Evolution

Andreas Schaerer - Anthem For No Man´s LandCD / Vinyl / digital Andreas Schaerer voice, mouth percussion, bass-synth Luciano Biondini accordion Kalle Kalima electric guitar Lucas Niggli drums Swiss vocal phenomenon Andreas Schaerer has been described as 'the Germanic Bobby McFerrin with the flow of a Shakespearean actor’ (L’Alsace). His ‘charismatic and powerful stage presence’ (FAZ) mark him out as a unique figure in European music, a distinction recognised in early 2024 when he became the French Académie du Jazz’s European Artist of the Year. Schaerer, as a musical creator intent on making original art – arguably even a completely original art form – is highly conscious of the processes by which the charisma and the presence of a vocal soloist function. As he says, ‘a voice always comes directly out of the music around it. In “Anthem For No Mans Land" he takes a further step in demonstrating that he is driven by other motivations than simply to shine as soloist. Deeply committed to the collective ethos of his regular quartet, he says: ‘I have consciously studied how I can use my voice to accompany music or an instrument. It's less difficult to find accompanying patterns than to ensure that the voice doesn't constantly push itself to the fore. If you don't want to take on this traditional role as a singer, you have to be very deliberate in the shaping of your music.’ What will always shine through, however, and particularly in live performance, is the passion Schaerer applies to his art. On stage, his whole body becomes an instrument, elastic and dance-like. He inhabits the music, glides into it, takes on roles that emerge from the sounds he makes. It's an unusual concept which he can take further when he teams up with drummer Lucas Niggli, guitarist Kalle Kalima and accordionist Luciano Biondini. The quartet brings together strong and disparate musical characters who now know each other well: ‘The band has been in existence since 2016‘ says Schaerer. ‘The original nucleus was the duo with Lucas Niggli which already existed at that time. We couldn't decide whether we wanted to go more in an electronic or an acoustic direction in the long run. The plan was to have two trios. We explored one direction with Kalle and the other with Luciano. The chemistry was right, so a quartet came out of it. And we all play together in other ways, as duos in different combinations.’ It is now more than six years since the release of the quartet's first album, ‘A Novel Of Anomaly’ in 2018, and the band has evolved considerably through more than 100 concerts. The gap between albums is explained by the fact that Schaerer is involved in several other projects: Hildegard lernt fliegen, Out Of Land, The Big Wig, Rom / Schaerer / Eberle or Evolution...All of this other work feeds back into the way the group works. The quartet’s music, as heard on “Anthem For No Man’s Land”, is now perceptibly on a larger scale, and it also has a greater sense of openness and freedom. Along with Andreas Schaerer’s conscious retreat from the ‘front line’ of the band and into the collective, there is also a new experimental freedom in his use of language. The opening sentence of the liner note makes this clear: “This is our musical offering for a utopian, inclusive society, using a new, free, imaginary language unlimited by origin or cultural boundaries.” Schaerer achieves something remarkable here: without renouncing the spoken word, he has also, simultaneously, managed to turn his back on it. The words he sings may sound familiar, but the language here is invented. Schaerer’s way is to evoke associations and to create moods with language. And the way he does it is so masterful and subtle, a casual listener might have the impression they are listening to English, Spanish, Greek or Italian, and that the words have a meaning. In fact, they don’t. And whereas all this might sound as if it is done just as a joke and to get a laugh, it isn’t. There is a serious purpose. As Schaerer says: ‘The interface between language, music and sound is particularly exciting. I have always been interested in playing with this nexus, where content dissolves and language is just sound, but still has enough linguistic DNA to continue to be understood as such. It's fluid, even funny, a childlike place. Children also speak many fantasy languages. And on this album, I thought a lot in this direction. Some pieces work well without any, but others demand a language. I then experimented with imaginary English or Italian, where I only used the ‘temperatures’ of the sounds. Because it quickly became clear to me that “Anthem For No Man’s Land” should use a more free languages that do not belong to any nation. They are all non-existent words.’ The music is completely aligned with this Utopian ideal. As the liner note states: “We are not just striving to affirm freedom, we want to live it in our music.” At times, ‘Anthem For No Man’s Land’ sounds like prog rock or the psychedelic sound of the seventies. At others there is the chance to enjoy echoes of Italian popular song or to lean in to a tango. There are influences of West African rhythms and Alpine melodies. Chamber jazz leads to a sophisticated form of Dada, the diversity of sounds and motifs matches the images conjured up by the imaginary languages. “Anthem For No Mans Land” never just sticks with the obvious. Schaerer and his quartet have declared the intention to express an ideal, a philosophy ‘through the emotions and the immediacy of our music.’ They have succeeded. Credits: Produced by Andreas Schaerer, Kalle Kalima; Martin Ruch #1 & 8 composed by Kalle Kalima, lyrics by Andreas Schaerer #2 composed by Luciano Biondini #3, 4 & 9 composed by Andreas Schaerer #5 & 6 composed by Kalle Kalima #7 composed by Lucas Niggli & Kalle Kalima #10 composed by Luciano Biondini & Andreas Schaerer, lyrics by A. Schaerer Recorded by Martin Ruch at Jazzanova Recording Studio in Berlin, May 28-30, 2024. Mixed & Mastered by Martin Ruch Assistant Engineer: Marian Hafenstein The Art in Music: Cover art by Martin Noël (1956-2010), 2010, used by kind permission of Margarete and Cora Noël

Andreas Schaerer - EvolutionCD / Vinyl / digital Andreas Schaerer voice, mouth percussion Kalle Kalima electric & acoustic guitar Tim Lefebvre electric & acoustic bass (except 01 & 08) Swiss vocal acrobat Andreas Schaerer and Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima have some things in common. As artists, each is essentially in a category completely of his own. Both are musicians who can always conjure something special from their chosen instruments. Both are known on the international jazz scene for the completely distinctive and original ways their music constantly crosses genres. Both have played together for several years in the quartet 'A Novel Of Anomaly'. And now they have recorded a first album together in which the focus is on the two of them. However, for this “evolution” (as the album title has it), they have also involved – and drawn inspiration from – a musician whom they both admire, Tim Lefebvre. The American bassist has worked with many pop and jazz stars, notably Sting, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Mark Guiliana, Wayne Krantz...Lefebvre's involvement in the Michael Wollny Trio’s breakthrough was, incidentally, anything but tangential. In other words, his playing is at home in practically every context.Listeners familiar with Schaerer’s and Kalima’s previous work may find "Evolution" somewhat surprising. "An album is such a different platform from playing live on stage,” explains Schaerer. “Over the course of our many recordings, we have become increasingly aware quite how differently one has to play." That awareness has also resulted in a particularly careful focus on the post-production phase of “Evolution".Schaerer is describing a way of working much more familiar to the world of pop. And with its concentration on songs and lyrics, one might call "Evolution" a singer/songwriter project. "We've both been going in this direction for quite some time now. Kalle has his work with ‘KUU!’, and for me there has been ‘Hildegard lernt fliegen’ for quite a few years now.” In fact, Schaerer is more of the ‘singer’ here than we are used to. His typical vocal escapades are still there – clicking and popping sounds, beatboxing, polyphonically layered vocalise, and even the imitation of wind instruments... – but by his own standards he has been particularly frugal in his use of them here. Schaerer emphasises that “we’ve not created this album from any kind of blueprint. "We didn't say, 'we're just going to do songs now', the pieces came about very naturally. 'Pristine Dawn' is a good example: in the first instance it had a song structure and some lyrics, but no melody. The moment when it was composed was at the studio session, and the recording is the 'first take', it just flowed perfectly, so you don't even notice the 11-bar structure, which is actually very weird." There is a similar way of working on all of the tracks: taking turns, Schaerer and Kalima each contributed both an idea and a song text (three of these are in fact by Kalima's wife Essi) before developing these versions in the studio together. Each piece therefore bears an unmistakable and very personal signature, not just musically, but also in the lyrics. "Kalle and I are also processing some deeply personal and intimate thoughts and experiences in some of the lyrics. And, of course, it's also about things that are currently bothering us in the world, from artificial intelligence to the question implicit in the album title, as to whether evolution is stagnating."The track "Rapid Eye Movement'' shows Kalima's penchant for the colours of folk music; Schaerer's psychedelic "Trigger" takes him into the falsetto (high) register at the beginning and at the end. On the title track, things get pretty wild, before the piece comes to an end in free improvisation – as is consistent with its title. The fast "Multitasking" with its humorous plays on words, a "mouth trumpet” solo and a philosophical theme is just as typical of Schaerer and the breadth of his imagination as the very quiet and lyrical – and wordless – "So Far". On "Song Yet Untitled”, reminiscent of film music, and on the melancholic "Sphere", Kalima again lets his guitar sing out, as only he can. As Schaerer notes with enthusiasm, there is always "more than just the sum of the parts" when these two fine musicians and creative individuals work together. And then there is also Tim Lefebvre, whose playing, sometimes on electric bass, sometimes on double bass (with a beautiful solo intro on "Piercing Love") has been such an inspiration for both Schaerer and Kalima. "We played with Tim for the first time at the big Jubilee concert celebrating 30 years of ACT. The chemistry was so good, we decided we would keep in touch. When I called him about 'Evolution', he didn't hesitate for a second", Schaerer remembers. "It was then really impressive how quickly he could connect emotionally with the music. It's crazy how he grooves on a track like 'SloMo', and how we were able to play ourselves into a frenzy over Kalle's guitar track."In "Evolution", Schaerer, Kalima and Lefebvre have re-drawn the roadmap for the production of a jazz album. New avenues are constantly opening up in these complex but also catchy songs which are just made for repeated listening...and, of course, listening to the album is also a reminder that it will all sound completely different again when heard live. Credits: Produced by Andreas Schaerer &Kalle Kalima Executive Producer: Andreas Brandis

Andreas Schaerer - The Waves Are Rising, DearCD / Vinyl / digital Andreas Schaerer voice Andreas Tschopp trombone & tuba Matthias Wenger alto saxophone (solo on 06), soprano saxophone & flute Benedikt Reising baritone saxophone, alto saxophone (solo on 04) & bass clarinet Marco Müller bass Christoph Steiner drums & marimba Andreas Schaerer’s recent projects have established him at the forefront of the creative jazz scene in Europe. The Berne-based artist’s debut on the label, the revolutionary orchestral work "The Big Wig", a commission from the Lucerne Festival, was followed by a quartet formation with Michael Wollny, Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien, “Out of Land”, and most recently by an album with another quartet, “A Novel of Anomaly”. This succession of highly contrasting releases have shown that Schaerer is not a jazz singer in any conventional sense: he is a vocal artist capable of imitating almost every instrument or sound with his voice. He covers all kinds of vocal styles from croon-ing to operatic tenor, and he is able to juxtapose them all in a completely individual way. Now, having lain dormant while Schaerer pursued these other endeavours, the band that first put him on the map, Hildegard Lernt Fliegen (Hildegard learns to fly) is back in business.Hildegard Lernt Fliegen made a mark outside Switzerland with an appearance at Jazzahead in Bremen in 2012 followed shortly afterwards by winning the BMW World Jazz Award in Munich. Audiences responded enthusiastically to the band’s complex compositions which were always full of surprises and had a way of completely transcending style and genre, and also left plenty of room for improvisation. There was always plenty of irony and humour, plus the opportunity to marvel at Schaerer's solo escapades. Fans of the old ‘Hildegard’ are faced with a very different prospect with the new album “The Waves are Rising, Dear!". As the title of the album suggests, it is a more serious work, a concept album, on which Schaerer has taken the band's characteristic sense of instrumental playfulness, combined it with his own, almost classically clear vocal timbre, produced without any trickery. And he has put both of these elements to the service of poetry and to the task of thinking about things more deeply."Our last album with just the band was six years ago, and we have moved on since then,” comments Schaerer, giving the background to the change of approach. “We live in times that are full of possibilities but there are also tensions, and we face big questions and challenges. The confluence of all these external factors has influenced the work of composition, the lyrical content, and music in general as I hear it today." However, the songs do still keep their secrets and Schaerer wants to leave some level of ambiguity in place: "Each piece is based on very specific personal thoughts. But I don't want to comment on them too explicitly, and would rather leave the listener the scope to reach their own interpretation. The album is deliberately conceived in such a way that a listener can bring their own stories. Maybe even their entire life-history can become part of the dramaturgy" says Schaerer.“The title can be read in a socio-critical way, or philosophically, or metaphorically, or emotionally – or even erotically if one wants." The subject-matter is at its most unambiguous in "Symptoms, Causes And Treatments", with lyrics about freedom and destiny commissioned by Schaerer from UK saxophonist, rapper and versatile thinker Soweto Kinch. "We have known each other for years, I really appreciate his take on things, so I asked him for a text based on questions I sent him about issues that concern me. And I'm very happy with what he came up with."A completely different high-point of the album is "Embraced By The Earth". Vincent Peirani, the exceptionally fine accordionist and also a friend of Schaerer’s, appears as guest on this track, and the vocalist also sings a moving duet with Jessana Némitz, an extremely promising young Swiss singer. At any event, the range of possibilities for musical expressiveness has grown once again, whether in the neoclassical poise of "Dripping Point" which serves as the introduction to the album, or the title track which has a real spring in its step, or the dra-matic "Irrlicht" with its Sprechgesang and devilish wordplay, or the avant-garde miniature "Water". The Waves are Rising, Dear!" is an ambitious, thought-through piece designed to be listened to at one sitting, and it has an overall structure and a dramaturgy that are strong and convincing. The band plays a more important role than ever. Benedikt Reising’s baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, the saxophones/flute of Mat-tias Wenger, the trombone and tuba of Andreas Tschopp, the bass of Marco Müller as well as the drums/marimba of Christoph Steiner – all of them have far more space to work with here than previously, and are able to create a compelling and exciting tapestry of sounds on "The Waves are Rising, Dear!". This is a band of virtuoso players who have all established themselves in the European jazz scene with their own projects and bands in recent times. For these musicians, Hildegard Lernt Fliegen, and one can truly hear it, represents a return to their roots, to a source of strength which is built upon firm long-term friendships, and from many years of working together as musical partners. The final track, the four-part "Love Warrior", is the best demonstration of how Hildegard Lernt Fliegen’s past and present have coalesced into one. The band’s new approach – lyrical, pensive and carrying emotional heft – merges with the storminess and the cheerful irony of their earlier years. And one can also hear a message of hope, in which one thing is certain: Hildegard Lernt Fliegen have re-emerged as one of the bands who will be shaping the future course of European jazz.Credits: Recorded by Martin Ruch & Christoph Utzinger at Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg, 10-13 June 2019 Mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch Produced by Andreas Schaerer & Martin Ruch Cover art by Reto Andreoli

Magic Moments 1167 minutes of pure listening pleasure: The eleventh edition of the popular Magic Moments offers a comprehensive insight into our latest ACT releases with newcomers, ACT stars and real insider tips at a special price. Among others with Michael Wollny, David Helbock, Vincent Peirani, Iiro Rantala, Joachim Kühn New Trio, Ida Sand, Lars Danielsson & Paolo Fresu and many more.Credits:Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Manufacturer 

Andreas Schaerer - A Novel Of AnomalyCD / digital Andreas Schaerer vocals & mouth percussion Luciano Biondini accordion Kalle Kalima guitar Lucas Niggli drums After his mammoth orchestral work “The Big Wig” and the improvisational firework “Out of Land” (with Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani and Michael Wollny), Andreas Schaerer is now diving into a new sound cosmos: “A Novel of Anomaly” presents 11 short stories that increasingly also offer space for more intimate and reduced vocal tones - unusual, surprising and rousing at the same time.Credits: Produced by Andreas Brandis with the artists

Various Artists - The Jubilee ConcertsCD / digital Various Artists “We fly like birds of a feather,” runs the Sister Sledge lyric. And so the musicians did – thirty-four of them flocked to the Konzerthaus in Berlin, from several countries of Europe, each of them an artist who has found a nurturing home for his or her projects and talents on the ACT label. It was their way of expressing gratitude, and of giving their label a 25th birthday present. The musicians appeared on stage in a whole variety of combinations throughout the day, some of the bands formed for these concerts having never been put together before. It was in every sense a special occasion: a day of very fine concerts, a joyous celebration of the passing of an important milestone - the date marked exactly twenty-five years and one day since the ACT label put out its very first release in 1992 - and a happy gathering for the label-as-family. What this unique event brought to the fore was that precious common spirit and attitude among these musicians: an openness and respect for the individual and very different talents of the others, the courage to take risks, and an ever-present willingness to welcome in the unexpected and to discover the new. The musicians are also from several different generations, all bringing their combined energies to the event. For example, saxophonist Emile Parisien and pianist Joachim Kühn were born nearly forty years apart, and yet their mutual understanding, their common way of making music and generating excitement makes a detail like that an irrelevance. There were two other trans-national duos on the album. Whereas saxophonist Parisien and Kühn brought high-voltage excitement, and received a loud ovation, the two double basses of Lars Danielsson and Dieter Ilg channelled very different emotions. Two bassists playing together tends to be a recipe for pure joy, good humour, bonhomie and mischief, and that was exactly what these two master musicians offered. The third duo of Nils Landgren and Michael Wollny brought warmth, affection, and wistful poetry and beauty to Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” which opens the album. These three intimate conversations were just part of the story of an unforgettable day. A quartet feature was led by violinist Adam Bałdych, whose ski-ing accident just a few days before had not deterred him from attending this joyous gathering - he was supported by crutches to get on and off the stage. Then there was a special one-off formation of Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit in “Walk Tall”, the band propelled by Wolfgang Haffner’s crisp, in-the-pocket drumming. One of the features of the ACT label is that founder Siggi Loch is a natural connector and helps the formation of new bands. A quintet around Nguyên Lê and the quartet led by Adam Bałdych were created especially for the evening. Lars Danielsson’s “Suffering” has as its first soloists two ACT cornerstone artists who have helped to define the many-sided identity of the label: Nguyên Lê and Nils Landgren. Another more established quartet which ACT has helped into existence is the supergroup of Andreas Schaerer, Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani, and Michael Wollny. “B&H” shows these four stars of European jazz, all of a similar age, keeping each other and the audience on their toes. A celebration like this could run the risk of drifting into memory and nostalgia – this one didn’t. ACT has issued over 500 albums, so there is much to look back on with pride…but one moment found an inspired way to look to the future as well. The listener might wonder who the drummer and guitarist are, playing with such ease, flow and total assurance on “Dodge The Dodo.” They are Noa and Ruben Svensson, sons of the much-missed Esbjörn. The culmination of the day of celebration in Berlin was a Gala Concert by the “ACT Family Band.” The evening built naturally to a whole-band, whole-family finale in which the combined ensemble, led by Ida Sand, launched into “We Are Family”. As an expression of togetherness, of a shared joyful ethos it would be hard to beat. These Jubilee Concerts made it possible to experience at close quarters what ACT exists to achieve: it is a leading label where listeners can discover newly created music “in the Sprit of jazz.” The label’s range and its previously unimagined connections are a constant source of surprise from which it draws ever-new inspiration to connect the unexpected. Mike Flynn, Editor of Jazzwise wrote in his review of the concert that the ACT label has “a smile on its face and a swagger in its step”. And where might the best evidence for that statement be found? It’s all there on this album.Credits: Live at Konzerthaus Berlin, April 2, 2017 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated by Siggi Loch An ACT Music concert production in cooperation with Konzerthaus Berlin

A supergroup of European jazz – that's probably the best way to describe the quartet featuring Swiss singer Andreas Schaerer, German pianist Michael Wollny, French accordionist Vincent Peirani, and his compatriot on soprano saxophone, Emile Parisien. With the live album "Out of Land," they now prove together that they are at the forefront of the jazz generation between 30 and 40 years old: because they redefine the possibilities of their instruments and expand the boundaries of jazz.

Even for the "Jubilee Album" celebrating this proud anniversary, ACT does not settle for the expected. Except for three pieces that can be considered "Signature Songs" of the ACT philosophy, all tracks are previously unreleased, and some were recorded specifically for this occasion with a changing "Allstar lineup" at the Hansa Studios in Berlin.

"The Big Wig" is the masterpiece of the multitalented and vocal wonder Andreas Schaerer, solidifying his place among the most important composers and interpreters of contemporary music in his generation.