Pianist Irene Schweizer has earned the status of artistic royalty in her Swiss homeland. The recital presented on this new Intakt disc was part of a larger celebration celebrating her achievements, a day that included several concerts, a screening of the biographical film Portrait and a lavish dinner reception in her honor. The venue itself, a grand conservatory space regarded as one of most acoustically pristine in the world, was also proof of the confidence and fondness placed in her by the creative community of which she is a focal part. Schweizer was reportedly pleased by all the sincere pomp and circumstance, but her primary desire remained the chance to play the piano for the pleasure of an audience and her own. She stuck to this personal directive and turned in another highly personal and musically complete performance.
Drinking in the results, which clock at just under an hour, I found myself reflecting on Keith Jarrett, specifically his newly released Carnegie Hall concert on ECM and making snap, if possibly erroneous, comparisons. Jarrett commands a similar level of respect, albeit on a world stage. His concerts are considered cultural events; high-ticket items easily rivaling their classical counterparts in terms of aesthetic cachet. The rushing swells of audience applause that append Schweizer’s pieces are included, but tastefully truncated. In Jarrett’s case, a rapturous sea of clapping hands consumes a full seventeen minutes of the Carnegie set. Jarrett’s ego is well documented, as is his disdain for those he deems of lesser talent. This arch smugness is curiously at odds with his purported humanist philosophies. Not so with Schweizer who takes her populist positioning to heart with every performance. Her music springs from a fount of internalized sources: African dance, European folk ballads, free improvisation, American jazz and blues, and so on. It’s an amalgam deeply her own, but I’ve yet to hear it sound self-serving or supercilious.
A nineteen-minute improv “First Choice” opens the set, Schweizer strolling elegantly through a conscious stream of melodic variations and warming up to the intimidating keys of the KKL’s house piano. Her patterns her frequently punctuate with porcelain-like stabs, fingers in near-constant synchronized motion, but also paying close attention to silence and space. The piece culminates on a glorious rolling groove that recalls the power and poise of Randy Weston. “Into the Hall of Fame” is half its predecessor’s size, but just as kinetic and varied, Schweizer’s hands once again working overtime in a restless confluence of staccato constructions. Five remaining pieces are miniatures that still pack in plenty of pianistic excitement and imagination. “The Ballad of the Sad Café” has the air of a Jarrett reverie, floating chords conjuring a cloud of tender emotion. “Scratching the KKL” finds her vocalizing and applying various percussive accoutrements to the strings of her instrument. “Oska T.” brings some pedal-dampened Monk to the plate while the romping “Jungle Beats II” delivers a delicious Don Cherry desert. Jarrett may justifiably hold the global crown of popularity and prestige, but with sterling recitals like this one Schweizer suggests a talent of equal standing that deserves to be more widely known.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on October 11, 2006 11:27 AMSeventeen minutes of applause? Bleah. I must confess I got rid of every single Jarrett recording in this house some years back (actually I think an LP of My Song still remains).
The Schweitzer disc breaks no new ground but it's a very enjoyable disc that touches on all the bases of her solo art.
Posted by: ND at October 12, 2006 8:19 AMI once tried to edit together all the oohs aahs and orgasmic groans from some of the Keith Jarrett ECMs of the period, but got bored with the idea pretty quickly. ALL your Jarretts Nate? Even the tasty late 60s early 70s stuff? My favourite moment in a Jarrett solo is when that plane plays over Monterey in Forest Flower.. eeeeaaaaaaoowww. Luvly.
I suppose you know though that this bold admission on your part hereby disqualifies from "writing" :) on any Jarrett recording for PT? No worries - I'll ask John Gill instead.. he LOVES the guy..
Plane "plays"? Should be "flies".. sorry, got carried away at the thought
Posted by: Dan Warburton at October 12, 2006 9:13 AMThe only solo Jarrett I kept was his first, 'Facing You', which still holds up well, imho. He got the balance right there, I think. Oh and I think I retained the Gurdjieff album, more for its uniqueness than anything else. But the Redman/Haden band from around the same time and at least for a handful of years thereafter still sounds great. "Common Mama", baby.
Posted by: Brian Olewnick at October 12, 2006 9:18 AMThe Jarrett/Haden/Motian trio of the late '60s was hip, even if it was sort of a Bley-trio knockoff.
I also enjoy the Schweizer/Kowald/Favre trio, so there ya go.
Posted by: clifford at October 12, 2006 9:38 AMI may be the only person in the world who prefers Jarrett on instruments other than acoustic piano.
Posted by: walto at October 12, 2006 9:53 AMThe great bass player John Edwards and I were talking about Jarret, I complained about his singing, and John Said, "I wish he would stop playing the piano and just sing".
how does this disc compare to irene's chicago solo?
---
john gill loves keith jarrett? surprise surprise.
Oh, I do have Lloyd's Forest Flower here. & I forgot, I have Live at the Deer Head Inn around here somewhere! -- I'm actually not irked by Jarrett's vocalizing at all (which is good, because there are some truly astonishing examples on Deer Head Inn, esp. "Basin St Blues").
Incidentally the recent Schweitzer/Favre disc Ulrichsberg deserves a mention--one of my favourites of her recent CDs (a 2004 release I believe?). Her solo work is great, but I still prefer to hear her mixing things up with a good drummer.... seems to bring out the best in her work.
Posted by: ND at October 12, 2006 10:51 AMI’m a fan of Jarrett (his conservatory hall-sized ego be damned) and haven’t sold off any off the two dozen or so of his discs I’ve amassed over the years. The Carnegie set contains a lot of great music and the applause, while beyond gratuitous, are easy enough to skip w/ digital technology. My favorite solo recital of recent vintage though is still La Scala. Favorite all around set has to be Changeless: a cool idea that really stands out in the Standards Trio’s catalog. And word on the classic Redman/Jarrett/Haden/Motian band, those two box sets covering their impulse run are staples.
I can confidently say I haven’t heard a bad Schweizer session yet. How’s that for some positivity!
Posted by: derek at October 12, 2006 11:49 AMPositive indeed, Derek! I too have never heard a poor performance by Irene Schweizer all these years. Always a wonderfully joyful spirit.
Jarrett, unfortunately, has willingly allowed himself to become a victim of the American hype-machine. The "Carnegie Hall" set is simply embarrassing.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at October 12, 2006 12:36 PMDo I get shot down if I admit something...a decade back I saw a rather luckluster Schweizer performance at FIMAV. The pieces of the whole puzzle didn't seem to fit that afternoon.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at October 12, 2006 2:01 PM"I may be the only person in the world who prefers Jarrett on instruments other than acoustic piano." --walto
I'm with you! SPIRITS is my favorite Jarrett record!
Do I get shot down if I admit something...a decade back I saw a rather luckluster Schweizer performance at FIMAV.
Everyone's entitled to an off night, right? :)
Posted by: derek at October 12, 2006 2:43 PMEven Irene....though it was an afternoon. Maybe, had it been an evening show, the performance may have gelled more?
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at October 12, 2006 3:31 PMI think I saw IS only twice or so.
Both times I thought she was really just a mediocre player, technically and musically.
Jarret's music I don't like one bit. But I respect him a lot more.
The miscroscopic world of piano-key action.
oh well....
Cor
Posted by: Cornelis at October 16, 2006 10:19 AMDo I get shot down if I admit something...a decade back I saw a rather luckluster Schweizer performance at FIMAV. The pieces of the whole puzzle didn't seem to fit that afternoon.
You don't get shot down by me, at any rate. She's had as many downs as ups in my book.
.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................