Swiss Improvisers Orchestra : Zwitzerland

The Swiss group is probably less of an orchestra and more of a large group, consisting as it does of just nine musicians. The music they make across the album’s seven tracks is more free jazz with an improvised element to it than pure improv. At the heart of most tracks there is a simple melody or series of repeated lines and rhythms that propel the music along in a medium paced, bouncy manner. This element, which does seem to be the music’s central concern doesn’t interest me a great deal. there are however plenty of nice little moments throughout the album, ironically usually when only two or thee of the musicians are playing, and often in the little moments of calm between the more busy, melodic elements in each track. The fifth track for instance, named Tales opens with a lovely, subdued passage of quiet tones played by either the group’s cellist Sabine von Werra or bassist Markus Fischer (I suspect the latter but can’t be sure) alongside one of the several wind instruments played very quietly and softly. This little vignette is beautiful, but is brought to a halt after two minutes by the other instruments suddenly bursting in, still quite quietly, but without the degree of subtlety the duo showed. Throughout Zwitzerland these moments keep occurring, but all too often they are seen as openings or endings to more jazzy tuneful pieces with two or three musicians at the heart, and others following along with sudden jabs, wails and other flourishes. What isn’t clear to me though is how much is composed. Certainly the music is divided into sections, parts that allow free expression, others that clearly don’t, and good use is made of an instruction to suddenly cut from one section to another, often halting the music in full flow and letting something different swell up from underneath. Whether the melodies and rhythms are pre-ordained or not I am unsure. I suspect not, but still they are the weak point of the album for me, the drumming in particular, which is the one part that seems to pull the music away from improvised freedom than any other, often giving the music a marching feel to it that I just couldn’t live with. Zwitzerland is a well played, technically assured album, but the group make a music that overall just isn’t something I am that interested in. Richard Pinnell (The Watchful Ear)

Ursula Maehr – recorder
Carles Peris – saxophone, flute
Francis Petter – saxophone, bass clarinet
Valentin Vecellio – baqsset horn
Marco von Orelli – trumpet
Sabine von Werra – voice
Christoph Baumann – piano
Markus Fischer – double bass
Jacques Widmer – drums

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