Two Recent Recordings On Ezz-thetics

In the Hat Hut site which systematically lists all the Ezz-thetics releases to date, the two albums below are completely surrounded by albums of music by now-deceased jazz icons who recorded it decades ago—Paul Bley in 1962, John Coltrane in 1962 too, Albert Ayler in 1964, Cecil Taylor in 1980 and Steve Lacy in 1984. So it seems somewhat incongruous to report that the albums below were recorded in 2021 and 2022. Despite such differences, all ezz-thetics albums have certain things in common such as a distinctive graphic style in their cover art, comprehensive sleeve notes and, most of all, sound quality which is second to none...

Hans Koch & Florian Stoffner
Net
Ezz-thetics
2025

Born in Biel, Switzerland, in 1948, clarinetist, bass clarinetist, contrabass clarinetist, soprano saxophonist, tenor saxophonist and electronicist Hans Koch has a recording career dating back to the '80s, including spells as a member of Barry Guy New Orchestra, Cecil Taylor European Orchestra and Insub Meta Orchestra . He has released a substantial number of albums on Intakt as well as on Ezz-thetics.

Born in Switzerland, in 1975, guitarist Florian Stoffner has also recorded on Ezz-thetics before, notably in a trio with John Butcher and Chris Corsano. Before the current duo, Koch and Stoffner had previously recorded the 2016 album Elgar together as the Elgar Trio alongside Swiss drummer Lionel Friedli.

The album's tracks, which range in length from 3' 36" to 6' 57," are all credited to Koch and Stoffner which indicates that they were all freely improvised rather than composed. For the majority of the time both are playing, listening and responding to one another. Despite not playing together a great deal, the pair are well attuned to each other's sounds and instincts. The end results are easy to listen to and stand up well to repeated listening.

A curiosity of this album is that its first six tracks, which run for just over thirty minutes, are repeated again note for note as tracks seven to twelve, as what is described as a "Binaural mix (for headphones)"—not something one encounters every day. However, the positive side of this oddity is that one does not need to repeat the music oneself as it happens automatically. Yes, the music is good enough to be heard twice in succession...

Sophie Lüssi, Sandra Weiss, Fridolin Blumer, Andreas Wettstein.
Atlantic Puffin
Ezz-thetics
2025

Although all four musicians who play on Atlantic Puffin are credited by name on the front of the album's sleeve. Sophie Lüssi composed all of the pieces that comprise the album and her violins are vital ingredients of the music.

Drummer Andreas Wettstein and bassist Fridolin Blumer were both born in Switzerland. Saxophonist and bassoonist Sandra Weiss was born in South Africa but studied saxophone at Berklee College of Music in Boston and at Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste in Zurich. She studied bassoon at Musikhochschule, Lucerne, but is currently based in Zurich. She is versatile musically, having played renaissance music on historic instruments, folk music, classical music, jazz, experimental and improvised music in Europe, USA, Russia and Japan.

Lussi describes herself as Swiss-Argentine and lived in Buenos Aires from 2004 until 2022. In 2015 all four of the musicians together recorded the album Valse Pour Ornette which was released on Creative Works Records; that album was credited to Sophie Lussi Quartette. Of the album's fifteen tracks, eight were titled "Valse Pour Ornette" followed by Roman numerals I to VIII. Atlantic Puffin has followed in that album's footprints by including six tracks entitled "Valse Pour Ornette" followed by numerals up to XIII.

The titles of the intervening tracks are all the names of small birds, in keeping with the album title; no actual bird sounds are heard though. These tracks are longer than those with numerals and form the main body of the album. All four members of the quartet contribute equally to the music, with no-one dominating. From start to finish, the music is a joy to listen to again and again. This quartet sounds as if it has a bright future ahead of it.

Tracks and Personnel

Net

Tracks: insecure safety; incoming clarity; pulling robe; no questions...; with the help from a bottle; finding a treasure. Binaural mix (for headphones) insecure safety; incoming clarity; pulling robe; no questions...; with the help from a bottle; finding a treasure.

Personnel: Hans Koch: clarinet, soprano saxophone; Florian Stoffner: guitar.

Atlantic Puffin

Tracks: Atlantic Puffin; Valse pour Ornette IX; Chimango; Valse pour Ornette IIX; Chiffchaff; Valse pour Ornette X; Wax wing; Valse pour Ornette XI; Orpheousspotter; Valse pour Ornette XIII; Cacha lote Castano; Valse pour Ornette XII.

Personnel: Sophie Lüssi: violin, tenor violin; Sandra Weiss: alto saxophone, bassoon; Fridolin Blumer: double bass; Andreas Wettstein: drums.

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