Irène Schweizer

Irène Schweizer
Irene Schweizer in concert at Loft (Cologne) 2014
Background information
Birth name	Irène Schweizer
Born	June 2, 1941
Origin	Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Genres	Avant-garde jazz Free improvisation Free jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Piano

Irène Schweizer (born June 2, 1941) is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, in 1941. She has performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the Feminist Improvising Group, whose members include Lindsay Cooper, Maggie Nichols, Georgie Born and Sally Potter. She has also performed a series of duets with drummers Pierre Favre, Louis Moholo, Andrew Cyrille, Günter Sommer, Han Bennink, Hamid Drake, as well as in trio and quartet sessions with others, including John Tchicai, Evan Parker and Peter Kowald. With Yusef Lateef, Uli Trepte and Mani Neumeier she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967. One of her most enduring collaborations is with the improvising musician de.

Discography

Solo work

• Wilde Señoritas (FMP, 1977)
• Hexensabbat (FMP, 1978)
• Piano Solo Vol. 1 (Intakt Records, 1992)
• Piano Solo Vol. 2 (Intakt Records, 1992)
• Piano Solo: Many And One Direction (Intakt Records, 1996)
• Chicago Piano Solo (Intakt Records, 2001)
• First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern (Intakt Records, 2006)
• To Whom It May Concern: Piano Solo Tonhalle Zürich (Intakt Records, 2011)

Duo recordings

• The Very Centre Of Middle Europe (HatHut, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl
• Die V-Mann Suite (FMP, 1981), with Rüdiger Carl
• Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo (Intakt Records, 1987), with Louis Moholo
• Cordial Gratin (FMP, 1987), with Joëlle Léandre
• Irene Schweizer & Günter Sommer (Intakt Records, 1988), with Günter Sommer
• Irène Schweizer & Andrew Cyrille (Intakt Records, 1989), with Andrew Cyrille
• Overlapping Hands: Eight Segments (FMP, 1991), with Marilyn Crispell
• Irène Schweizer & Pierre Favre (Intakt Records, 1992), with Pierre Favre
• Irène Schweizer & Han Bennink (Intakt Records, 1996), with Han Bennink
• European Masters Of Improvisation (Captain Trip Records, Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, 1997), with Mani Neumeier
• Twin Lines (Intakt Records, 2002), with de
• Ulrichsberg (Intakt Records, 2004), with Pierre Favre
• Where's Africa (Intakt Records, 2005), with de
• Live In Zürich (Intakt Records, 2013), with Pierre Favre
• Spring (Intakt Records, 2014), with de
• Welcome Back (Intakt Records, 2015), with Han Bennink

Trios and larger ensembles

• Jazz Meets India (SABA Records, 1967), with Mani Neumeier, Dewan Motihar, Keshay Sathe, Manfred Schoof, Kusum Thakur, Uli Trepte, and Barney Wilen
• Ramifications (Ogun Records, 1975), with Rüdiger Carl, Paul Lovens, Radu Malfatti, and Harry Miller
• Messer (FMP, 1976), with Rüdiger Carl and Louis Moholo
• Tuned Boots (FMP, 1978), with Rüdiger Carl and Louis Moholo
• Live At Taktlos (Intakt Records, 1986), with Lindsay Cooper, Joëlle Léandre, George Lewis, Paul Lovens, Maggie Nichols, and Günter Sommer
• The Storming Of The Winter Palace (Intakt Records, 1988), with Joëlle Léandre, George Lewis, Maggie Nichols, and Günter Sommer
• Paris Quartet (Intakt Records, 1989), with Joëlle Léandre, Yves Robert, and Daunik Lazro
• Theoria (Intakt Records, 1992), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra
• Double Trouble Two (Intakt Records, 1998), with Marilyn Crispell, Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, and Pierre Favre
• Ensemble Oggimusica Meets Irene Schweizer (Altrisuoni, 2000), with Ensemble Oggimusica
• Willisau & Taktlos (Intakt Records, 2007), with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake
• Radio Rondo / Schaffhausen Concert (Intakt Records, 2009), with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra
• Berne Concert (Intakt Records, 2009), with Trio 3 (Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, and Reggie Workman)
• Jump! (Intakt Records, 2011), with the Jürg Wickihalder European Quartet

With Joe McPhee

• Topology (Hat Hut, 1981)

External links

• http://www.intaktrec.ch/schweizer-a.htm
• FMP releases