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Rhythm-a-tized

Christoph Stiefel Septet

Rhythm-a-tized

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917341829
Catnr: CR 73418
Release date: 11 March 2016
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917341829
Catalogue number
CR 73418
Release date
11 March 2016

"Longlist 03/2016"

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, 01-7-2016
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
For over a decade now Christoph Stiefel has been expanding his musical cosmos – the basic cell of which uses isorhythms from the Middle Ages – in an exemplary manner. But he doesn’t just do this with admirable consistency, rather he allows his intuition to guide him in the end. Special conceptual ideas, therefore, serve him as a guide, but ultimately he seeks sensuality and emotional expressiveness.
The lynchpin of Stiefel’s work is his Inner Language Trio, to which belong the bassist Arne Huber and drummer Kevin Chesham, two extraordinarily musicians who differentiate rhythms in moving and clairaudient ways. This trio forms, so-to-speak, the nucleus of his septet, and now, after having given concerts for four-years, they are, at last, releasing a first album of their music. In the fascinating multi-layered compositions and arrangements for septet, Stiefel has also developed ideas even further, going back to his solo-program and to his collaboration with the singer Lisette Spinnler. Sarah Buechi, whose quartet has caused a stir in recent years, gives the septet a female voice, which is distinguished by an equal amount of expressive power and lyrical suppleness. She blends into the instrumental structure ingeniously (similar to what Lauren Newton did in the Vienna Art Orchestra). With such excellent entourage, Stiefel could have actually taken an easy path: the principle of a soloist relay à la Jazz Messengers would certainly not be a bad option given this great pool of improvisers (and sometimes the solos really do take off here). But Stiefel wanted more. And he has managed this. For example, he has often seamlessly integrated improvised passages in composed contexts. Or created an incredible wealth of unusual timbres, resulting in a kind of “trompe-l’oreille”: are there really only seven people at work? And added to all this, there is the formal richness of his pieces.
Seit über einem Jahrzehnt erweitert Christoph Stiefel seinen musikalischen Kosmos, als dessen Basiszelle die Isorhythmik aus dem Mittelalter fungiert, in exemplarischer Weise. Er geht dabei nicht nur mit bewunderswerter Konsequenz vor, sondern lässt sich in letzter Instanz von seiner Intuition leiten. Spezielle Konzepte dienen ihm also als Leitfaden, doch letztlich strebt er nach Sinnlichkeit und emotionaler Ausdruckskraft.
Dreh- und Angelpunkt von Stiefels Schaffen ist das Inner Language Trio, zu dem mit dem Bassisten Arne Huber und dem Schlagzeuger Kevin Chesham zwei außerordentlich bewegliche und hellhörige «Rhythmus-Ausdifferenzierer» gehören. Dieses Trio bildet sozusagen die Keimzelle seines Septetts, von dem nun nach erfolgreicher vierjähriger Konzerttätigkeit endlich ein erstes Album vorliegt.
In den faszinierend vielschichtigen Kompositionen und Arrangements fürs Septett entwickelt Stiefel auch Ideen weiter, die auf sein Solo-Programm respektive auf die Zusammenarbeit mit der Sängerin Lisette Spinnler zurückgehen. Mit Sarah Buechi, die in den letzten Jahren mit ihrem Quartett aufhorchen ließ, ist auch im Septett eine weibliche Gesangsstimme vertreten, die sich durch gleichermaßen expressive Kraft und lyrische Geschmeidigkeit auszeichnet und die sich kongenial ins instrumentale Gefüge einfügt (ähnlich wie weiland Lauren Newton im Vienna Art Orchestra).
Die weiteren Mitglieder der Band zählen ebenfalls zur neuen europäischen Jazzelite. Der Posaunist Adrian Mears kam zwar in Australien auf die Welt, doch er lebt seit vielen Jahren in Europa - als Bandleader ist er mehrspurig unterwegs, u.a. mit einem Electric Trio und mit dem Quintett New Orleans Hardbop. Der Trompeter Bastian Stein lebte lange in Wien und ist vor einigen Jahren nach Köln umgezogen: Er hat also viele Erfahrungen in zwei europäischen Jazz-Hotspots gesammelt. Domenic Landolf (Tenorsax, Bassklarinette) war Zauberlehrling beim helvetischen Sax-Doyen Andy Scherrer und zählt nun selbst zur Maestro-Kategorie.
Mit einer derart exzellenten Entourage hätte es sich Stiefel eigentlich leicht machen können: Das Prinzip der Solisten-Stafette à la Jazz Messengers wäre bei diesen grossartigen Improvisatoren durchaus keine schlechte Option (und zuweilen geht hier ja solistisch durchaus die Post ab). Doch Stiefel wollte mehr. Und er hat mehr erreicht! Zum Beispiel eine oftmals nahtlose Integration improvisierter Passagen in komponierte Kontexte. Oder einen unglaublichen Reichtum an ungewöhnlichen Klangfarben, woraus eine Art “Trompe-l’oreille” resultiert: Sind da wirklich nur sieben Menschen am Werk? Dazu kommt der formale Reichtum seiner Stücke.
Der Albumtitel «Rhythm-a-tized» greift also letztlich zu kurz (aber welcher Albentitel tut dies nicht?), auch wenn er eine essenzielle Komponente von Stiefels Umgang mit isorhythmischen und anderen außergewöhnlichen rhythmischen Verfahren umschreibt. Mit seinem Septett ist Stiefel sozusagen die Quadratur des Kreises geglückt: Er hat eine Band ins Leben gerufen, die als gut geölte Groove-Maschinerie ebenso sehr zu überzeugen vermag wie als kammermusikalisches Ensemble und bei der es sich auch noch um eine wunderbare Jazzband handelt, in der sieben ausgeprägte Individualisten ein gemeinsames Ziel verfolgen. Und im Gegensatz zu den Magnificent Seven im gleichnamigen Western kämpfen Stiefel & Co. nicht gegen das Böse, sondern fügen dem zeitgenössischen Jazz eine originelle, sinnliche, energiegeladene und interaktive Variante hinzu, indem Sie auf ganz persönliche Art musikalische Flexibilität und Spannung kombinieren: Souplesse and Suspense.

Artist(s)

Christoph Stiefel Septet (piano)

Sarah Buechi : voice, Bastian Stein : trumpet, fluegelhorn Domenic Landolf : tenor sax, bassclarinet Adrian Mears : trombone Christoph Stiefel : piano Arne Huber : bass Kevin Chesham : drums     After 10 years on the road with his Inner Language Trio, Christoph Stiefel releases his debut CD with his Septet. The band was founded 4 years ago, and has played since then numerous concerts, always leaving behind a enthusiastic public. Together with the international release, a concert/festival tour is planned for spring 2016. „Rhythm-a-tized“ represents a unique musical cosmos, full of interesting compositions of the leader, gripping grooves and rhythms, fascinating solos and beautiful calm moments. Using composition technique from the Middle Ages, Isorhythm, Stiefel has created a contemporaneous jazz model, starting this in the second half of the...
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Sarah Buechi : voice, Bastian Stein : trumpet, fluegelhorn Domenic Landolf : tenor sax, bassclarinet Adrian Mears : trombone Christoph Stiefel : piano Arne Huber : bass Kevin Chesham : drums After 10 years on the road with his Inner Language Trio, Christoph Stiefel releases his debut CD with his Septet. The band was founded 4 years ago, and has played since then numerous concerts, always leaving behind a enthusiastic public. Together with the international release, a concert/festival tour is planned for spring 2016.
„Rhythm-a-tized“ represents a unique musical cosmos, full of interesting compositions of the leader, gripping grooves and rhythms, fascinating solos and beautiful calm moments.
Using composition technique from the Middle Ages, Isorhythm, Stiefel has created a contemporaneous jazz model, starting this in the second half of the nineties, which oscillates between complex, intense grooves and iridescent tonal painting. In his Septet, Stiefel consequently continues his way and uses virtuosically the rich possibilities of colors and rhythmic superpositions of the different instruments.
An impressive, exciting and soulful music played by some of the best Swiss and German Jazz musicians. www.christophstiefel.ch
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Adrian Mears (trombone)

Christoph Stiefel (piano)

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961, the pianist became a permanent band member of Andreas Vollenweider & Friends at the age of 23. He toured with the band through Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA from 1984 to 1989. Around the same time he decided to drop out of law school; he began to work on his own projects, with which he has already produced and published 16 CDs internationally. After his earlier musical interests inspired him to create projects in world music, nujazz, fusion and even to compose a “classical” concerto for piano, two percussionists and string orchestra (world premiere in 1998), he turned intensively to jazz piano music and composition in the last 15 years. He has become well known...
more
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961, the pianist became a permanent band member of Andreas Vollenweider & Friends at the age of 23. He toured with the band through Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA from 1984 to 1989. Around the same time he decided to drop out of law school; he began to work on his own projects, with which he has already produced and published 16 CDs internationally.
After his earlier musical interests inspired him to create projects in world music, nujazz, fusion and even to compose a “classical” concerto for piano, two percussionists and string orchestra (world premiere in 1998), he turned intensively to jazz piano music and composition in the last 15 years.
He has become well known internationally over the last few years, in particular for his own compositional style through which he has created a contemporary type of jazz by using a compositional technique from the Middle Ages (isorhythm) and his music oscillates between intensive grooves and tonal color painting in a fascinating manner. For years, he fostered this compositional style, mostly in his Inner Language Trio, which manages the balancing act between precise conceptual work and unleashed improvisation with such aplomb as few other formations in the current jazz scene.
Stiefel’s extraordinary compositions as well as his special way of playing the piano have opened the doors to interesting new projects such as a duo performance with the Japanese dancer Hideto Heshiki, a duo with the vocalist Lisette Spinnler, the foundation of the septet Christoph Stiefel’s Isorhythm Orchestra along with several of the best Swiss and German jazz musicians as well as the new band, the Karl Seglem & Christoph Stiefel Group.
Since 2000, Christoph Stiefel has been an instructor for piano and keyboards in the Jazz Department at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2012, he received a cultural award – a one-year working grant – from the City of Zurich, called “Werkjahr Jazz.”
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Arne Huber (bass)

Domenic Landolf (saxophone)

Sarah Buechi (vocals)

Bastian Stein (trumpet)

Bastian Stein was born in Heidelberg into an artist and musician family, but grew up in Vienna where he still lives today. He was already allowed to audit classes at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, when he was 10 years old, and he began his trumpet studies there when he was 15. He continued his studies in Amsterdam for several years where he studied under Ack van Rooyen, among others. In 2005, he received a New York scholarship as prizewinner of the Hans Koller Prize, and he had one year of private lessons from the internationally renowned trumpet instructor Bo Nilsson in Sweden in 2006. With such a solid education from childhood, it is obvious: this young...
more
Bastian Stein was born in Heidelberg into an artist and musician family, but grew up in Vienna where he still lives today. He was already allowed to audit classes at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, when he was 10 years old, and he began his trumpet studies there when he was 15. He continued his studies in Amsterdam for several years where he studied under Ack van Rooyen, among others. In 2005, he received a New York scholarship as prizewinner of the Hans Koller Prize, and he had one year of private lessons from the internationally renowned trumpet instructor Bo Nilsson in Sweden in 2006. With such a solid education from childhood, it is obvious: this young man has no limits with respect to technique. Individualism and creativity in music developed over the years while he toured with various bands, including a longer time in the German Jazz Orchestra under the recently deceased conductor Peter Herbolzheimer, who said that he had "an outstanding gift for composing" and "an outstanding degree of artistic creativity". Consequently, the band members playing with Bastian have to meet high demands, and they do this brilliantly. There are also prizewinners among them. Peter Kronreif was recently awarded the Hans Koller Prize as Newcomer of the Year 2010, and Matthias Pichler has already won a whole slew of prizes. Philipp Jagschitz is a pianist very much in demand in Austria, resulting in a very solid and multifaceted rhythm group. The classic jazz quintet is complete with Christian Kronreif, former student of Harry Sokal and Alan Praskin and a solid member of the Austrian jazz scene in the meantime.

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Composer(s)

Christoph Stiefel (piano)

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961, the pianist became a permanent band member of Andreas Vollenweider & Friends at the age of 23. He toured with the band through Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA from 1984 to 1989. Around the same time he decided to drop out of law school; he began to work on his own projects, with which he has already produced and published 16 CDs internationally. After his earlier musical interests inspired him to create projects in world music, nujazz, fusion and even to compose a “classical” concerto for piano, two percussionists and string orchestra (world premiere in 1998), he turned intensively to jazz piano music and composition in the last 15 years. He has become well known...
more
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961, the pianist became a permanent band member of Andreas Vollenweider & Friends at the age of 23. He toured with the band through Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA from 1984 to 1989. Around the same time he decided to drop out of law school; he began to work on his own projects, with which he has already produced and published 16 CDs internationally.
After his earlier musical interests inspired him to create projects in world music, nujazz, fusion and even to compose a “classical” concerto for piano, two percussionists and string orchestra (world premiere in 1998), he turned intensively to jazz piano music and composition in the last 15 years.
He has become well known internationally over the last few years, in particular for his own compositional style through which he has created a contemporary type of jazz by using a compositional technique from the Middle Ages (isorhythm) and his music oscillates between intensive grooves and tonal color painting in a fascinating manner. For years, he fostered this compositional style, mostly in his Inner Language Trio, which manages the balancing act between precise conceptual work and unleashed improvisation with such aplomb as few other formations in the current jazz scene.
Stiefel’s extraordinary compositions as well as his special way of playing the piano have opened the doors to interesting new projects such as a duo performance with the Japanese dancer Hideto Heshiki, a duo with the vocalist Lisette Spinnler, the foundation of the septet Christoph Stiefel’s Isorhythm Orchestra along with several of the best Swiss and German jazz musicians as well as the new band, the Karl Seglem & Christoph Stiefel Group.
Since 2000, Christoph Stiefel has been an instructor for piano and keyboards in the Jazz Department at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2012, he received a cultural award – a one-year working grant – from the City of Zurich, called “Werkjahr Jazz.”
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Press

Longlist 03/2016
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, 01-7-2016

article - no quote possible
Jazzpodium, 01-5-2016

"Conlusion: the "Magnificant Seven" are a tension creating and smoothly acting collective."
Jazzpodium, 01-4-2016

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