Irène Schweizer


Irène Schweizer 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 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 was with the improvising musician.
In 2016, on the occasion of Schweizer's 75th birthday, Broecking Verlag and the music department of the Lucerne University published 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.
Schweizer died in Zurich on 16 July 2024, at the age of 83.

Discography

Solo

Wilde Señoritas Hexensabbat Piano Solo Vol. 1 Piano Solo Vol. 2 Many and One Direction Chicago Piano Solo First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern

Duo

The Very Centre of Middle Europe, with Rüdiger CarlDie V-Mann Suite, with Rüdiger CarlIrène Schweizer & Louis Moholo Cordial Gratin, with Joëlle LéandreIrène Schweizer & Günter Sommer, with Günter SommerIrène Schweizer & Andrew Cyrille, with Andrew CyrilleOverlapping Hands: Eight Segments, with Marilyn CrispellIrène Schweizer & Pierre Favre, with Pierre FavreIrène Schweizer & Han Bennink, with Han BenninkEuropean Masters of Improvisation, with Mani NeumeierTwin Lines, with Co StreiffUlrichsberg, with Pierre FavreWhere's Africa, with Live in Zürich, with Pierre FavreSpring, with Welcome Back, with Han BenninkLive!, with Joey BaronCelebration, with Hamid Drake

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

Les Diaboliques Splitting Image Live at the Rhinefalls Jubilee Concert
Source:

Trios and larger ensembles

Jazz Meets India, with Mani Neumeier, Dewan Motihar, Keshay Sathe, Manfred Schoof, Kusum Thakur, Uli Trepte, and Barney WilenRamifications, with Rüdiger Carl, Paul Lovens, Radu Malfatti, and Harry MillerMesser, with Rüdiger Carl and Louis MoholoWilli the Pig with John Tchicai, Buschi Niebergall, and Makaya NtshokoTuned Boots, with Rüdiger Carl and Louis MoholoLive at Taktlos, with Lindsay Cooper, Joëlle Léandre, George E. Lewis, Paul Lovens, Maggie Nichols, and Günter SommerThe Storming of the Winter Palace, with Joëlle Léandre, George E. Lewis, Maggie Nichols, and Günter SommerParis Quartet, with Joëlle Léandre, Yves Robert, and Daunik LazroTheoria, with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers OrchestraDouble Trouble Two, with Marilyn Crispell, Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, and Pierre FavreEnsemble Oggimusica Meets Irene Schweizer, with Ensemble OggimusicaWillisau & Taktlos, with Fred Anderson and Hamid DrakeRadio Rondo/Schaffhausen Concert, with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers OrchestraBerne Concert, with Trio 3 Jump!, with the Jürg Wickihalder European Quartet
With Joe McPhee
With Manfred Schoof