Jazz Articles about Sylvie Courvoisier

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: Abaton

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 28, 2008

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio Abaton La Huit 2007

Of all absolutely modern chamber music artists, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier perhaps comes closest to imitating the pirouettes, the leaps, the twists and turns of dancers' bodies. When she plays, her hands cross over as if the bodies of dancers were intertwined. This makes the experience of the audio recording of Abaton (2003), her debut for ECM, extra special. She must surely have envisioned dancers making ...

Sylvie Courvoisier: Lonelyville

by Kurt Gottschalk
December 9, 2007

Sylvie Courvoisier's work has come from a variety of angles over the years. She is a classically-trained composer with a strong ear for formal structure, an improviser with a strong sense of community and artistic relationships and an innovator whose work with preparing and altering the piano goes beyond the usual percussive effects to forge a new musicality on the instrument. All of those aspects of her work come together beautifully on Lonelyville, a fantastic and far-reaching suite written for ...

Sylvie Courvoisier: Lonelyville

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 21, 2007

Le corde di un violino e di un violoncello, i tasti di un pianoforte, le pelli e i metalli di una batteria e i microchips di un personal computer sono i protagonisti di questo Lonelyville, ultima incisione di Sylvie Courvoisier, leader di un quintetto inedito dal punto di vista discografico. I precedenti lavori della pianista e compositrice elvetica si collocavano in una zona indefinita a cavallo tra improvvisazione jazzistica e musica accademica e contemporanea. Anche questo disco non sfugge alla ...

Sylvie Courvoisier: Abaton

by Kurt Gottschalk
December 4, 2003

It's a testament to pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's fine trio that the second half of her new two-disc set is as strong as the first. Violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander and she have certainly logged plenty of hours together in different settings. The pianist's ear for composing for them shows through on the first disc and their shared sense of improvising shines on the second. Her scoring hand is so transparent and the trio so communicative, in fact, that the ...

Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman/Erik Friedlander: Abaton

by Rich Friedman
December 1, 2003

Abaton is a remarkable two-disc recording that is at once startling and mysteriously beautiful, gently pushing you into strange, good places. The music defies easy classification, which only adds to its appeal. The piano trio consists of Swiss composer and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, jazz violinist Mark Feldman, and cellist Erik Friedlander. The first disc consists of four of Courvoisier’s written compositions, and there are 19 short improvisations on disc two.

It’s impossible not to ...

Sylvie Courvoisier & Jacques Demierre: Deux Pianos

by Glenn Astarita
March 1, 2001

Under ordinary circumstances, many of us would guess that a pairing of two improvising pianists, performing in parallel, might translate into an all out blitz, duel or slugfest. Well, that supposition represents the antithesis of this newly released recording, simply titled Deux Pianos. Here, pianists Sylvie Courvoisier and Jacques Demierre render intuitive call and response type dialogue via hushed tones, animated choruses, rhythmically charged block chords and intricate harmonic invention.

The pianists pursue demure dreamscapes amid counterbalancing melodies along with ...

Sylvie Courvoisier: OCRE - Y2K

by Glenn Astarita
May 1, 2000

This new release titled, Ocre: “Y2K” features quite a distinguished cast! - A Trio consisting of Swiss modern jazz pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, tuba and serpent performer Michel Godard and Pierre Charial who utilizes that sound machine known as the barrel organ. As some might already surmise, the musical format portrayed on this new release does indicate or allude to a rather improbable setting. Here, the musician’s cultivate a groove and sound that might seem indigenous to something or somewhere although ...