Christian Weber (born 1972) is a Swiss double bass player. He is especially well known in the field of

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

and

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Life and works

Weber was born in 1972 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In 1990, Weber began playing double bass. After taking private lessons in Zürich, he moved to

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

in 1993 for studying at the academy of music and performing arts. Simultaneously, he started studying under Aderhard Roidinger at

Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance The Anton Bruckner Private University (in German ''Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität'', common short form is ''Bruckner University'') is one of five Austrian Universities for Music, Drama and Dance, and one of four universities in Linz, the Euro ...

. His education at this university lasted to 1998. His study was replaced by the classical lessons of the double bass player Ernst Weissensteiner. At present, Weber lives in Zürich and plays in the various projects like WAL with Joke Lanz (turntables) and Bruno Amstad (voc), the trios with Chris Wiesendanger (p) and

Dieter Ulrich Dieter Ulrich (born 12 October 1958) is a Swiss jazz and free improvisation musician (percussion, flugelhorn) and art historian. Life and works Ulrich was born on 12 October 1958 in Zürich. He had piano lessons from Irma Schaichet from 1965 to ...

or Claudia Ulla Binder (p) and Dieter Ulrich as well as ''WWW'' with Michel Wintsch and

Christian Wolfarth Christian Wolfarth (born 1960) is a Swiss jazz percussion player. Biography Wolfarth was born in 1960 in Zürich. He moved to Bern in 1981, where he studied under Billy Lewis Brooks at Swiss Jazz School from 1982 to 1986. Then, he studied und ...

(dr) and Mersault with Tomas Korber (guit/elec) and Christian Wolfarth. In 2001, he received a composition order from

Pro Helvetia The foundation Pro Helvetia is a public foundation of Switzerland, which supports artists, promotes Swiss culture and art abroad. It is responsible for major international cultural event exhibitions. The foundation promotes cultural dialogue of t ...

and composed a

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

, which he performed with Hans Koch (sax/elec) Martin Siewert (guit/elec), Michel Moser (vel) and Christian Wolfarth. He also collaborated in the sextet respectively quartet of Co Streiff, The space researcher, Neuromodulator and also in a trio by Philipp Schaufelberger, Sudden Infant as well as in Steamboat Switzerland and in many others. He also devoted his time to the contemporary composed music. Weber, who was the manager of the secretariat of the workshop for improvised music (WIM) Zürich from 2000 to 2006, performed together with many musicians of the European improvisation scenes like

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 f ...

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. Life and career Schweizer was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 2 June 1941. She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as ...

Werner Lüdi Werner Lüdi (April 22, 1936 – June 21, 2000) was a Swiss jazz musician (alto saxophone, alto- and baritone saxophone) and author. Biography Lüdi was born on April 22, 1936 in Poschiavo. He spent the early years of his life in Val Poschiavo ...

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvisation, free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano saxophone, soprano and sopranino saxophone, sopranino saxopho ...

, Wolfgang Reisinger,

Stephan Wittwer Stephan Wittwer (1 March 1953 – 18 September 2024) was a Swiss experimental musician, improvisor and composer. Earlier, his main instruments were electric and classical guitar, amplifier and recording studio, but in later years, his instrument wa ...

Nils Wogram Nils Wogram (born 7 November 1972) is a jazz trombonist, composer and bandleader. He began classical study at the age of fifteen. He was a member in the National German Youth Big Band, participated in classical competitions and formed his own ...

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook' ...

, Wolfgang Puschnig,

Julian Argüelles Julian Argüelles (born 28 January 1966) is an English jazz saxophonist. He is best known for his work during the 1980s and '90s with the ensemble Loose Tubes. Argüelles has also worked extensively as a solo performer and with American and E ...

, Michael Griener, Johannes Bauer,

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 ...

or Michael Thieke. He also appeared with

Charles Gayle Charles Gayle (February 28, 1939 – September 7, 2023) was an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performed as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassi ...

, Robert Dick,

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz French horn, horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, where he started playing in the orc ...

Joachim Kühn Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist. Biography Kühn was born in Leipzig, Germany. He was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmidt-E ...

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical music, contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. A central figure in the Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimenta ...

Simon Nabatov Simon Nabatov (born 11 January 1959) is a Russian-American jazz pianist. Early life Nabatov was born in Moscow on 11 January 1959. His parents were Leon, a professional pianist and choir conductor who was a native of Belarus, and Regina. Nabatov ...

, John Butcher or Lina Allemano. He took part also in many festivals in Europe. He went on a tour in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, China,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, Japan and the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Christian 1972 births Living people Musicians from Zurich Swiss jazz musicians Swiss jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century Swiss male musicians Swiss male jazz musicians Anton Bruckner Private University alumni