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Urs Leimgruber: AIR Vol. 2
by John Eyles
Released a year after the four-disc album AIR Vol. 1 (Creative Works Records, 2023) comes the three-disc AIR Vol. 2, which has a similar layout to the earlier release. Each disc of the four-disc album featured Swiss saxophonist Urs Leimgruber in a duo with a different player: American drummer Gerry Hemingway, Swiss pianist Hans Peter Pfammatter, Swiss amplified spinet player Jacques Demierre, German synthesiser player Thomas Lehn. Each disc of the three-disc follow-up does the same: French double bassist Joëlle ...
Continue ReadingLeimgruber, Demierre, Lehn: in the endless wind
by Glenn Astarita
Per the marketing release, LDL emerged from the trio LDP, which had already made waves in the European music scene. However, the transformation did not stop there. The addition of analog synthesizer ace Thomas Lehn expanded the group, resulting in the quartet LDP+L. Interestingly, Barre Phillips, who played a pivotal role in shaping LDP's style and form, does not appear on the LDL lineup. In The Endless Wind invites listeners on an introspective journey. Urs Leimgruber's soprano saxophone ...
Continue ReadingChristy Doran: in The Corner Of The Eye
by Ian Patterson
For forty years, Irish-born, Lucerne-based guitarist Christy Doran has recorded prolifically for numerous labels. Inevitably perhaps, many of his earlier works are out of print, so it's cause for celebration that this release brings together the very best of Phoenix (hat Art, 1990) and What a Band (hat Art, 1992), two long-neglected yet essential Doran recordings. The majority of Doran's releases have been with bands, from the seventies jazz-rock/free jazz group OM to New Bag, his main working ...
Continue ReadingEuphorium_freakestra: Free Acoustic Supergroup
by Mark Corroto
Thanks to pianist and director Oliver Schwerdt, the Euphorium_freakestra is and always has been a glorious experiment in organized disorganization. The double CD Free Acoustic Supergroup is the ensemble's seventh release. Schwerdt's experiments began with the single disc Ðal Ngai (Euphorium Records, 2004) and eventually the group's 3-CD Grande Casino (Euphorium Records, 2018). Ðal Ngai included the guest artists Friedrich Schenker and Günter Baby Sommer. Other releases found the ensemble hosting musicians such as Thomas Lehn, Barry Guy, and Bertrand ...
Continue ReadingAxel Dörner, Roger Turner, Urs Leimgruber, and Ribo Flesh: Untitled (London Leipzig Luzern)
by Troy Dostert
With a lineup comprising some of the leading figures in free improvisation, fans of the genre will surely want to give Untitled (London Leipzig Luzern) a close listen. Trumpeter Axel Dörner, saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and percussionist Roger Turner have made their mark on hundreds of recordings featuring all of the household names: Evan Parker, Sam Rivers, John Butcher, Joëlle Léandre, and many others. Indeed, all three musicians arguably belong in the pantheon themselves, and there's something to be said for ...
Continue ReadingThe Workers: Altbüron
by John Eyles
Altbüron is the first album release from The Workers, a newly-formed quartet of experienced Swiss improvisers, each of whom had previously collaborated with at least one other member; the quartet comprises soprano saxophonist Urs Leimgruber (born 1952), alto saxophonist, flautist and voice Omri Ziegele (born 1959), bassist Christian Weber (born 1972) and drummer Alex Huber (born 1982), those dates illustrating the range of ages--and, hence, influences— within the group. This album was recorded live at bau 4 in Altbüron, in ...
Continue ReadingOM: It's About Time
by Ian Patterson
In 1982, after five albums in ten years, Swiss free-jazz quartet OM called it a day—its four members, Christy Doran, Fredy Studer, Urs Leimgruber and Bobby Burri going their separate ways. A supposed one-off reunion in 2007 to open an exhibition on the youth movement of the 1960s and 1970s led to a successful series of festivals appearances on home turf. Those concerts resulted in the live album Willisau (Intakt Records, 2010), a return to OM's improvisational heartland, and signalled ...
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