Christian Wolfarth (1960 in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 443,037 inhabitants, the urban area 1.315 mill ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

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 majo ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

player.

Biography

Wolfarth moved to Bern in 1981, where he studied under

Billy Lewis Brooks Billy Lewis Brooks (born 1943; died 2023) was an American jazz percussion player. Brooks moved to Europe in 1964. At the beginning of 1970's, he founded the group El Babaku with the bass player in Berlin, recording one album, ''Live At The Jazz ...

at Swiss Jazz School from 1982 to 1986. Then, he studied under

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 ...

at ''Konservatorium Luzern'' (1992–96) and had an education in the field of composing under Siegfried Kutterer in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

(1995). He worked with musicians like Christine Sehnaoui,

Burkhard Beins Burkhard Beins (born 1964 in Lower Saxony, West Germany) is a German composer/performer who works with percussion, selected objects and electronics. Living in Berlin since 1995, Beins is active in experimental music and electroacoustic improvisat ...

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, Enrico Malatesta,

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, Werner Lüdi,

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, Norbert Möslang,

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orchest ...

Hans Koch Hans Koch (16 August 1893 – 24 April 1945) was a German lawyer, a member of the Confessional Church and a member of the German resistance against Nazism. Koch was born in Bartenstein, East Prussia (modern Bartoszyce, Poland), he graduated ...

, Simon Picard or

Jürg Solothurnmann Jürg is the name of: * Jürg Amann (1947–2013), Swiss author and dramatist * Jürg Baur (1918–2010), German composer and teacher of classical music * Jürg Berger (born 1954), retired Swiss professional ice hockey forward * Jürg Capol (born ...

and participated in interdisciplinary projects in the fields of theater, movies, videos, contemporary music and dance (such as Dance-Company of Nina F. Schneider). In 1996, he published his first solo album ''3-3-2''. After the ''For4Ears'', he published his second solo album ''Wolfarth'' in 2005. In 2009, he established his own label hiddenbell records. His later solo albums were published under this label. In duet formations, he collaborated with

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (born 2 June 1941) is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. She has performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the Feminist Improvis ...

, Donat Fisch (''Circle & Line''), Michael Vorfeld (''Vorwolf'') and also

Joke Lanz To Live and Shave in L.A. (TLASILA) is an experimental music collective founded in 1993 by avant-garde composer/producer Tom Smith (formerly of Washington, DC groups Peach of Immortality and Pussy Galore) and Miami Beach musician/producer Frank ...

(''Tell''). In trios, he played with Jason Kahn and

Günter Müller Günter Müller (born October 20, 1954) is a German sound artist who originally performed as a percussionist and drummer, active primarily in free improvisation. He was born in Munich, West Germany, but has lived in Switzerland since 1966. Ba ...

, with Michel Wintsch und Christian Weber (''WWW''), and also with Tomas Korber and Christian Weber (''Mersault''). Besides, he worked in a duet with the guitarist Christian Buck.

Discography

* Christian Wolfarth/Franz Aeschbacher ''Ersatz ist Besser'', 1992 Arche Z (AZ CD 002) * ''3-3-2'' (8 Pieces for drums) Solo-CD, 1996 Percaso Productions (Percaso 15) * Momentum 2 ''The Law of Refraction'' with Gene Coleman, John Wolf Brennan and Alfred Zimmerlin, 2000

Leo Records Leo Records is a British record company and label which releases jazz from Russian, American, and British musicians. It concentrates on free jazz. Leo Records was founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin (also known under his broadcasting name Aleksei Le ...

(CD LR 296) * Korber / Weber / Wolfarth ''Mersault'' with Tomas Korber and Christian Weber, 2005 Quakebasket (CD 23) * Weber / Koch / Moser /

Siewert Siewert is the surname of: * Alfons Siewert (1872-1922), Ukrainian physician * Brian Siewert Brian D. Siewert, alternatively credited with or without his middle initial, is an American public speaker, multiple Emmy Award-winning concert and tele ...

/ Wolfarth „3 Suits & a Violin“ 2006 (hatOLOGY 634) * Vorwolf ''Snake's Eye'' mit Michael Vorfeld, 2008 formed records (formed 109) * Fisch / Wolfarth ''Circle & Line 2'' 2009 Leo Records (CD LR 552) * Irmler / Wolfarth ''Illumination'' with Hans Joachim Irmler, 2010 Klangbad (LP57) * Kahn / Müller / Wolfarth ''Limmat'', 2010 Mikroton Records (CD 7) * ''acoustic solo percussion vol. 1-4 & Remixes'' Doppel-CD 2009-2011 hiddenbell records (006/007) * Wintsch Weber Wolfarth ''The Holistic Worlds of …'' 2012 Monotype Records (MonoLP010) * Wintsch Weber Wolfarth ''Willisau'', 2012 (hatOLOGY 725) * ''Scheer'' Solo-CD cymbals, 2013 hiddenbell records (008) * Wintsch Weber Wolfarth ''Thieves Left That Behind'', 2015 Veto Exchange (012) * Spuren Solo-LP percussion, 2016 hiddenbell records (009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfarth, Christian Swiss jazz drummers Musicians from Zürich 1960 births Living people 20th-century Swiss musicians 21st-century Swiss musicians