Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Urs Leimgruber: 13 Pieces For Saxophone

Urs Leimgruber: 13 Pieces For Saxophone

By Glenn Astarita
October 9, 2007
View read count

Eminent Swiss saxophonist Urs Leimgruber has been a fixture, primarily within European jazz and improvisational dominions. Unlike many other free-wheeling solo saxophone ventures, the artist renders a cumulative discourse of enticing notions on 13 Pieces For Saxophone. He's an intense conversationalist, while frequently concentrating his improvisational output within a given register. Among other notions, this characteristic adds quite a bit of distinction to the sum of the intricately exercised parts, as he aims to excite one's neural network.

All of these works are catalogued in ascending numerical fashion as the album title suggests. On the energized "Three he conjures up pops and hissing tones amid his multifaceted phrasings. It sounds uncannily like LP surface noise, yet he is apt to put the listener in trance-mode during the whirling-dervish lines of attack he creates on "Six.

Many of these pieces are engineered upon cantankerous and frenetic voicings, occasionally interspersed with wit and unanticipated shifts in direction. Therefore, and this is a good thing, Leimgruber plots out a musical course that intimates a divergent track mix. Don't worry; he won't lull you into boredom.

One of the highlights includes his ability to sustain a single high-note within one continuous cycle on "Nine. Sure, this has been done before, although he throws a variable into the plot by intermittently injecting a semblance of electronic interference into the acoustic element. It's as though an A/C current found its way into his game-plan. Simply stated, this is one of the premier solo sax jaunts in quite some time. With that notion in mind, hopefully this gem doesn't get overlooked.

Track Listing

One; Two; Three; Four; Five; Six; Seven; Eight; Nine; Ten; Eleven; Twelve; Thirteen.

Personnel

Urs Leimgruber

saxophone, soprano

Urs Leimgruber: soprano and tenor saxophones.

Album information

Title: 13 Pieces For Saxophone | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Leo Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos
< Previous

Browns in Blue
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.