Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and free improvising pianist.

Life and career

Schweizer was born in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

, Switzerland on 2 June 1941. She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the

Feminist Improvising Group The Feminist Improvising Group (FIG) were a five- to eight-piece international free improvising avant-garde jazz and experimental music ensemble formed in London in 1977 by Scottish vocalist Maggie Nicols and English bassoonist/composer Lindsay ...

, whose members include

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the ...

, Maggie Nichols,

Georgie Born Georgina Emma Mary Born, is a British Academia, academic, Anthropology, anthropologist, Musicology, musicologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born and for her work in Henry Cow and with Lindsay Cooper. Background Born ...

and

Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing ''Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born an ...

. She has also performed a series of duets with drummers

Pierre Favre Peter Faber (french: Pierre Lefevre or Favre, la, Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, who was also a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Fra ...

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue ...

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

Günter Sommer Günter "Baby" Sommer (born 25 August 1943) is a German jazz drummer. Career Sommer was born in Dresden on 25 August 1943. His first instrument was the trumpet, which he studied at school. He started playing the drums aged 15 or 16. He studie ...

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

, as well as in trio and quartet sessions with others, including

John Tchicai John Martin Tchicai ( ; 28 April 1936 – 8 October 2012) was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Tchicai was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Danish mother and a Congolese father. The family moved to Aarhus, where he st ...

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

and

Peter Kowald Peter Kowald (21 April 1944 – 21 September 2002) was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist. Career A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with many European ...

. With

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

Uli Trepte Uli Trepte (born 27 September 1941, Konstanz, Germany — died 21 May 2009, Berlin) was a German musician best known for his collaborations with various influential Krautrock bands in the early 1970s. Early career Uli Trepte began his musica ...

and

Mani Neumeier Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru. Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, Neum ...

, she performed at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

in 1967. One of her most enduring collaborations was with the improvising musician . In 2016, on the occasion of Schweizer's 75th birthday, Broecking Verlag and the music department of the Lucerne University published (in German) an authorized biography titled ''This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom: Irène Schweizer – European Jazz and the Politics of Improvisation'', written by

Christian Broecking Christian Broecking (5 June 1957 – 2 February 2021) was a German sociologist and musicologist, music critic, columnist, writer, editor, radio producer and author. He held teaching positions at several universities in Germany and Switzerland and ...

. An English translation was published in 2021. Schweizer died in Zurich on 16 July 2024, at the age of 83.

Discography

Solo

* '' Wilde Señoritas'' ( FMP, 1977) * ''

Hexensabbat ''Hexensabbat'' (''Witches' Sabbath'') is a solo piano album by Irène Schweizer. Two tracks were recorded live at the Townhall Charlottenburg in Berlin on October 8, 1977, and the remaining tracks were recorded at the FMP-Studio in Berlin on Octob ...

'' (FMP, 1978) * '' Piano Solo Vol. 1'' ( Intakt, 1992) * '' Piano Solo Vol. 2'' (Intakt, 1992) * '' Many and One Direction'' (Intakt, 1996) * ''

Chicago Piano Solo ''Chicago Piano Solo'' is a live solo piano album by Irène Schweizer. It was recorded at The Empty Bottle in Chicago in August 2000, and was released in 2001 by Intakt Records. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Steve Loewy wrote: "Another stro ...

'' (Intakt, 2001) * '' First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern'' (Intakt, 2006) * '' To Whom It May Concern: Piano Solo Tonhalle Zürich'' (Intakt, 2011)

Duo

* ''The Very Centre of Middle Europe'' (

HatHut Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl * ''Die V-Mann Suite'' (FMP, 1981), with Rüdiger Carl * '' Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo'' ( Intakt, 1987) * ''Cordial Gratin'' (FMP, 1987), with

Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in Contemporary classical music, new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has perfor ...

* '' Irène Schweizer & Günter Sommer'' (Intakt, 1988), with

* ''

Irène Schweizer & Andrew Cyrille ''Irène Schweizer & Andrew Cyrille'' is a live album by pianist Irène Schweizer and drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in September 1988 at the Jazz Festival Willisau, and was released by Intakt Records on LP in 1989, and on CD in 1996. Ac ...

'' (Intakt, 1989), with

* '' Overlapping Hands: Eight Segments'' (FMP, 1991), with

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...

* '' Irène Schweizer & Pierre Favre'' (Intakt, 1992), with

* '' Irène Schweizer & Han Bennink'' (Intakt, 1996), with

* ''European Masters of Improvisation'' ( Captain Trip, Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, 1997), with

* ''Twin Lines'' (Intakt, 2002), with

Co Streiff Co Streiff (Cornelia Streiff) (5 April 1959 in Zurich) is a Swiss jazz musician who combines the elements of free jazz with the music of Africa. She is a saxophonist and flutist. She was educated at a conservatory with the transverse flute as ...

* ''

Ulrichsberg Ulrichsberg is a municipality in the district of Rohrbach in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Ulrichsberg lies in Mühlviertel in Upper Austria near the Bohemian Forest and along the ''Große Mühl'' river (north of the Danube). I ...

'' (Intakt, 2004), with Pierre Favre * ''Where's Africa'' (Intakt, 2005), with * ''Live in Zürich'' (Intakt, 2013), with Pierre Favre * ''

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

'' (Intakt, 2014), with * '' Welcome Back'' (Intakt, 2015), with Han Bennink * ''

Live! Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' (Intakt, 2017), with

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

* ''

Celebration Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...

'' (Intakt, 2021), with

With Les Diaboliques (Schweizer,
Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as Mar ...
,
Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in Contemporary classical music, new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has perfor ...
)

* ''Les Diaboliques'' (Intakt, 1994) * '' Splitting Image'' (Intakt, 1997) * ''Live at the Rhinefalls'' (Intakt, 2000) * ''Jubilee Concert'' (DVD) (Intakt, 2009) Source:

Trios and larger ensembles

* ''Jazz Meets India'' (

SABA Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), L ...

, 1967), with

, Dewan Motihar, Keshay Sathe,

Manfred Schoof Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter. Career Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers of the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen' ...

, Kusum Thakur,

, and

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer. Life Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began ...

* ''Ramifications'' (

Ogun Ogun or Ogoun (Yoruba: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who re ...

, 1975), with Rüdiger Carl,

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

Radu Malfatti Radu Malfatti is an Austrian trombone and harmonica player, and composer. He was born in Innsbruck, in the province of Tyrol, on December 16, 1943. Malfatti is associated with the style of music known as reductionism and has been described as "a ...

, and Harry Miller * ''Messer'' (FMP, 1976), with Rüdiger Carl and Louis Moholo * '' Willi the Pig'' (Willisau, 1976) with

Buschi Niebergall Buschi Niebergall (July 18, 1938 – January 9, 1990) was a German free jazz musician. His given name was Hans-Helmut, and late in life, his friends called him Johannes. Born in the city of Marburg into a family of academics (his father was ...

, and

Makaya Ntshoko Makaya (or Makhaya) Ntshoko (born 29 October 1939, Cape Town) is a South African drummer. He played with Dollar Brand's trio in 1958, and recorded in a sextet with Hugh Masekela and John Mehegan in 1959. He performed on The Jazz Epistles album, ...

* ''Tuned Boots'' (FMP, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl and

* ''

Live at Taktlos ''Live at Taktlos'' is a live album by pianist Irène Schweizer. It was recorded in February 1984 during a three-day improvisation meeting, and was released by Intakt Records on LP in 1986, and on CD in 2005. On the album, Schweizer is joined by vo ...

'' ( Intakt, 1986), with

George E. Lewis George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization ...

, Maggie Nichols, and

* ''

The Storming of the Winter Palace ''The Storming of the Winter Palace'' was a 1920 mass spectacle, based on historical events that took place in Petrograd during the 1917 October Revolution. Taking place on the third anniversary of the revolution, it was directed by Nikolai Evrei ...

'' (Intakt, 1988), with Joëlle Léandre,

, Maggie Nichols, and

* ''Paris Quartet'' (Intakt, 1989), with Joëlle Léandre, Yves Robert, and Daunik Lazro * ''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

'' (Intakt, 1992), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra * ''

Double Trouble Two ''Double Trouble Two'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra with guest artists Irène Schweizer (piano), Marilyn Crispell (piano), and Pierre Favre (drums). Documenting a large-scale, 47-minute composition by Guy, it w ...

'' (Intakt, 1998), with

, Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, and Pierre Favre * ''Ensemble Oggimusica Meets Irene Schweizer'' (Altrisuoni, 2000), with Ensemble Oggimusica * '' Willisau & Taktlos'' (Intakt, 2007), with Fred Anderson and

* '' Radio Rondo/Schaffhausen Concert'' (Intakt, 2009), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra * ''

Berne Concert ''Berne Concert'' is a live album by Trio 3, a jazz group consisting of saxophonist Oliver Lake, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in Berne and Zürich, Switzerland in November 2007, and was released in 2009 by Int ...

'' (Intakt, 2009), with Trio 3 (

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

, and

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman worke ...

) * ''Jump!'' (Intakt, 2011), with the Jürg Wickihalder European Quartet With

Joe McPhee Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...

*''

Topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...

'' (Hat Hut, 1981) With

*'' European Echoes'' (FMP, 1969)

References

External links

* * http://www.intaktrec.ch/schweizer-a.htm
FMP releases
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schweizer, Irene 1941 births 2024 deaths Free jazz pianists Free improvisation pianists Swiss jazz pianists Women jazz pianists Swiss women pianists Avant-garde jazz pianists People from Schaffhausen 21st-century pianists FMP/Free Music Production artists Intakt Records artists 21st-century women pianists