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Irène Schweizer

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Irène Schweizer
Schweizer performing in 2014
Schweizer performing in 2014
Background information
Birth nameIrène Schweizer
Born(1941-06-02)2 June 1941
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Died16 July 2024(2024-07-16) (aged 83)
Zurich, Switzerland
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentPiano
Labels
Formerly ofFeminist Improvising Group

Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist.

Life and career

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Schweizer was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 2 June 1941.[1] She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the Feminist Improvising Group,[1] 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.[1] With Yusef Lateef, Uli Trepte and Mani Neumeier, she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967. One of her most enduring collaborations was with the improvising musician Rüdiger Carl [de].[1]

In 2016, on the occasion of Schweizer's 75th birthday, Broecking Verlag and the music department of the Lucerne University published (in German) an authorized biography titled This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom: Irène Schweizer – European Jazz and the Politics of Improvisation, written by Christian Broecking. An English translation was published in 2021.[2][3]

Schweizer died in Zurich on 16 July 2024, at the age of 83.[4][5][6]

Discography

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Solo

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Duo

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With Les Diaboliques (Schweizer, Maggie Nicols, Joëlle Léandre)

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  • Les Diaboliques (Intakt, 1994)
  • Splitting Image (Intakt, 1997)
  • Live at the Rhinefalls (Intakt, 2000)
  • Jubilee Concert (DVD) (Intakt, 2009)

Source:[7]

Trios and larger ensembles

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With Joe McPhee

With Manfred Schoof

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 352. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ^ Broecking, Christian. "The Book Cooks: Excerpt from This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom: Irène Schweizer – European Jazz and the Politics of Improvisation". Point of Departure. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Schray, Martin (September 21, 2021). "Christian Broecking – This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom: Irène Schweizer – European Jazz and the Politics of Improvisation". Point of Departure. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941–16 July 2024)". The Wire. London. July 2024. ISSN 0952-0686. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Irène Schweizer, la grande dame du jazz suisse, est morte". 24 heures (in French). 17 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  6. ^ Wagner, Christoph (17 July 2024). "Irène Schweizer bot den Mitmusikern Paroli. Und entwickelte dabei ihre unverkennbare Klangsprache". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Artists: Irène Schweizer, piano / drums". Intakt Records. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
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