Paul Giger

On ars moriendi Paul Giger looks at life’s flowing patterns, at death and renewal, as he brings together compositions by Bach and new music drawing inspiration from the work of painter Giovanni Segantini and Swiss folk traditions. The album was recorded in Maloja, where Segantini spent the last years of his life.

Together and separately these Swiss musicians, violinist Paul Giger and harpsichordist Marie-Louise Dähler present a symbiosis of old and new music that spans Bach, pulsating improvisation and strikingly original compositions. In all, a journey through musical and personal history which also, in “Bombay II”, reflects upon Giger’s years traveling in Asia. A sixth remarkable ECM album from Giger, a distinguished label debut for Dähler, and an important New Series release.

Paul Giger - Alpstein (1991) {ECM 1426]
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© 1991 ECM Records | ECM 1426
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Chamber Music / Folk Jazz / Violin

Violin virtuoso Paul Giger revisits his roots with this, his second solo recording, Alpstein, which features pieces for violin, saxophone, and percussion based on the folk traditions of the Alpstein region of Switzerland. Three pieces here are entitled "Zäuerli" – named after the sad majestic "natur yodel" tradition of the Outer Rhoden region. These are sweeping and majestic with high harmonic bowstrokes. This recording features the saxophone work of Jan Garbarek and the percussion of Pierre Favre. Both add an incredible warmth to the recording on the pieces they are featured on, most notably "Alpsegen" with its soaring sax lines and manic percussion. Also notable is "Chlauseschuppel," featuring the sounds of cowbells specific to that region. Informative booklet included.

Paul Giger's 1993 solo release, Schattenwelt, takes a darker turn following his more volksliederisch 1991 release, Alpstein, though it is on this release that his virtuosity really shines. The delicate textures of the recording's bookends – "Bay" and "Bombay" – utilize a variety of timbres and tones, sometimes harsh, sometimes flute-like, that wash over the structure of the pieces. The centerpiece of the recording, "Seven Scenes From Labyrinthos," a retelling of the myth of the minotaur and the labyrinth, spans a variety of styles, from the shrill and dissonant "Crane" to the almost-lilting "Creating the Labyrinth." A great recording for aficionados of the violin with a sophisticated ear.

ECM made history in 1984 with the release of Tabula rasa, the first of the jazz label’s equally influential New Series. Not only did this beloved recording introduce many to the music of Arvo Pärt, but it also clarified producer Manfred Eicher’s classical roots and fed into the likeminded sensibilities Eicher was then bringing with increasing confidence to his groundbreaking approach to jazz. It is therefore appropriate that Pärt, the imprint’s shining star, should be represented here more than any other composer or performer.

Jean-Luc Godard - Nouvelle Vague
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 321 MB | Full Artwork, 284 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: ECM New Series # ECM 1600/01 | Country/Year: Germany 1997
Genre: Jazz, Non-Music, Soundtrack | Style: Dialogue, Spoken Word, Contemporary

Even more extreme is the notion that an entire soundtrack ­ dialogue, music, sound effects ­ might be considered a musical event apart from the film and the venturesome German ECM label has just made this experiment with Jean Luc Godard's 1990 Film Nouvelle Vague. The French art film uses a wide variety of classical and pop music, from Hindemith to Patti Smith and the effect is that of brilliant collage. On the soundtrack disc, sound-effects intrude and modulate into music and voices, like electronic music. Music becomes part of real life, and the music invades the dialogue…