''Willi the Pig: Live at the Willisau Jazz Festival'' is a live album by the

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 s ...

–

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 ...

Group, led by saxophonist Tchicai and pianist Schweizer, who are joined by bassist

Buschi Niebergall Buschi Niebergall (July 18, 1938 – January 9, 1990) was a German free jazz musician. His given name was Hans-Helmut, and late in life, his friends called him Johannes. Born in the city of Marburg into a family of academics (his father was ...

, and drummer

Makaya Ntshoko Makaya Ntshoko (29 September 1939 – 27 August 2024) was a South African drummer. Biography Makaya Ntshoko was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on 29 October 1939. He grew up in Langa, South Africa, Langa. He played with Dollar Brand's trio i ...

. Featuring a single, 46-minute performance, it was recorded on August 30, 1975, at the Willisau Jazz Festival in Willisau, Switzerland, and was released on vinyl in limited quantities in 1976 by Willisau Live Records. In 2000, the album was reissued on CD by

Atavistic Records Atavistic Records is an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its no wave and free jazz recordings. Atavistic has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark, Pinetop Seven, ...

as part of their

Unheard Music Series The Unheard Music Series is an imprint of the American record label Atavistic Records. The series, running since 2000, is curated by Chicago writer and producer John Corbett and focuses mainly on free jazz recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. The ...

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, William York described the music as "quietly (and occasionally not so quietly) intense free jazz that, despite some turbulent moments, never becomes fully explosive or over the top," and praised the "stellar interplay" of the musicians, as well as the presence of "moments of reflective, almost meditative beauty."

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired ...

of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

'' called the performance "very coherent," noting the fact that Tchicai pays "attention to things like motivic development," while Schweizer "develops her ideas intelligently." Writing for ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'', Derek Taylor wrote: "countless moments of brilliant and inspired invention crop up... Whether the quartet had other opportunities to record is unclear, but what is a certainty is that their work here is well deserving of the careful and reverential treatment afforded by the folks at Unheard." Another ''AAJ'' reviewer called the album "an unusually fresh-sounding spontaneous improvisation," and commented: "The particularly satisfying feature of this performance is the way Tchicai and Schweizer coordinate their playing to bring the improvisation to a higher level." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

s David Dacks stated that Tchicai "spends more than 20 minutes in the uppermost octaves of the soprano without sounding strident, then goes on to create soulful sounds with the lower register of his alto," while Schweizer "tears into solo statements that recall Lennie Tristano and Bill Evans." A writer for ''La Folia'' described Niebergall and Ntshoko as "excellent partners," and remarked: "High energy doesn't always mean loud and fast. Another must-have."

Track listing

# "Willi the Pig, Part 1" – 24:26 # "Willi the Pig, Part 2" – 21:58

Personnel

– alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, piano *

– piano *

– bass *

– drums

References

{{Authority control 1976 live albums Atavistic Records live albums Live free jazz albums John Tchicai live albums Irène Schweizer live albums