We are excited to announce the much-anticipated live return of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, with support from Phemo Quartet.

With his quartet Ronin, Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch continues with the work on his RITUAL GROOVE MUSIC series together with Kaspar Rast (drums), Jeremias Keller (replacing Thomy Jordi on Bass in 2020) and Sha (bass/contrabass clarinet). Their music consistently follows the same aesthetic vision under various instrumental guises: creating the maximum effect by minimal means.

Despite the multiplicity of the band’s influences, Ronin’s music always possesses a strong individuality. They incorporate elements of disparate musical worlds, be they funk, new classical music or sounds from Japanese ritual music.

However, these forms are never merely juxtaposed in a post-modernist fashion but instead amalgamated into a coherent new style. Ultimately, these sounds and rhythms are highly idiosyncratic. The music consists of very few phrases and motives, continually combined and layered in new ways. Ronin thus creates a consistent aesthetic across all levels of musical expression. Composition, phrasing, sound structure, performance, and musical form all combine to form a system of interrelated elements. (Michel Mettler)

Phemo Quartet

Creating a new musical language, in association with memory, has always been the priority for Phemo Quartet, whose current line-up includes Ashkan Layegh (piano) , Sam Norris (alto saxophone), Harry Ling (drums), and Gonçalo Maia Caetano (bass).

The band’s diverse background makes Phemo’s sound a collision of various musical forces, from Progressive Rock to traditional Persian Music and the modal jazz of Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Swiss Contemporary Music.

The event is presented by Art Stage and Vaak Records.