The Swiss band RUSCONI (Stefan Rusconi, piano/ Fabian Gisler, bass/ Claudio Strüby, drums) samples some forbidden fruit! The music of Sonic Youth alternates with instinctive sureness between noisy capers and lyrical dissonance, and it goes without saying that one is initially a little sceptical about the idea of reworking it as jazz. Does it make sense? How is it going to sound? The opening track, “Sunday”, on what is RUSCONI’s fourth album, It´s a Sonic Life (Sony Music Germany), is played almost note-for-note like the original. At first, anyway! Doesn’t that sound a bit plodding and stolid? But this reaction soon gives way to a sense of relief: The three musicians don’t try to conjure up a big jazz band; they don’t drag soloists onstage who attempt to outdo the guitars and feedbacks of the New York rockers with saxophones and trumpets, trombones and clarinets. On the contrary: the sound here is simple and clear, light and floating – in that order. At the end of the piece, the listener responds not with scepticism or relief but with unbridled enthusiasm.
RUSCONI approach the songs of the New York sound pirates from very different angles. They adapt the music, paraphrase it or even go so far as to simply imagine it. The result includes pieces with a character of their own, pieces that fit seamlessly into the seductive hybrid world of alternative rock and jazz. Notwithstanding all the intermittent ecstasy, the sound itself remains crystal-clear throughout, always precise and light as air. It’s as if a certain amount of light were seeping through in between the notes, so that one the original songs regularly shimmer through. RUSCONI respond to Sonic Youth’s complex structures with great simplicity, which is just the right strategy. Neither do they break the songs down, nor do they justify them for a jazz audience. Instead, they casually reinterpret jazz in the spirit of rock music. RUSCONI rock!
STEFAN RUSCONI, PIANO
Stefan Rusconi, born in Zurich on February 14th 1979 he studied at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) under the guidance of Andy Harder, Chris Wiesendanger and Walter Prossnitz. In addition in parallel lessons and Masterclass Workshops with Art Lande, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Street, Don Friedmann, Bill Carrothers, Ethan Iverson, Jean-Michel Pilc und George Mraz. Winner of the International Masterclass Workshop in Frauenfeld 2002. Other Prizes won: Friedl Wald Foundation 2003, Berti-Alter Foundation 2004. 2003 he finished his degree in music education at ZHdK with great distinction. He spent longer periods of time in South Africa, New York, Japan and Berlin. Besides Theater Projects with DALANG Puppencompany or Darja Stocker he’s been playing concerts with Matthias Ziegler, Roman Schwaller, Lucien Dubois, Domenic Landolf, Mats Spillmann, Kaspar Rast, Christian Weber, Peter Schärli, Arte Saxophonquartett, Mats Eser, Kaspar Ewalds Exorbitantes Kabinett.
FABIAN GISLER, BASS
Fabian Gisler, born in Zurich on August 18th 1977 he studied at Bern Universaty of the Arts (HKB) under the guidance of Peter Frei, Reggie Johnsen, Bert Joris, Rufus Reid and Andy Scherrer. In addition in parallel lessons and Masterclass Workshops with Ray Brown, George Gruntz, Dave Liebmann, Joe Lovano and George Mraz. 1998 he won the International Masterclass Workshop in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. From 2000 until 2002 he was a permanent member of the Klezmer Group ‘Kolsimcha’. Concerts in Europe and America. He’s been playing concerts with Franco Ambrosetti, Gianni Basso, Bill Carrothers, Philip Catherine, Don Friedmann, Dusko Goykovich, George Gruntz, Tony Lakatos, Dave Liebmann, Robert Lakatos, Dado Moroni, Adam Nussbaum, Dick Oats, Dré Pallemaerts, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Garry Smulyan, Donny McCaslin, Mark Soskin, Matthieu Michel, Makaya Ntshoko, Andy Scherrer, Roman Schwaller, Co Streiff, Nat Su, Kenny Werner and Nils Wogram.
CLAUDIO STRÜBY, DRUMS
Claudio Strüby, born in Brunnen on February 23rd 1980 he studied at the Luzern University of the Arts under the Guidance of Norbert Pfammatter, Marc Halbheer, Fabian Kuratli, Pierre Favre and Hans-Peter Pfammatter. In addition in parallel lessons and Masterclass Workshops with Ron Savage, Ali Jackson III, Ben Street, Billy Drummond, Jim Black, Adam Nussbaum, Nat Su, Joey Barron, Jimmy Cobb, Portinho, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jochen Rückert, Peter Frei, Nils Wogram and Dre Pallemaerts. 2004 he won the Friedl Wald Foundation award. 2005 he won the Erasmus scholarship at the Universaty of Arts, Berlin. 2006 he represented the Luzern School of music at the International Meeting of Jazzschools in Louisville, Kentucky USA. In the same year he finishes he’s studies with ‘magna cum laude’. He’s been playing concerts with Kenny Wheeler and Norma Winstone and the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra, Dave Liebman, James Morrison, Chris Wiesendanger, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nat Su, Nils Wogram, Rainer Tempel, Jean-Paul Brodbeck, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Symphonieorchester Villingen and Symphony Orchestra Lucerne.