BFT #24 - Answers (Disc 1)

[king ubu]

Alright, here we go...

I'm not able to post all I want right now (need to google some more, need to proof-read my write ups, etc...)

I made multiple posts in order to be able to add things (including a few photos I've saved on my HD and am too lazy to find the links again) over time, and if I add anything on specific tunes or so, I'll try and make you see that by posting an updated post and putting the new stuff in different colour or so.

****************

Now as for what my theme was... no one got it right, completely. It was NOT mixing the obscure with the obvious, although the fact that this happened, incidentally, was a welcome one, as most of you did post on the music, and not just post guesses and "I like it" or "Not my cup of tea". This lead to many most enjoyable posts, and I want to thank you all for that! I had a ball reading, and I found it very nice to get to know what you think about the music without actually having a clue about who is playing. That brings the whole experience to another level, somehow. I mean, if I know it's Grant Green I'd certainly post something that does have connections with my love for his music in general, and that does influence the way I put some ideas on paper, on the web, actually, about him - this could not happen here, in most cases, and that was part of the game, as I intended it.

Now as for the theme: simply put "a journey through Swiss jazz" (that applies only to disc 1, of course).

I'll be posting in pieces now, hope I won't take too long to finish it off!

Thanks for listening!

ubu

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

1. Old Folks (Robinson-Hill)

Ben Webster & Henri Chaix Trio

Ben Webster (ts), Henri Chaix (p), Alain Dubois (b), Romano Cavicchiolo (d)

Club Johnnie's, Lausanne (Switzerland), January 29, 1969.

Radio Suisse Romande Lausanne/Archives

Released on CD4 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

A nice piece of late Ben Webster for starters.

I'm a sucker for mid to late sixties Webster - the first of his albums I got was one of those Black Lions with Kenny Drew, still have it, got it for free in a very nice store here.

That whispering, airy sound that at the same time is so big... :wub

The pianist, Henri Chaix (1925-1999) was one of those often accompanying travelling Americans. He led his own groups and recorded as a leader (for Sackville, for instance), too.

Of French origin, he came to be a mainstay of the Swiss scene, yet still had his French charm. He had formal, classical schooling (Conservatory of Geneva). He comes from those days when there were no schools that taught jazz, made his way through old-time bands (there were an awful lot of those, and probably most of them sounded awful, too... check #2-4 for an example). Chaix led his own band throughout the sixties - the band heard on this track. With this trio he accompanied Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Ray Nance, Stuff Smith, Rex Stewart, Buddy Tate, and many more - and of course the Frog. The trio with Du Bois and Cavicchiolo remained active till Du Bois' death in 1997. Chaix, besides his jazz career, was a professor at the Geneva conservatory and taught some other important (traditional) Swiss piano players. "C'était un montagne" was how his friends referred to him after his death.

2. Limehouse Blues (Braham-Furber)

3. Anything For You (Kander-Goldman)

4. I'm In the Mood For Love (Fields-McHugh)

Morris & his Music feat. Coleman Hawkins

Gustave "Gugu" Dupuis (t), Max Oberle (cl), Coleman Hawkins (ts), René Van Dyke (p), Roger Mazuit (b), Morris Einhorn (d,leader)

Air shots from Club "Mac Mahon", Geneva (Switzerland), October 15, 1936.

Released on CD1 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

More tenor (there will be much more tenor, as you all have noticed... the king loves them tenors...), but this one goes back more than three decades.

Guest appearances such as these two with Webster and Hawkins were important events for the development of Swiss jazz. Hawkins was revered by musicians and fans alike. These three short (and supposedly very rare - has anyone of you heard them before?) air shots capture Hawk in a phase of stylistic development. According to the liner notes of the "Jazz in Switzerland" box, one of the accompanists remembers Hawk constantly changing reeds, looking for a new sound.

I must admit that I can't find too much to enjoy in the two short tracks preceding "In the Mood for Love", but I wanted to share all three of them (all there is, as far as I know, so you got it, now).

On #4 there's some terrific Hawk, in my opinion!

Hawkins spent all of 1936 in Switzerland, learning to ski in St. Moritz, too. In May, he recorded four sides with the "Berries", a Swiss group headed by Bernhard "Berry" Peritz. Clarinetist Ernst Höllerhagen was a member of the "Berries" at that time and Hawkins' room-mate when they were travelling. Pianist of that group was André Berner, later an important organizer/impresario figure (mainly for trad jazz concerts and festivals). Berner wrote an article at that time for Downbeat, which was the first sign of existence Hawkins' mother got from her son, in more than two years (rather tragic that he had not written to her over that time, as his father killed himself in March 1935 - this seems to have left a lasting impression on Hawk and he seemed even more restrained and even less open with other people).

In autumn of 1936, Hawk played at the Mac Mahon (the club the three air-shots come from). The band was an international one, with Swiss, French and Dutch musicians. Hawk had an appartment in Geneva at that time, but then in April 1937 he left Switzerland, played a concert in Paris (with Henry Mason, trumpeter), returned to the Netherlands for another date with the "Ramblers", then it was back to Paris, cutting the seminal sides with Django (among them "Crazy Rhythm" and "Honeysuckle Rose"). End of the story for me here, just a note that Hawk, during the following years of travelling (mostly in the Netherlands), did return to Switzerland again (Zürich and St. Moritz). By July 31, 1939, Hawk was back in NYC.

(And just in case: I haven't heard the sides Hawk cut with the "Berries" - are they on the Chronogical Jazz Classics?)

5. Mop Mop (Heard-Wilson)

Swiss BeBop Team

Lukas "Cheese" Burckhardt (t), Walter Burger (ts), Francis Burger (p), Body Buser (vib), Pierre Cavalli (g), René Stammbach (b), Willy Bosshard (d)

Radio Basel (Switzerland), January 31, 1948.

Released on CD1 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

An early example of Swiss bop. Brothers Francis and Walter Burger from St. Gallen, guitarist Pierre Cavalli from the French-speaking western part of Switzerland, and Body Buser, Cheese Burckhardt, and Willy Bosshardt from Basel were among the first Swiss jazz musicians to embrace the new style, copying Dizzy, Bird & Co.

As has been noted, there's not a whole lot of advanced playing here, and the rhythm may be a bit stiff, but they're trying... I included this as it's the only track of early Swiss bop I own, and it closes a gap between the old stuff opening the disc and the modern jazz to follow.

Bop, as in fact all modern jazz, took a long time to be accepted in Switzerland. I'm sure these musicians got a lot of bad rap back in the day.

The horns sound decidedly old-school (even more so their tones than their lines), the piano is close to some stoopid boogie constantly during the solo (yet doing some harmonically interesting things, too), and the guitar has an old feel, sounding like those pre-Christian guitar players a bit. Adding vibes to the mix was certainly a nice idea, though.

6. Hush (Donald Byrd)

Flavio Ambrosetti

Franco Ambrosetti (t), Flavio Ambrosetti (as), George Gruntz (p), Karl-Theodor Geier (b), Kenny Clarke (d)

Radio Lugano (Switzerland), July 7, 1963

Released on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4) (labelled as "Franco & Flavio Ambrosetti", but this was Flavio's band)

I love this tune! I first heard it on the Black Lion reissue of that album Byrd made with Johnny Coles (who of course outshines Byrd on each and any tune...). This version I like quite a lot, too. It features several Swiss musicians of crucial importance and of international fame (if that ever happened to Swiss musicians, it's these guys here): Franco Ambrosetti and George Gruntz remain active and are highly regarded. Flavio Ambrosetti comes up with an alto solo that many of those second-rate BN alto players could learn something from. Klook on drums has a very lazy laid-back swing going on that I love a lot. Franco makes his entry in a sparse way and builds some, with lots of nice ideas and beautiful mellow sound (I guess he listened to the best in late Fifties Byrd, which I like a lot, anyway). Gruntz provides a not entirely cliché-free hard bop piano solo, I can hear many many influences in there (Timmons, mostly, in this case). He plays fully two-handed, and I like the effect this has.

If any of you want to check out more great early Gruntz, check out the Atavistic UMS reissue of Gruntz' "Mental Cruelty" soundtrack, a great 1960 album with Kenny Clarke, K.T. Geier, Marcel Peters, Raymond Court, and... BARNEY WILEN. Here's the cover:

Franco Ambrosetti never was a musician, exclusively, he still sticks to the "amateur" thing that was prevalent among Swiss modern jazz musicians in the Fifties and early Sixties. Born in 1941, Franco learned classical piano for several years, and in 1961 started his musical career. In 1967 he made his US-debut, as a member of his father's group, performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Ever since, Franco has toured all over, guested with many band leaders (among them his long-time musical associate's, George Gruntz' big band), and played the NYC clubs (there's a good Enja live recording from the Blue Note, with Seamus Blake and Kenny Barron).

Here's a photo, from Bergamo (Italy), 1976:

His father Flavio, same place & date:

Flavio Ambrosetti, born 1919, was the son of an industrialist, and both he, and later Franco, took over the family business, besides their musical careers.

Flavio was one of the first of the young bebop amateurs, and in 1949 he performed at the Paris jazz festival, meeting his big hero, Charlie Parker there.

The Fifties were the era of "amateur jazz". The most important event was the "Zürich Amateur Jazz Festival", founded in 1951 by André Berner (the pianist of the "Berries", in the thirties), as a competition for amateur jazz musicians. That festival was quite a success. But then in 1958, some musicians decided not to enter the contest, not to submiss to a jury, anymore. On the verge of turning professional, they decided to take part hors concours. The ranking lists from the first ten editions read like a who's who of Swiss jazz. Great pains were taken that no musician who made his living in one way or another from music, or who had worked more than a total of two months as a musician since the last festival, was allowed. Average age of the 251 competing musicians at the 1958 edition was 22, mostly they came from larger cities and industrial areas. Not one female musician in sight. Two thirds playing trad jazz, one third (both of the trads and the moderns) were students and University graduates. And the most interesting observation: half of the musicians were the first in their families to ever pick up an instrument. Swiss radio broadcasted the winning bands and top event, but regrettably, most of the recordings have long since been destroyed.

It seems in those years there was not only a gap between amateurs and professionals, but also between young and old musicians (though mainly the old ones were the pros, too). Professional bands played for dance, played whatever they were asked to play, while the amateurs had sort of an artist's pride, to set them apart.

In 1959, Francis Burger (I guess the one at the piano on #5) founded the first institutions that taught jazz, in Basel and Zürich. However, as jazz turned professional, its popularity was waning, beat, pop, rock and blues becoming the main focus of young audiences, jazz turning into an insiders' pleasure.

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

7. What Is This Thing Called Love (Cole Porter)

Helen Merrill-George Gruntz

George Gruntz (p), Karl-Theodor Geier (b), Peter Baumeister (d), Helen Merrill (voc)

Radio Basel (Switzerland), March 11, 1962

Released on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

Now as you all know Merrill, here's some info on George Gruntz: born in Basel, 1932, amateur musician in the early fifties (piano & vibes), semi-professional in Switzerland and elsewhere till 1962. In steps Helen Merrill and convinces Gruntz to finally make a living as a professional musician (BIG thank you to Ms Merrill - he turned into a mainstay of Swiss jazz, which he is still today). He leads a trio, travels. From 1970-1986 he's the house composer of the Zürich Schauspielhaus, collaborates with (classical) composer Rolf Lieberman. In 1963, Gruntz, accompanied Merrill on her tour through Japan.

In 1971/72, together with the Ambrosettis (see #6) and drummer Daniel Humair (another great Swiss jazz musician who chose to spend the largest part of his career in France), Gruntz founded what was first called "The Band" and has later been renamed as the "George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band", a big band with changing personnel that has been in existance ever since 71/72, usually performing Gruntz' own compositions (or his arrangements). They recorded some great LPs for MPS, with musicians such as Benny Bailey, Art Farmer, Dusko Goykovich, Woody Shaw, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Albert Mangelsdorff, Ake Persson, Jimmy Knepper, Herb Geller, Leo Wright, Charlie Mariano, Dexter Gordon, Don Byas, Joe Henderson, Sahib Shihab, John Scofield, Isla Eckinger, Daniel Humair, Elvin Jones... A pity none of the MPS albums ever were reissued on CD. The only thing I have is a compilation, "The MPS Years" (Motor Music 1996, highly recommended). Later recordings were done for some of the leading European labels, ECM, Hat, Enja, and in recent years, TCB. The music includes folk influences, classical... Gruntz composed an opera (though I have no idea how good it actually is), and toured the world with his orchestra (all the important festivals, tours through China, the Far East, Latin America). The story goes on...

And again: thanks, Ms Merrill! (Though I guess if one is Ms Merrill it's not too difficult to convince others to do the right thing... )

Now on this particular cut: I got one of the two CDs that EKE asked if I took the cut from them. It's not on that one, but I have no information on the other, and I do assume that the "Jazz in Switzerland" box is the way to go for this cut (again, there's nothing else included on that box). Gruntz does some really BAD shit here, much more advanced than on "Hush". The drummer, who's great as well, I have no further information on.

8. Whisper Not (Benny Golson)

Erwin Müller Trio

Erwin Müller (acc), Jacky Weidmann (b), Ueli Roser (d)

Jazzfestival Zürich (Switzerland), September 15, 1965.

Released on LP Ex Libris GB 393, reissued on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

The only thing I know about Müller is that he took up the drums and is supposed to be active (or at least was, back in the nineties). Google for "Erwin Müller" and you will find that there's quite a bunch of people with that name...

I love the way he cuts into one of my all time favourite compositions, and I love the sonority he gets out of his weirdo instrument, too. And most important: he swings!

9. When Will the Blues Leave (Ornette Coleman) 3:51

Hans Kennel Quintet

Hans Kennel (t), Bruno Spoerri (ts), Remo Rau (g), Hans Foletti (b), Alex Bally (d)

Radio Zürich (Switzerland), February 15, 1963

Released on CD3 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

I quite like this cut. It's again obvious here that they're not yet quite up to the task of the tune they chose, but... Hans Kennel and Bruno Spörri (meet them again on #11 in a totally different context) both remain active. Kennel, born 1939, plays trumpet, flügelhorn, and alphorn (trad. Swiss instrument). In the sixties, he had a name as one of the early Swiss bebop musicians (see, in the sixties!!! those other cats on #5, rec. 1948 were pretty fast, for Swiss - hmm, mental? - conditions...)

Kennel played with Gruntz and Pierre Favre (see #10), and toured Europe with the big ones (Klook, Oscar Pettiford, Dollar Brand). Later he played jazz rock, founding bands like Jazz Rock Experience (see #11), Magog, Alpine Jazz Herd, or Habrigani, recording a number of albums. 1990 he founded an alphorn-quartet, Mytha, then 1996 the "Alpine Experience", incorporating traditional Swiss folk music.

So here's Satchmo with his alphorn:

10. Hinten (Irène Schweizer)

Pierre Favre Trio

Irène Schweizer (p), George Mraz (b), Pierre Favre (d)

Radio Zürich (Switzerland), February 19, 1968

[no release info, prob. not available except on:] CD3 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

[will try do some little write up here]

This tune has been nailed by a few of you (first by Marty) as one of Cecil Taylor's compositions, "E.B." (to be heard on the Candid album "The World of Cecil Taylor").

I have no idea why this one's labelled as a Schweizer tune here, though.

11. Street People (Bruno Spörri)

Jazz-Rock Experience

Hans Kennel (el t), Bruno Spörri (el as), Raffael Weber (g), Nick Bertschinger (wurlitzer elp), Hans Foletti (elb), Kenny Schmidt (d)

Dietikon (Switzerland), February 6-10, 1970

Released on LP "J.R.E." (Deram SDN 19, 1970; this cut was reissued on a recent Intakt 2CD Compilation, Intakt CD 099), source: Swiss Radio Broadcast

Quite interesting to hear the same horns players again as in #9, this time in a totally different context. Spörri (born 1935) has, besides being a longtime member of th "Metronome Quintet" and working with musicians of all stylistic directions, been a pioneer of Swiss electronic music. The electric sax he plays here being an early sign of that development.

He's got his own homepage here: http://www.computerjazz.ch/, including a Discography.

For the German-reading folks, there's a lengthy article on his experiences with electronics, too: >click here<.

Now this group was the very first jazz rock group in Switzerland, and they gradually evolved out of the Hans Kennel Quintet (see #9)/Octet/Sextet. Spörri tried out a Selmer Varitone in 1967, but couldn't afford it, as it was only sold with a saxophone, not separately, so he got some Conn equipment, and Hans Kennel, too, got a Conn Multivider for his trumpet. Spörri remains active today, though as far as I know he is not really a part of the jazz scene nowadays. The "J.R.E." album in 1970 of course brought the usual purist reactions of hate and "that's no jazz" and "that's commercial".

In the past four and a half decades, Spörri has played with many important Swiss musicians, such as George Gruntz, Thomas Moeckel, cabaret artist Dodo Hug, Max Lässer, Andy Scherrer (see CD2, the "Blood Count" basher...), etc, and has recorded with Clark Terry, Albert Mangelsdorff, and others.

Here's another biography for the German-reading crowd: >click here<.

Oh, and before I forget: there sure IS an Eddie who? connection here! The Jazz in Switzerland box includes a tune they cut as a demo for Swiss TV, and they chose "Listen Here" for that...

Spörri in his studio in 1985:

and a setup for a concert in 2004:

(both photos taken from his website)

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

12. Luca Enea (Werner Lüdi)

13. Kokomu & Pazuzu (Werner Lüdi)

Werner Lüdi's Sunnymoon

Werner Lüdi (saxes), Hans Koch (saxes, poss. out on #12), Martin Schütz (b), Timo Fleig (d,perc)

Released on LP "Lunatico" (hatArt 2018, rec. prob. 12/18/1984, rel. 1985), source: Swiss Radio Broadcast

I love these two tracks! Got them as part of a radio series of "Swiss Jazz Classics" that presented 20 or so LPs (half of each of which was broadcasted, usually).

Hans Koch and Martin Schütz, together, are two thirds of the great "hardcore chamber music" trio Koch-Schütz-Studer (releases on Intakt and Intuition). Studer, another mainstay of the Swiss scene (and founder-member of the legendary jazz rock group, Om, with Urs Leimgruber, Christy Doran, and Bobbi Burry) is not featured on my BFT, alas. Maybe next time...

Koch is quite active, I saw him live last year as part of Barry Guy's New Orchestra (he played some crazy shit on his bass clarinet, I was afraid it might catch fire). Schütz has crossed over into the electronics scene, and both Koch and Schütz are doing free improv, too.

Werner Lüdi is a much-loved character. He died in 2000. A free jazz avatar, he was never a fully professional musician, but was at the same time active as a journalist/writer, and - having had a very creative way with words, also as an advertising-slogan-creator (whatever the correct word for that would be).

He started paying dues musically in Hamburg (Germany), becoming a member of vibist Gunter Hampel's band in 1962. In 1966 he returned home to Switzerland, working the advertising business, after living through the hardnesses of a free improviser's life. In 1981, with an outfit called "Sunnymoon", he returned to music. That band included guitarist Stephan Wittwer (whom I portrayed/interviewed for my radio show, last spring), Leon Francioli (b), and - again - Fredy Studer (d). Other collaborators of Lüdi's included Burhan Oeçal, William Parker, Peter Kowald, Sainkho Namtchylak, and Butch Morris. The thee last mentioned are on his FMP CD, "When the Sun Is Out You Don't See Stars" (which I don't have, but seems to be very nice).

His Intakt release, "Ki", features good old funny rat originator Shoji Hano and Parker. I don't have that one, either, but it could be another good one! (D.D. - you have it?)

Here's a photo of the man:

Werner Lüdi (1936-2000)

Oh, and I'm aware it wasn't very fair to have #2-4 and #12/13 as separate cuts on the CD, even if they belong together, but... hope no one's mad at me because of that!

14. Calypso Minor* (Abdullah Ibrahim)

Thierry Lang Trio

Thierry Lang (p), Heiri Känzig (b), Peter Schmidlin (d)

Festival de Cully (Switzerland), March 30, 2004

Recorded by Swiss Radio (Espace 2), source: France Musiques Broadcast/2004

I love this moody track. Heiri Känzig (a long-time member of the Vienna Art Orchestra) has a great bass sound, and he really contributes to the mood of this track. On drums here, we have Peter Schmidlin, founder and (prob.) owner of the great little label, TCB Records. The main focus here, though, lies on Thierry Lang's sensitive interpretation of a beautiful composition of Abdullah Ibrahim's.

Lang was - in the late nineties, I think - the first Swiss musician to get a Blue Note contract, which got him a lot of good press here. He recorded a series of albums called "Reflections", which I haven't feeled compelled to check out, but this cut, recorded at a Swiss festival a year ago I liked so much that I thought I might put it on my BFT, between all those tenor tracks

Ibrahim, of course, is a very dear favourite of mine, and one of the earliest musicians I felt like I wanted to know more after having heard two or three of his CDs. Also "African Marketplace" was one of both my parents' favourite LPs, and I must have heard that one countless times when I was a kid. This cut gave me the opportunity to show Ibrahim my reverence, too.

With this track we're arriving in the present Swiss jazz scene, of which the following cuts on disc one, as well as #8 on disc 2 are further examples. Going with the taste of the majority, I mostly included music that I would call "mainstream", though there is much other music going on here, even if you'd only look at Zürich.

Another remark on Schmidlin: he still performs a lot, for instance regularly with the piano trio CoJazz, which includes Andy Scherrer (see disc 2 #8, he's on his main axe there) on piano. They made a couple of discs, which - obviously - were released on TCB.

And Känzig: born in NY, studies in Vienna, founder-member of the Vienna Art Orchestra, Art Farmer's regular bass player in 1978-79. Performing with travelling and expat Americans (Griffin, Bailey, Billy Brooks), as well as European musicians (Fritz Pauer, Wolfgang Dauner, Christoph Lauer, Heinz Sauerer). In the early eighties classical bass studies at the Zürich conservatory, back to Vienna and the VAO, moving to Paris, playing all over with everybody. Since 1991 teaching at the Lucerne jazz school, member of "The Swiss Leaders", a quartet with Franco Ambrosetti, Daniel Humair and George Gruntz. Enough now... just a few more names he played with: Gunther Schuller, Paul McClandless, Charlie Mariano, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Andy Scherrer. So you see: one of the top bass players in this part of the world, and a very prolific one, too.

*)I'm not sure about the identity of this track, "Calypso Minor" (Ibrahim) was what the French radio announcer said it was (they're usually quite competent, though). brownie sent me a link (see photo attached below) to a Lalo Schifrin tune that was used in some pub in France, which looks quite similar...

15. LA BALLADE POUR PIPETTE (Roman Schwaller) | solos: Pontiggia (frh), Schwaller (ts), Friedman (p)

Roman Schwaller Nonet

Peter Tuscher (t), Adrian Mears (tb), Claudio Pontiggia (frh), Ed Partyka (tuba), Roman Schwaller (ts,arr,comp), Domenic Landolf (bcl), Don Friedman (p), George Mraz (b), Adam Nussbaum (d)

Generations 2002, Frauenfeld (Switzerland), October 4, 2002

Recorded by Swiss Radio (DRS 2), source: Swiss Radio Broadcast/2002 or 2003

Earlier in his career, Roman Schwaller was an important voice of Mathias Rüegg's Vienna Art Orchestra (he can be heard, for instance, on "The Minimalism of Erik Satie", which, alas, is OOP). Schwaller is one of the best contemporary tenorists. Generations is his "baby", a bi-annual festival, including workshops for young musicians, including his own projects, invited bands, one big band project (the last one was headed by Rüegg, the one before by Bill Holman), and a band consisting of the workshop guys (in 2002 they included Don Friedman, George Mraz, Adam Nussbaum - that rhythm section he used for his live gig here, replacing his usual crew -, Brad Leali, and Ferdinand Povel, as well as some trumpet player, I think). A very nice festival, parts of which are broadcasted by Swiss radio.

This band here did a CD on German pianist Joe Haider's label, JHM Records. Haider, btw, is also a personality with quite some influence on the Swiss jazz scene. Here's a link to the english version of the JHM homepage.

Why I chose this track is mainly because of Schwaller's strong tenor solo, as well as Friedman's piano solo, but as with a few of you, the real highlight for me, is Pontiggia on French horn (he, too, appears with the Vienna Art Orchestra). That sound has a depth that not many an instrument can achieve.

If you want to check Schwaller out in a quartet setting, his "Jazzquartet" release with Jimmy Cobb, "Some Changes is Life", is higly recommended. The JHM page allows no direct linking, you got to scroll down in the catalogue to find the two discs.

Here's a photo of the project "3 Generations of Swiss Tenors":

(left to right) Roman Schwaller, Andy Scherrer, Domenic Landolf

(Landolf, who plays bass clarinet with Schwaller's nonet, usually plays tenor, too. Schwaller was also part/initiator of an international tenor trio with Sal Nistico and Johnny Griffin, which did a CD for JHM, too.)

16. Sfrjagtmy (Kaspar Ewald) | solos: Woodtli (t), von Flüe (ts), Bamert (tb)

Kaspar Ewalds Exorbitantes Kabinett

Kaspar Ewald (comp,arr,cond), Stephan Geiser (lead), Daniel Woodtli (t), Heiner Krause (frh), Bernhard Bamert (tb), Michael Büttler (btb), Regula Schneider (cl,voc), Roland von Flüe (ts,cl), Beat Hofstetter (ss), Sascha Armbruster (as), Andrea Formenti (ts), Beat Kappeler (bari), Jean-Paul Brodbeck (fender rhodes elp), Wolfgang Zwiauer (elb), Fabian Kuratli (d)

Jazzfestival Schaffhausen 2002, Kammgarn Kulturzentrum, Schaffhausen (Switzerland), May 25, 2002

Recorded by Swiss Radio (DRS 2) (rec. eng.: Martin Pearson), source: Swiss Radio Broadcast/2002

ARTE Quartet can be heard on Pierre Favre's latest Intakt release (that even got a write up in Downbeat, recenlty!)

Zwiauer/Kuratli are a very tight team, they've been playing with Christy Doran's group "New Bag" and grown to be a great duo.

Ewald himself has a classical background and works at the Zürich conservatory (teaching arranging, I think).

The one time I heard this band live I was nearly blown away. True, the music has little room to breathe, but to hear this stuff for an hour, full in your face, is a terrific thing!

The tenor man, whom I'm not all that fond of, is another fairly important guy on the Swiss scene, while both the trumpet and trombone soloists are very young fellows.

17. Ghost (Albert Ayler)

Peyer-Weber-Stoffner

Florian Stoffner (g), Christoph Weber (b), Marius Peyer (d)

Jazzfestival Schaffhausen 2002, Kammgarn Kulturzentrum, Schaffhausen (Switzerland), May 25, 2002

Recorded by Swiss Radio (DRS 2) (rec. eng.: Martin Pearson), source: Swiss Radio Broadcast/2002

Some Lebert Aaly to finish things of... another young Swiss trio here. Christoph Weber is very active, mainly though in freer contexts that this here. The project they did was called "songs and other inventions", they played a few of their own songs, a couple of seldom-heard standards, and Dylan's "I Pity the Poor Immigrant", too. A pretty varied series of songs, but it worked out very fine.

Once again not much more I can tell you. I think Stoffner has appeared (maybe recorded?) with another Swiss guitarist, Harald Haerter (who did discs with some famous US sidemen and seems to have a very good name with musicians, in general).

18. Snippet No. I: Duke Ellington

same as Disc 2, #6

Edited March 29, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

George Gruntz on a recent photo by Dragan Tasic.

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Bruno Spörri with the "Jazz Live Trio"

(photo by Peter Günthart)

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Hans Kennel playing a "Büchel" (small version of the Alphorn)

(photo by Mark Wohlrab 2004)

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Irene Schweizer at last year's Jazzfestival Willisau (performing with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake):

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Pierre Favre (a fairly recent photo, I believe):

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Thierry Lang (photy by Dragan Tasic)

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

Heiri Känzig

[king ubu]

Peter Schmidlin

[king ubu]

Roman Schwaller

[king ubu]

Kaspar Ewalds Exorbitantes Kabinett:

Edited March 26, 2005 by king ubu

[king ubu]

and the mystery man from #18...

[mmilovan]

On #4 there's some terrific Hawk, in my opinion!

Hawkins spent all of 1936 in Switzerland, learning to ski in St. Moritz, too.

Pres: "... I think he was in Switzerland or Sweeden or something like that..."

[mmilovan]

8. Whisper Not (Benny Golson)

Erwin Müller Trio

Erwin Müller (acc), Jacky Weidmann (b), Ueli Roser (d)

Jazzfestival Zürich (Switzerland), September 15, 1965.

Released on LP Ex Libris GB 393, reissued on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

The only thing I know about Müller is that he took up the drums and is supposed to be active (or at least was, back in the nineties). Google for "Erwin Müller" and you will find that there's quite a bunch of people with that name...

I love the way he cuts into one of my all time favourite compositions, and I love the sonority he gets out of his weirdo instrument, too. And most important: he swings!

This man is hell, one of the most fascinating tracks on the first disc. It's pitty so little is known about him.

[mikeweil]

7. What Is This Thing Called Love (Cole Porter)

Helen Merrill-George Gruntz

George Gruntz (p), Karl-Theodor Geier (b), Peter Baumeister (d), Helen Merrill (voc)

Radio Basel (Switzerland), March 11, 1962

Released on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

......... The drummer, who's great as well, I have no further information on.

Very nice choices, and what a great idea for a theme! I had wished for you to give us some examples for Swiss jazz, but this surpasses my wildest dreams.

How about that 4 CD anthology - still available, and worth a purchase? How's the booklet?

Maybe I can help out on the drummer on the Merrill track: in 1968 Peter Baumeister was a member of the first Dave Pike Set, the vibist's band in Germany. Volker Kriegel on guitar and Johannes A. (Hans) Rettenbacher rounded out the group. No idea what became of him after he left that band.

Oh - Reclams Jazzführer (1st edition, 1970) tells he was born in Dortmund, Germany, in 1939, started playing drums in 1958. Worked with Joki Freund, the Mangelsdorff brothers the Jazzensemble des Hessischen Rundfunk (i.e. the Frankfurt scene), the Modern jazz gRoup Freiburg, Barney Wilen, Kriegel, and the the Dave Pike set. He studied economics and graduated in 1968. I suppose he dropped out of jazz ...

Edited March 27, 2005 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

6. Hush (Donald Byrd)

Flavio Ambrosetti

Franco Ambrosetti (t), Flavio Ambrosetti (as), George Gruntz (p), Karl-Theodor Geier (b), Kenny Clarke (d)

Radio Lugano (Switzerland), July 7, 1963

Released on CD2 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4) (labelled as "Franco & Flavio Ambrosetti", but this was Flavio's band)

I love this tune! I first heard it on the Black Lion reissue of that album Byrd made with Johnny Coles (who of course outshines Byrd on each and any tune...).

As I have noted before, the session was recorded and first released under Duke Pearson's name, who had the great idea for the two-trumpet frontline, but on the ill-fated Jazzline label of producer Fred Norsworthy. Black Lion reissued it under Byrd's name because the expected higher sales figures that way (the same happened to sessions of Dave Bailey (> Grant Green or Kenny Dorham), Rocky Boyd (> Kenny Dorham), and Willie Wilson (> Freddie Hubbard) from that label/producer. See http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Labels/jazztime.htm for details.

Agree on Flavio Ambrosetti's alto qualities!

Recently saw Franco on tv in Greg Osby All-Star band with Mark Turner, Jason Moran, Lonnie Plaxico and Billy Drummond - he had no problems keeping up with them.

(Edited for mixing up the Ambrosettis)

Edited March 28, 2005 by mikeweil

[mmilovan]

And Flurin, hearing Hawkins with Swiss ensamble was real something, you can almost hear transition from Fletcher to "Body and Soul".

Oh, and they were recorded live, what atmosphere...

It's pitty they are fading out - not in complete form?

Edited March 27, 2005 by mmilovan

[John B]

I have to go back and relisten to these discs after reading the answers. Great theme!

[EKE BBB]

2. Limehouse Blues (Braham-Furber)

3. Anything For You (Kander-Goldman)

4. I'm In the Mood For Love (Fields-McHugh)

Morris & his Music feat. Coleman Hawkins

Gustave "Gugu" Dupuis (t), Max Oberle (cl), Coleman Hawkins (ts), René Van Dyke (p), Roger Mazuit (b), Morris Einhorn (d,leader)

Air shots from Club "Mac Mahon", Geneva (Switzerland), October 15, 1936.

Released on CD1 of "Jazz in Switzerland 1930-1975" (Elite Special 4CD 9544002/1-4)

...

Hawkins spent all of 1936 in Switzerland, learning to ski in St. Moritz, too. In May, he recorded four sides with the "Berries", a Swiss group headed by Bernhard "Berry" Peritz. Clarinetist Ernst Höllerhagen was a member of the "Berries" at that time and Hawkins' room-mate when they were travelling. Pianist of that group was André Berner, later an important organizer/impresario figure (mainly for trad jazz concerts and festivals) ...

(And just in case: I haven't heard the sides Hawk cut with the "Berries" - are they on the Chronogical Jazz Classics?)

Berries to be found here:

I don´t have details here, but will check it tonight with my copy handy.

[EKE BBB]

5. Mop Mop (Heard-Wilson)

Swiss BeBop Team

Also credited to Coleman Hawkins (see ASCAP website and the Ocium release "The Hollywood years"), AKA "Boff boff".

Any light here?

[EKE BBB]

5. Mop Mop (Heard-Wilson)

Swiss BeBop Team

Also credited to Coleman Hawkins (see ASCAP website and the Ocium release "The Hollywood years"), AKA "Boff boff".

Any light here?

And take a look at this interview with Charlie Parker (from MilesAhead website):

Interview with Marshall Stearns and John Maher. Chan Parker is present. Location unknown, although the date can be fixed by references to the rehearsals of the Gene Roland "Band that Never Was" (March 30 and April 3, 1950) and to Parker's mother's graduation from nursing school (April 20, 1950). The interview appears on Bird Box Volume 3 and Philology Volume 7 (W 57).

...

STEARNS: Well, Charlie, is it true that "Mop, Mop" was your idea originally? Leonard [Feather] says here that "Mop, Mop" was one of the things that you threw off and then, finally, I don't know who.., somebody else...

PARKER: It could've been, man, 'cause we used to do that a long time ago in Kansas City.

STEARNS: You did "Mop, Mop" in Kansas City?

PARKER: Years ago. That was just, put in drum beats in there just for the four, we'd just play, when we got to the channel we used to play sometimes [Parker sings] you know, just put it in.

...

[king ubu]

5. Mop Mop (Heard-Wilson)

Swiss BeBop Team

Also credited to Coleman Hawkins (see ASCAP website and the Ocium release "The Hollywood years"), AKA "Boff boff".

Any light here?

EKE, I have no idea about "Mop Mop", I actually just took the info from my source (that CD box).

Mike, as far as I know the box can still be found, but it's way too expensive. I got mine used after having had a "review copy" for years

The list prize, I think, equals at least 70 Euro (no biggie for 4CDs in Switzerland...)