''Chicago Piano Solo'' is a live solo piano album by

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (born 2 June 1941) is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. She has performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the Feminist Improvis ...

. It was recorded at

The Empty Bottle The Empty Bottle is a bar and music venue located at 1035 N. Western Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Located on the west side of Chicago's Ukrainian Village neighborhood, the venue primarily hosts local, regional, and touring alternative music act ...

in Chicago in August 2000, and was released in 2001 by

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. History The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Steve Loewy wrote: "Another strong effort from Irène Schweizer... By this stage in her career, the pianist is able to stamp her muscular, rhythmic style on a range of influences. You can hear touches of stride, swing, bop, and world jazz, all superimposed by Schweizer's freestyle postmodern interpretations. Whether she performs inside the body of the instrument... or simply plies a percussive repetitiveness... there are original, enlightening delights throughout... An important contribution to her already impressive discography, this recording should help to further cement Irène Schweizer's reputation as one of the most important piano improvisers of her time." The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' awarded the album 4 stars, and stated: "The excellent sound... highlights the pianist's impeccable touch, the evenness of her attack in high-velocity sequences, and the absolute crispness (and decision) in the way she gets from one phrase to another... the logic of her playing is rare and seemingly invincible: there's nothing here which doesn't seem to fit or which stands as superfluous... another great one from the modest Swiss giant." Alan Jones of ''One Final Note'' commented: "Schweizer is a powerful force in creative music, and she never seems to feel the need to reinvent herself. Her compositions have a high level of staying power. On this record, ideas flourish in an equilibrium set by her choice of material, both notated and improvised." ''JazzWords Ken Waxman called the album an "exceptional production," and noted that it is "the perfect disc to put on when dealing with misguided friends who insist that so-called avant- jazz doesn’t swing."

Track listing

Track 4 by

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

. Remaining tracks by Irène Schweizer. # "So Oder So" – 5:07 # "To The Bottle" – 4:22 # "Heilige Johanna (For B. B.)" – 9:16 # "Togetherness One (First Movement)" – 4:41 # "Stringfever" – 6:51 # "Circle" – 7:57 # "Hüben Ohne Drüben" – 2:57 # "Rag" – 5:27 # "Roots" – 3:56

Personnel

– piano

References

{{Reflist 2001 live albums Intakt Records live albums Irène Schweizer live albums