In Between by Bruno Spoerri

Bruno Spoerri | Roger Girod

In Between

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: TCB The Montreux Jazz Label
UPC: 0725095013420
Catnr: TCB 01342
Release date: 02 September 2022
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Label
TCB The Montreux Jazz Label

UPC
0725095013420

Catalogue number
TCB 01342

Release date
02 September 2022

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Electronic music is often accused of being soulless, unable to transmit emotions, and of being dominated by technology. However, this problem is far from being novel. Just think of the poor pianists who, since the invention of the piano (itself a highly technical and complex machine), have been faced with the task of breathing something like a musical soul into the monster. Saxophonists don’t know this problem: they sing, they speak, they even scream their emotions directly into, and through their instrument. This is probably one of the reasons why jazz, this highly expressive music, likes to use this instrument – glibly based on the popular definition, “Jazz is when there’s a saxophone”.

Bruno Spoerri and Roger Girod find themselves in the midst of this tension – “in between” – as they explore new possibilities for the interplay between technical challenges and personal expression. It turns out that the two seemingly contradictory approaches to jazz and electronics have more in common than meets the eye: the playful and improvisational, the exploration and development of a personal sound palette, and the use of new rhythmic structures have been part of jazz since its beginnings, and make their appearance quite organically in electronic music.

For 50 years Bruno Spoerri has been dealing with the traditions and developments of jazz as well as with electronic music – from its pioneering analog beginnings to the digital forms of today. In pianist Roger Girod he has found a partner who is able to rectify these two sides with his spontaneous interventions in an intensively interactive intercourse, forming an amalgam that speaks from the language of jazz, but also widens the vocabulary of this perennially metamorphic music. In the middle of this free space – between traditional forms and the potential of today’s digital age – this duo clearly feels at home – In Between!

Der elektronischen Musik wird oft vorgeworfen, sie sei seelenlos, unfähig, Emotionen zu vermitteln, und werde von der Technik dominiert. Dieses Problem ist jedoch alles andere als neu. Man denke nur an die armen Pianisten, die seit der Erfindung des Klaviers (selbst eine hochtechnische und komplexe Maschine) vor der Aufgabe stehen, dem Monstrum so etwas wie eine musikalische Seele einzuhauchen. Saxophonisten kennen dieses Problem nicht: Sie singen, sie sprechen, sie schreien sogar ihre Emotionen direkt in und durch ihr Instrument. Wahrscheinlich ist das einer der Gründe, warum der Jazz, diese hochexpressive Musik, dieses Instrument so gerne einsetzt - frei nach der populären Definition: "Jazz ist, wenn ein Saxophon dabei ist".

Bruno Spoerri und Roger Girod befinden sich mitten in diesem Spannungsfeld - "in between" - und erkunden neue Möglichkeiten des Zusammenspiels zwischen technischen Herausforderungen und persönlichem Ausdruck. Es zeigt sich, dass die beiden scheinbar gegensätzlichen Ansätze von Jazz und Elektronik mehr gemeinsam haben, als es den Anschein hat: Das Spielerische und Improvisatorische, das Erforschen und Entwickeln einer persönlichen Klangpalette und die Verwendung neuer rhythmischer Strukturen sind Teil des Jazz seit seinen Anfängen und tauchen ganz organisch in der elektronischen Musik auf.

Bruno Spoerri beschäftigt sich seit 50 Jahren mit den Traditionen und Entwicklungen des Jazz sowie mit der elektronischen Musik - von den bahnbrechenden analogen Anfängen bis zu den digitalen Formen von heute. Mit dem Pianisten Roger Girod hat er einen Partner gefunden, der diese beiden Seiten mit seinen spontanen Interventionen in einem intensiven interaktiven Wechselspiel zu einem Amalgam zu vereinen vermag, das aus der Sprache des Jazz spricht, aber auch das Vokabular dieser sich immer wieder wandelnden Musik erweitert. Inmitten dieses Freiraums - zwischen traditionellen Formen und den Möglichkeiten des heutigen digitalen Zeitalters - fühlt sich dieses Duo sichtlich wohl - In Between!

Artist(s)

Bruno Spoerri

Roger Girod

Bruno Spoerri (b. 1935) played as a saxophonist in various jazz groups as a student, and from 1956 with the Modern Jazz Group Freiburg. From 1957 to 1975 he was a member of the Metronome Quintet and the quintet of Remo Rau and Hans Kennel. From 1964 he composed for commercials, and from 1967 freelanced as composer and sound engineer. He made early experiments with electrified saxophone, the Ondes Martenot and EMS synthesizers. He cooperated with Hans Deyssenroth and Joël Vandroogenbroeck (Brainticket).

Spoerri was musical director of the Zurich Jazz Festival between 1970 and 1973 and again from 1975 to 1977. For a long time he played with Albert Mangelsdorff, Reto Weber, Christy Doran and Ernst Reijseger. Touring has taken him to the USA, Japan, India and Ethiopia, among other places. He’s also created music for commercials, documentaries and feature films (including Markus Imhoof’s “Tauwetter”, Rolf Lyssy’s “Teddy Bär”, H.U. Schlumpf’s “Der Kongress der Pinguine”). Spoerri is editor and co-author of the works “Jazz in Switzerland - History and Stories” (Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005) and “Music from Nothing” (Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2010) on the history of electroacoustic music in Switzerland. He works with interactive computer systems that give him the opportunity to enter into musical communication with his devices. Spoerri worked as a lecturer at the music academies in Zurich, Biel and Lucerne. In 2015 he received the Golden Medal of Honor from the Canton of Zurich,
and in 2017 the Swiss Jazz Award for his life’s work.

Roger Girod (b. 1945) originally studied and practiced law, is now working in a variety of contexts as a musician in Winterthur. Improvised music, jazz projects, collaborations with well-known singers, projects in the fields of literature and dance, as well as chamber music concerts and composition are all part of his broad

field of activity. Roger Girod worked for many years as a lecturer in piano and group improvisation at the Zurich University of the Arts. From 1987 he organized the “Concerts for early risers” and brought big names from the Swiss scene to Winterthur and Zurich for morning collaborations. As a member of the founding board of the Sulzberg Foundation, he was instrumental in developing the Villa Sträuli in Winterthur which houses a wide range of artist-in-residence programs and cultural events. In 2012 Roger Girod, together with his wife Ruth, was awarded the Carl Heinrich Ernst Art Prize and in 2015 the Winterthur Culture Prize.