Irène Schweizer (born 2 June 1941) is a Swiss

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 ...

and free improvising pianist. She was born in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimat ...

, Switzerland. She has performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the

Feminist Improvising Group The Feminist Improvising Group (FIG) were a five- to eight-piece international free improvisation, free improvising avant-garde jazz and experimental music ensemble formed in London in 1977 by Scottish vocalist Maggie Nicols and English bassooni ...

, whose members include

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas an ...

, Maggie Nichols, Georgie Born and

Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing ''Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born an ...

. She has also performed a series of duets with drummers

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 ...

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue ...

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

, Günter Sommer,

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

, as well as in trio and quartet sessions with others, including

John Tchicai John Martin Tchicai ( ; 28 April 1936 – 8 October 2012) was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Tchicai was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Danish mother and a Congolese father. The family moved to Aarhus, where he st ...

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 ...

and

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 Europea ...

. With

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

, Uli Trepte and

Mani Neumeier Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru. Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, N ...

, she performed at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

in 1967. One of her most enduring collaborations is with the improvising musician .

Discography

Solo

* ''Wilde Señoritas'' ( FMP, 1977) * '' Hexensabbat'' (FMP, 1978) * ''

Piano Solo Vol. 1 ''Piano Solo Vol. 1'' is a live solo piano album by Irène Schweizer. It was recorded at Alte Kirche Boswil in Switzerland in May 1990, and was released in 1992 by Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. ...

'' (

Intakt inTAKT is a German ecumenical association (''Verein'') for the promotion of new Christian songs for church services (Neues Geistliches Lied, NGL), and of art, culture and musical education. Its members are mostly hymnwriters and composers intereste ...

, 1992) * '' Piano Solo Vol. 2'' (Intakt, 1992) * ''

Many and One Direction ''Many and One Direction'' is a live solo piano album by Irène Schweizer. It was recorded at Alte Kirche Boswil in Switzerland in April 1996, and was released later that year by Intakt Records. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Steve Loewy wro ...

'' (Intakt, 1996) * '' Chicago Piano Solo'' (Intakt, 2001) * '' First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern'' (Intakt, 2006) * ''To Whom It May Concern: Piano Solo Tonhalle Zürich'' (Intakt, 2011)

Duo

* ''The Very Centre of Middle Europe'' (

HatHut Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...

, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl * ''Die V-Mann Suite'' (FMP, 1981), with Rüdiger Carl * ''Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo'' (

, 1987) * ''Cordial Gratin'' (FMP, 1987), with

Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has performed with Pierre Boulez's Ens ...

* ''Irene Schweizer & Günter Sommer'' (Intakt, 1988), with Günter Sommer * '' Irène Schweizer/Andrew Cyrille'' (Intakt, 1989), with

* '' Overlapping Hands: Eight Segments'' (FMP, 1991), with

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...

* ''Irène Schweizer & Pierre Favre'' (Intakt, 1992), with

* '' Irène Schweizer & Han Bennink'' (Intakt, 1996), with

* ''European Masters of Improvisation'' ( Captain Trip, Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, 1997), with

* ''Twin Lines'' (Intakt, 2002), with Co Streiff * '' Ulrichsberg'' (Intakt, 2004), with Pierre Favre * ''Where's Africa'' (Intakt, 2005), with * ''Live in Zürich'' (Intakt, 2013), with Pierre Favre * ''Spring'' (Intakt, 2014), with * ''Welcome Back'' (Intakt, 2015), with Han Bennink * '' Live!'' (Intakt, 2017), with

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, h ...

* ''Celebration'' (Intakt, 2021), with

Trios and larger ensembles

* ''Jazz Meets India'' ( SABA, 1967), with

, Dewan Motihar, Keshay Sathe,

Manfred Schoof Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter. Career Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers of the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen ...

, Kusum Thakur, Uli Trepte, and

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer. Life Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began ...

* ''Ramifications'' (

Ogun Ogun or Ogoun (Yoruba: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who ...

, 1975), with Rüdiger Carl,

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

Radu Malfatti Radu Malfatti is an Austrian trombone and harmonica player, and composer. He was born in Innsbruck, in the province of Tyrol, on December 16, 1943. Malfatti is associated with the style of music known as reductionism and has been described as " ...

, and Harry Miller * ''Messer'' (FMP, 1976), with Rüdiger Carl and Louis Moholo * ''Tuned Boots'' (FMP, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl and

* '' Live at Taktlos'' (

, 1986), with

, George E. Lewis,

, Maggie Nichols, and Günter Sommer * '' The Storming of the Winter Palace'' (Intakt, 1988), with Joëlle Léandre, George E. Lewis, Maggie Nichols, and Günter Sommer * ''Paris Quartet'' (Intakt, 1989), with Joëlle Léandre, Yves Robert, and Daunik Lazro * ''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

'' (Intakt, 1992), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra * ''

Double Trouble Two ''Double Trouble Two'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra with guest artists Irène Schweizer (piano), Marilyn Crispell (piano), and Pierre Favre (drums). Documenting a large-scale, 47-minute composition by Guy, it ...

'' (Intakt, 1998), with

, Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, and Pierre Favre * ''Ensemble Oggimusica Meets Irene Schweizer'' (Altrisuoni, 2000), with Ensemble Oggimusica * '' Willisau & Taktlos'' (Intakt, 2007), with Fred Anderson and

* ''Radio Rondo / Schaffhausen Concert'' (Intakt, 2009), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra * '' Berne Concert'' (Intakt, 2009), with Trio 3 (

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black ...

, and

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman work ...

) * ''Jump!'' (Intakt, 2011), with the Jürg Wickihalder European Quartet With

Joe McPhee Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is m ...

*''

Topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...

'' (Hat Hut, 1981)

References

External links

* * http://www.intaktrec.ch/schweizer-a.htm
FMP releases
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schweizer, Irene Free jazz pianists Free improvisation pianists Swiss jazz pianists Women jazz pianists Swiss women pianists 1941 births Living people Avant-garde jazz pianists People from Schaffhausen 21st-century pianists FMP/Free Music Production artists Intakt Records artists 21st-century women pianists