows. You could compare us to an experimental pop and rock band. We are precise with our message. But the structure we have in our music allows us to have fun on stage. Music is the message.

Tell us about your relationship to New York.

Nik Bärtsch We played 4 times there. It is always important to play there because it is where most music is developped. We always have had inspiring audiences there. New Yorkers know a lot about bands. We were totally happy because they made us feel that they wanted to hear something special. It is a good feeling.

You are releasing a two-disc set at a time when people listen to more music online. Does this rapidly-changing environment have an impact on how you create an album?

Nik Bärtsch We always did what we thought was right. You have to work on the long run and show people you can surprize them. Ronin sold 50 000 records, which is amazing for a jazz band. The business model changes, the media change, but the message stays the same. I don’t only think myself as a musician. I am also an entrepreneur, because you need to sell records to be able to keep playing.

For more information:

Ronin’ s “Live” two-disc set is out. Label: ECM

Nik Bärtsch and Ronin play every Monday at Exil music club, Hardstrasse 245 21, in Zurich.

Ronin will perfom at Label Suisse in Lausanne on December 14th, 2012.

For more information: http://www.nikbaertsch.com/konzerte/

No Reduce in New York

Dave Gisler travels through New York with a big suitcase full of guitar pedals. The 29 year-old jazzman from Zurich is currently in the United States for a tour with his band, No Reduce. Swissvibes caught up with him on rainy Monday afternoon, 2 hours before his first show in Brooklyn.

Dave, tell us about Jaywalkin’, your band’s first record.

Dave Gisler We recorderd it in New York last year. I got a residency from Switzerland and I stayed here for 4 months. Nasheet Waits is one of my favorite drummers. I called him up and asked him if he would like to play with us (Nasheet Waits is based in New York and drums for Jason Moran & the Bandwagon among others). My friend Christoph Imiger, who plays saxophone, was in New York at the time as well. And Raffaele Bosshard (Bass) flew in from Switzerland to record the album. Christoph, Raffaele and I had written the songs in Switzerland. We rehearsed them for one and a half days here and recorded the record at Nasheet’s studio. It all worked out well. It is really impressive how Nasheet made the songs come alive.

Why did you call your band No reduce as it sounds grammatically incorrect?

Dave GislerIt is always hard to find a band’s name. The “n”, the “r”, the “d” and the “c” are the first letters of our first names. We put them together and then looked for a way to fill up the blanks. We came up with “No reduce” and liked that. We know it’s not grammatically correct as it should be “No reduction”, but we thought this would be a name people would not forget. And it also sums up the music we do. We really go for it. There is a lot of energy coming from our band.

What are your influences?

Dave Gisler I listen to old jazzmen like Coltrane. But I am mostly influenced by the people I play with and by places like New York. It’s always very inspiring to be here. In the last six years I have come to New York every year and I somehow always end up at the 4 a.m. live session at the Fat Cat. I also love going to the Stone, John Zorn’s club. I have alwas loved both classical jazz and free jazz.

You only have played a couple of gigs before doing this US tour. How important is it for you to play at several venues in New York and Pittsburgh?

Dave GislerIt is a very important experience for us. We try to see if our music works. This tour will make us grow as musicians.

No Reduce on stage at Douglass Street Music Collective in Brooklyn on Septembre 18, 2012.

No reduce’s US tour

18.9. Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn/NY

19.9. Seeds, Brooklyn, Brooklyn/NY

20.9. The Shrine, New York City

21.9. Ibeam, Brooklyn/NY

22.9. Dance Alloy Theater, Pittsburgh/PA

Jaywalkin’ was released on NWOG Records.

For more information: www.noreduce.com

Swiss Bands at the Olympic Games 2012 in London

The Olympic Games will kick off in London on July 27, and alongside the prowess to be displayed by the World’s leading sportsmen and women, the occasion of The Games will also provide the opportunity to enjoy music from all the nations represented in this greatest of all sporting events.

Many of the participating countries have already arranged with some of London’s leading venues to take advantage of these facilities to set up ‘Houses’ to offer hospitality to visitors and to showcase established and up and coming artists to international audiences. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) along with Zürich has made arrangements to set up the House of Switzerland at the prestigious Glaziers Hall situated by the Thames at London Bridge.

Acts will perform on almost every day of the Games as part of the “Swiss Artists in Residence“ programme. Artists performing what is described as, ‘a wide range of creative and ambitious Swiss music’ will include: Hillbilly Moon Explosion, The Dandies, Mama Rosin, Pegasus, National Fanfare of Kadebostany and Philipp Fankauser, accompanied by the Walking Acts Micha Sportelli, Nadja Stoller and Nino G and the Human Beat Box.

The highlight of the Jazz/Pop/Rock concert series ‘Zürich Sounds’ is expected to be the performance by the up and coming Boy on 31 July. Other acts to watch out for will be, Legendary Lightness, Evelinn Trouble, Yves Theiler Trio, Ingrid Lukas, My Heart Belongs to Cecilia Winter, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin and Rusconi.

Further House of Switzerland UK 2012 details can be accessed at:
www.facebook.com/houseofswitzerland
www.twitter.com/HoSLondon2012

Grégoire Maret Quartet at Jazz Standard in New York

Herbie Hancock once called Grégoire Maret “one of the most creative musicians around”. The Geneva-born harmonica sensation lived up to his reputation last week at Jazz Standard, one of the best venues for jazz In New York. He took the stage with his band for a series of 8 shows between May 3rd and May 6th to present his long anticipated self-titled debut album, after spending the past 10 years playing virtually every musical style with many different artists such Pat Metheny, Youssou N’Dour or George Benson.

On May 4th, Grégoire Maret joked on stage about an album, which has been “extremely long to accomplish” . But this sleek musical journey, on which he is joined by harmonica legend Toots Thielemans for a beautiful cover of Ivan Lins’ “O Amor E o Meu Pais”, was definitely worth the wait. With the impeccable support of Frederico Gonzales Peña on piano, an artist he calls his “brother from another mom”, the sytlish Clarence Penn on drums percussions, and the extremely talented Ben Williams on bass, Grégoire Maret offers a modern mix of jazz, soul, blues, pop and Brazilian sounds.

He opened up the show with the percussion-driven Crepuscule Suite, in which his passionate and physical harmonica solos set the tone of the performance. His duet with Frederico Gonzales Peña on “My Loved Ones” was a moment of sheer magic. The Swiss artist was then joined on stage by Raul Midon, a blind guitarist known among other talents for his velvet voice and vocal mouth trumpet sounds. Midon, who worked with Sharika, Stevie Wonder and Little Louie Vega, makes a cameo appearance alongside Cassandra Wilson on Maret’s album.

At Jazz Standard, Raul Midon provided the vocals for an inspired cover of “The Secret Life of Plants” by Stevie Wonder. On the atmospheric Manha du Sol, he echoed Maret’s harmonica with his vocal mouth trumpet sounds before a sublime finale that lit up the stage and galavanized the crowd. That night, Grégoire Maret powerfully proved once more that the underutilized harmonica can be one of the most beautiful instruments in jazz.

Tim and Puma Mimi at XPO 929 in Brooklyn

If you are looking for Brooklyn’s underground scene, go to Bushwick . You will find plenty of artists, photographers, rehearsal spaces in old industrial buildings and venues like Xpo 929, where Tim and Puma Mimi performed on Friday night. The electro duo from Zurich is in New York to shoot a video for its upcoming album – The Stone Collection of Tim and Puma Mimi – to be realeased on May 11 in Switzerland (on Mouthwatering records). The band took the opportunity to add a few shows to the trip, including one at Pianos, a well-known venue in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and one in Philadelphia.

Tim and Puma Mimi’s gig at Xpo 929 was a typical New York rock’n roll experience. They found in Bushwick a mostly empty and dark space filled with the lone members from other bands on the lineup and a few post-punk girls with heavy black eyeliner as well a passionate sound engineer pushing up the volume to make up for the pretty bad acoustics. But the duo – Tim (Christian Fischer) and Puma Mimi (Michiko Hanawa) – joined by Swiss drummer Georg Bleikolm from Lausanne stood out with its elaborate mix of electro and rock, English, Japanese and even French lyrics in “Belleville Rendez-vous”, one of the tracks on its new record.

Tim and Puma Mimi performed new material including Q-Cumber, a track on which Tim uses a cucumber to make weird electronic sounds. Tim’s flute solos and Mimi’s frantic dance moves made the 30-minute show all the more interesting. – Jean-Cosme Delaloye