I had the chance to see Sylvain Luc with Richard Galliano and the incredible Ulf Wakenius Trio in Estavayer-le-Lac at the “Swing in the Wind” festival, a very nice and charming event in the medieval town of Estavayer-le-Lac.
You find great videos for both groups on youtube:
Sylvain Luc and Richard Galliano have produced a CD called “La Vie en Rose (Rencontres avec Édith Piaf & Gus Viseur)” with the material you see in the video.
Ulf Wakenius hasn’t produced a CD with his hommage for Wes Montgomery, so if you have a chance to see this trio, don’t miss it. Leonardo Corradi and Tony Match are excellent musicians and to see this band is a great pleasure.
Jakob Jenzer organises concerts in his atelier and this series runs under the label “kulturprofit”. There were three Jazz concerts this year and I had the chance to see the last one of the series where he invited Peter Fischer on drums, Stephan Urwyler on guitar and Heidi Moll on bass to present their current project MUF.
Heidi and Peter are already playing together for some time and their music can be described as a combination of rhythmic world beats with lyric and melodic patterns and grooves. Both experiment also with loops and they have been able to bring their ideas from the studio to the live stage.
Stephan Urwyler is very well known in the Bern Jazz and Blues scene and is very busy in different projects from Jazz combos, Jazz big bands to Funk and Blues productions.
Together they have been able to entertain us for more than two hours with their rhythmic and improvised music (which are in my opinion the two important characteristics of jazz music). The band started with a composition from Heidi Moll and Peter Fischer called “Dunes” and featured Heidi on her magnificent instrument (a double neck bass with a 5-strings neck and a 4-string fretless neck).
One of the highlights of the concert was Stephan Urwyler’s tune “Heiweh – Homesickness” which featured Stephan and showed his talent as a writer of beautiful melodies and excellent improviser over melodic changes.
All three used additional technical options of loops or guitar effect pedals to expand the sound variety or to create extra instrumental layers.
The second set was again of combination of compositions from all three members and especially remarkable was here the tune “Magma” featuring Peter Fischer.
I haven’t seen any announcements where you can see the trio again, but please check on their website www.muf-music.ch for more information.
Finally I also need to say one thing about Jakob Jenzer and his project “kulturprofit” which is based on his commitment to give the chance to unusual musical projects in an artistic environment. The way this evening was organized was perfect match for everybody: The audience got the chance to see a band for free (a donation could be made at the exit) and the musicians could present their music and ideas in a location with a curious audience. Hopefully Jakob Jenzer will continue with this series.
I found some videos from Heidi Moll and Peter Fischer and I created a playlist with the songs mentioned in the blog. Please enjoy.
