Jazz Articles

Stewy von Wattenwyl: After the Rain

by Dan McClenaghan
October 26, 2013

After the storm has passed through, after the rain, with the sunbeams peaking though the breaking clouds, the day takes on an unblemished clarity. The horizon's sharp edge separates land from sky. Details of the landscape shine with fine detail. That after-the-rain clarity and focus is what elevates the artistic endeavor. Swiss pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl, with recordings like the trio outing Dienda (Brambus Reocrds, 2005), and the quartet set with saxophonist Eric Alexander, Live at Marians (Bemsha Music, 2009), ...

Stewy von Wattenwyl / Nick Perrin: I Got a Right to Sing the Blues

by Jack Bowers
May 2, 2006

In music as in sports, the best players always make whatever they do seem deceptively easy. Guitarist Nick Perrin and pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl are so loose and casual that one might think they were jamming in a basement or garage instead of cutting an album in a recording studio, belying the years of study, discipline and hard work it took to get them to that point. The duo format requires unremitting focus and the ability to listen carefully and ...

Peter Frei: Three Trios

by Budd Kopman
September 25, 2005

Three Trios is one of those records that just lodges in your musical memory and refuses to leave. These seventy minutes of the most enjoyable and subtle mainstream playing continue to surprise and reveal layers upon layers after each listen. Peter Frei is new to me, but the bassist has been active on the scene in Switzerland and elsewhere for over thirty years. He even appeared on a Johnny Griffin record in 1978! The notes state that ...

Stewy von Wattenwyl: Dienda

by Jack Bowers
June 20, 2005

Dienda, Swiss pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl's fifth album for Brambus Records, is an impressively recorded studio date, which wouldn't mean much if von Wattenwyl and his colleagues were less than impressive. Happily, they are not.

Von Wattenwyl, whose reputation is growing in his own country and elsewhere, clearly has found his own voice within a framework of elegance reminiscent of contemporary masters Barry Harris, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Barron; and power that calls to mind McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew ...

Stewy Von Wattenwyl: Dienda

by Dan McClenaghan
March 20, 2005

In a review of Live at Bird's Eye, a CD by the Stewy Von Wattenwyl Trio featuring Eric Alexander, All About Jazz reviewer Jack Bowers praised saxophonist Alexander's ability to use his technique to form an emotional bond with the listener. That is what the best artists do, and it's what the pianist on that particular disc--Stewy Von Wattenwyl--does so well here on Dienda. It's obvious from the very first notes of Gershwin's “My Man's Gone Now"--a dark, lonely sound--and ...

Kamala: Indian Songbook

by Raul d'Gama Rose
March 14, 2004

When western civilization decided to cease all contact with the eastern cultures, we heard very little or nothing of its high art—specifically the music that was complex, advanced and exquisite in every aspect. But the various musical landscapes of Africa, Central Asia, the subcontinent and the Far East were never completely blotted out by the rising renaissance sun. Word of the magnificent musical art of India, China, Persia, Turkey and the countries of Africa was legion among those who dared ...

Nick Perrin Trio: Wes' Side

by Michael P. Gladstone
March 2, 2004

After tossing all the new jazz guitar CDs against the wall, here's one that definitely sticks. This session, recorded last April in Zurich, is pleasure to listen to. Perrin has a well-rounded articulation on guitar. The notes ring out like those of Pat Metheny, but that is where the similarity ends. While Metheny's playing style reflects a more ambling, free-flowing melody and solo, Perrin charges ahead in a mainstream guitar trio setting like Kenny Burrell.

After a ...

The Daniel Schenker Quartet: Iridium

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2003

More inspired jazz from overseas. It's musicians like Daniel Schenker and albums like Iridium that make this country's so-called jazz polls so patently ludicrous. Technically and creatively, Schenker is on a par with many of the trumpeters whose names regularly appear at or near the top surveys conducted by critics or laymen and published in our leading jazz magazines. The downside is that Schenker and his companions make their home in Switzerland, which is somewhat removed from New York City ...

Brink Man Ship: Translusion

by Roland Kánik
May 1, 2002

Brink Man Ship (BMS), a project led by young flute/saxophonist Jan Galega Brönnimann, isn't today's typical one-man band. The core of this music relies on live performance by four musicians, with minimum use of overdubs.

After a superficial listen, one might label this album as “electronic" and put it on the same shelf with dance music. But that would be a big mistake and underestimation! It is difficult to describe BMS's music in words, and any attempt to ...

Stewy von Wattenwyl Trio: Everything I Love

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 1999

In reviewing favorably an earlier release by Swiss pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl’s trio ( To the Point, also on Stewy’s own Brambus Records label), I closed with this observation: “As a more accurate barometer of their interpretive prowess, I’d love to hear them take a whack at some better–known material, perhaps a few songs from the standard repertoire.” To my surprise (and delight), Stewy gladly accepted the challenge, placing Cole Porter’s “Everything I Love” at the heart of his third ...