Contact
christophe [at] christopheschweizer.com
Downloads
New - COCOA selected press articles
pdf-file containing all project information
press quality photos (zip, 8 MB)
PHOTOS
press
What some people said and wrote about Christophe Schweizer’s music
„Thank you for the music. You are a very important musician for at least three reasons:
because the music itself is new, intense, and fascinating,
because it’s being made of personal organic necessity,
and because other gifted musicians obviously find it fascinating to play.”
Lawrence J. Kart, formerly co-editor of „Down Beat“, Author of „Jazz in search of itself“, in a letter to Christophe Schweizer
You are a true original. Nobody is doing what you are doing.
Saxophonist Tony Malaby to Christophe Schweizer following a performance
" This new album is off the hook – unbelievably good."
Matthew Wellschlager, music lover , NY, in an e-mail to CS
"Excellent performance by Christophe Schweizer’s Quintett MOONSUN, mixing the american tradition with new Jazz from Europe.“
Jornal „O’ Publico“, Portugal (3/15/04,) Moonsun 2004
„From MOONSUN we were offered fresh, innovative music which results from the contact of American and European experiences. With the contributions of David Binney (sax) and the astonishing drum technique of Dan Weiss, this resulted in great music“
Jornal “Correio da Manha”, Lisbon (3/16/04), Moonsun 2004
“Excellent arrangements and beautiful music: Christophe Schweizer has something to say in new Jazz”.
Jornal „Expresso“, Lisbon (3/19/04), Moonsun 2004
„The most innovative and exciting Jazz concert in Stuttgart in 2003 was beyond any doubt Christophe Schweizers performance with “5SIX7.“
Concert preview, Stuttgart 2004, Moonsun 2004
„During the last few years, rarely a band has „played“ in such an intricate way with hidden spaces. “
Schweizer Illustrierte, Hanspeter Vetsch (about „Full Circle Rainbow: DUAL ORBIT“)
"Wonderful compositions, arrangements and resourceful solos throughout this entire gem“.
Downtown Music Gallery, New York (about „Normal Garden: PHYSIQUE)
“This is how Jazz in the 21st century is fun!“
Jazzthetik, Nov. 2002, Henry Altmann (about „Normal Garden: PHYSIQUE)
"The experience of this evening was truly impressive…including a fragile piano solo as well as genius changes of mood and explosive expressions. A fasciniating concert..“
Jazz dimensions, Berlin, May 2001, Carina Prange (about 5SIX7)
“Passion in Jazz works differntly: the quintet 5SIX7 dissects trombonist and bandleader Christophe Schweizer’s compositions with cold-blooded precision.(…) All of this, and this is what’s the artistry of 5SIX7, without succumbing to academic stiffness.”
Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, May 2001
„(..) A great relief amidst the general „anything goes“. Could this be the “renaissance of modernism” announcing itself ?“
Peter Rüedi, Die Weltwoche, 2001 (about 5SIX7)
„Schweizer’s performance with 5SIX7 is among the most exciting things modern Jazz has to offer .“
Der Bund, Bern, 2001
„…I count Schweizer, together with trombonists such as Nils Wogram and Conrad Herwig, among the greats of his instrument today…”
Jazz ‚n’More, 2001 (Johannes Anders)
„ 5SIX7 are considered a serious contender of the Jazz avantgarde.......they offer the most ecxellent Drum n’ Bass music, which, given the excellency of the musicians and the unusual instrumentation never runs the danger of monotony.”
Kronenzeitung, Wien, 4/10/03 (Marliese Andexer)
CREDITS
© 2009, christophe schweizer
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album design by stefano picco.de www.stefano-picco.de
MAXIMAL MUSIC
If this is the case, we hereby add a new square labeled “Maximal Music” to this table in order to describe the music played by Moonsun.
“I want to create music in which musicians do not act as theatre characters, but as themselves. We don’t want our listeners to experience fake emotions, but the game of life itself, which always remains open. Our music is supposed to bring joy. It’s that simple,” explains trombonist and composer Christophe Schweizer.
“Of course it sounds Jazz-like, and some of what’s being called Jazz these days is really more like good pop music. On the other hand, many people seem to think of Jazz as music for specialists.
We’re different from all that. People tend to forget that any audience is made up of humans, which means they enjoy pleasant surprises more than anything, because that is human nature. I have witnessed - with this band as well as with even more extreme projects - packed halls applauding enthusiastically, even though no one could have possibly been prepared for what they ended up hearing. Of course the band played great, but the big reason is that the gift of something unexpected is something which
Schweizer`s answer to the question of how he defines “Maximal Music” is a simple one: “It’s Groove and Freedom. That’s what makes this band special. When we play the pieces recorded on “Cocoa”, which were deliberately conceived purely mathematically, without the insinuation of an emotional content, it’s a bit like playing chess and tennis simultaneously: the combinations of action, reaction, intuition and experience generate a multitude of ways how the game evolves – it might happen for instance that an energetic up tempo piece morphs into a ballad and vice versa-, and it’s that unfiltered input from the musicians which is responsible for the intensely real drama. We don’t set limits for ourselves, but we stay with the story, so to speak – the tennis player doesn’t all of a sudden pick up the soccer ball.”
“It wouldn’t be accurate to suggest there weren’t a lot of models and influences at work behind our music, but we avoid boring our listeners and ourselves with dogmas and imitations. We draw from the entirety of possibilities.”
Finally, how come as many as three members from David Binney’s Balance Band are part of the Moonsun line up? “When the group formed in New York, players would change all the time. When we were getting ready to tour in 2000, we were looking for a saxophonist. Someone suggested calling David Binney, who had not played with the band previously. He was available, we had a great tour, and not long after that, he started using Jacob and Dan. And it`s been that way to this day.”