Jazz Articles about Irene Schweizer

About Irene Schweizer

Album Review

Irene Schweizer / Hamid Drake: Celebration

Read "Celebration" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 4, 2021

Celebration is a walloping storm of free jazz, rolling in on a hard-hitting percussion mode. Pianist Irene Schweizer holds down the piano chair, Hamid Drake is behind the drum kit. The pair has played and recorded together often. The opener, “A Former Dialogue," introduces us to a drum thunder and a splattering of fat piano-crafted raindrops. Schweizer's piano approach sounds as if it is an attack full of elbows and knees, making madcap, Cecil Taylor-like pandemonium interspersed with moments of ...

Radio & Podcasts

Mostly Outside

by Patrick Burnette
March 11, 2021

Time for a traditional mixed-bag podcast ranging over the decades and through musical styles, though 2001 gets special treatment for whatever reason. Artists range from an Ornette Coleman-esque quartet from the sixties to an uplifting piano trio from right now, with an outward questing pianist and trumpeter in the middle of the sandwich. Pop matters dwells on some recent vinyl re-issues of old skool alternative rock classics and--good lord--is that some Thin Lizzy in there? Playlist Discussion of ...

Album Review

Irene Schweizer, Joey Baron: Live!

Read "Live!" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
January 12, 2018

Inciso a Zurigo a fine 2015, l'album riunisce due improvvisatori di scuole e generazioni diverse: Irène Schweizer, settantasei anni, svizzera di Sciaffusa, attraversa l'avanguardia europea praticamente fin dal suo primo affermarsi (se non affacciarsi), mentre Joey Baron, sessantaduenne di Richmond, quella stessa avanguardia (ovviamente dall'altra sponda dell'Atlantico) l'ha accompagnata, per così dire fiancheggiata, nel corso di una carriera ultratrentennale abbracciando però anche esperienze “altre." La prima volta che l'abbiamo ascoltato, per dirne una, era nel trio di Jim Hall, la ...

Album Review

Irene Schweizer / Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
March 28, 2016

For such an assuredly rhythmic player Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer shows an unexpected affinity to drummers, who feature disproportionately as partners in her discography. But even so Welcome Back constitutes only the second entry to pair Schweizer with maverick Dutch drummer Han Bennink, following their eponymous debut (Intakt, 1996), which was itself preceded by years of engagement stretching back further still. In spite of their impeccable avant-garde credentials (both have been at the forefront of European improv for the last ...

Album Review

Irene Schweizer, Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo

by Maurizio Zerbo
September 21, 2015

Correte ad acquistare questo strepitoso CD, se non lo avete ancora fatto. In questo progetto si ritrovano i risultati più inaspettati raggiunti dal jazz contemporaneo. Vi aleggia una gioiosa comunicativa, che si contraddistingue rispetto all'attuale produzione europea di stampo avanguardistico. A ciò si aggiungano ritmi ipnotici e danzanti che fanno di questo disco una rara avis. Il duo Irene Schweizer-Han Bennink ricorre ad una nuova chiave di lettura di un processo destrutturante, che riguarda la storia e l'estetica jazzistica.

Album Review

Irene Schweizer - Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
September 14, 2015

Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer and Dutch drummer Han Bennink share a long and fruitful lineage within the Euro improvisation scene as Welcome Back marks the their second duo recording. However, the pianist has recorded duets with venerable drummers, Andrew Cyrille, Baby Sommer and others of note, while Bennink has participated in duets with pianists, Cecil Taylor and Myra Melford to cite a few. The musicians' respective legacies could in theory, populate a book. Yet, they're at it again with these ...

Multiple Reviews

Novità dalla Intakt

by Maurizio Zerbo
October 29, 2014

Dalla label svizzera Intakt provengono sempre proposte interessanti, che ci forniscono un significativo spaccato della ricerca jazzistica europea. Pur facendo i conti con i clichè di riferimento (l'avanguardia degli anni '70), si impongono modalità di grande spessore espressivo. Irène Schweizer-Jürg Wickihalder Spring Valutazione: * * * ½ Intakt Records (2014) Entrambi i CD qui in esame presentano una precisa cifra stilistica, palpabilmente riconoscibile. Nel caso di Irene Schweizer, si ripropone ...