As on so many evenings during the Theaterhaus Jazz Days, the two-thirds-full hall was once again treated to a particularly exciting blend of top-class music.
Swiss vocal artist Andreas Schaerer and his band presented the audience with their entire 2018 album “A Novel of Anomaly.”
In the second part of the evening, the trio Vibe Factor performed with the exceptional musicians Joo Kraus, Omar Sosa, and Diego Pinera. Over three hours, the audience experienced a mix of diverse soundscapes that transcended any musical territorial thinking.
“We don’t want to address our audience with theoretical manifestos, but rather move them with sensual, emotional music. We don’t just want to propagate freedom, but to experience it through music together with the audience,” said Schaerer in his statement about the current project.
Anyone who has never attended a concert by this band will be completely astonished, or even overwhelmed, by the intense sound that Schaerer and his band have developed. The performances of this trans-European quartet are more like a ritual liberation than a normal concert.
The sound isn’t specific, moving in a no-man’s-land between archaic Alpine influences, folksy Italian accordion music, psychedelic rock, and world music-influenced polyrhythms, which are paired with passionate improvisations.
There’s yodeling, bubbling, rattling, and crackling in Schaerer’s vocal cords, and the influences that emerged from his collaboration with vocal artistry guru Bobby McFerrin are unmistakable.
An archaic Alpine Italiana sound mix with Finnish influences
The congenial and versatile Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima also occasionally lets it rip, then his instrument howls relentlessly, only to be gently caressed again seconds later.
With Luciano Biondini, Schaerer has one of the world’s best and most virtuosic accordionists at his side, who, with his playing style brimming with Italian joie de vivre, fits seamlessly into this timeless musical structure. Lucas Niggli on the drums complements and underlines this structure with no less virtuosity and imagination.
The boundaries between old and new music blur, with plenty of room for improvisation, which often comes across as cheerful and repeatedly provokes laughter from the audience. After all, jazz doesn’t always have to be a serious matter.
The multi-award-winning singer, who has received numerous jazz awards, amazes with new, incomparable vocal variations almost every minute of the concert.
At times, he beatboxes without the accompaniment of his fellow musicians; moments later, the whole thing slips into textless classical vocal lines, only to be replaced by chirps, whistles, and breaths.
You are hurled back and forth between musical worlds, repeatedly slipping into the poetry that this sound also offers. This music is a wild mix of unexpected twists, crazy sounds, and moments full of surprises. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, sometimes totally crazy – always different from what you expect, and time seems to fly by incredibly quickly.
After seventy minutes of intense musical magic, which brought something completely new to the ears of many listeners, it’s over. A break is necessary to process the musically improbable things that happened during this time.
Andreas Schaerer (voc)
Luciano Biondini (acc)
Kalle Kalima (git)
Lucas Niggli (dr)
