MARKUS STAUSS - 5 COMPOSITIONS 2017-19 & NEOLITHICUM SURPRISE

• markus stauss: 5 compositions 2017-19 - neolithicum surprise
      (2019, cd, switzerland, fazzul music fm 0836)

I enjoy listening to the various Markus Stauss projects.
Markus is someone who likes to explore the boundaries of music which, at moments, leads to quite experimental results.
Markus' latest release, "5 Compositions 2017-19 - Neolithicum Surprise", combines 5 recent compositions, performed by his quartet, with a recording of a solo performance that took place at an exhibition.

The "5 Compositions" part got recorded earlier this year by Rémy Sträuli (drums), Damien Campion (bass), Markus Stauss (saxes) and Richard Koch (trumpet).
Sounds great.
The second part of the album, "Neolithicum Surprise", features Markus on bass saxophone, percussion, electronics and loops at an exhibition of sculptor Oscar Wiggli.
Lovely soundscapes. Short and indeed surprising. You know how they offer you these audio guides during exhibitions? Listening to "Neolithicum Surprise" makes me want to check out the sculptures of Oscar Wiggli !

Released on Fazzul Music,
https://www.markus-stauss.ch/en/

Check it out !

WIDMER - STAUSS - DUOS

• widmer - stauss: duos
      (2019, cd, switzerland, unit records)

"Duos" got recorded December 2018 and features Jacques Widmer on the drums and Markus Stauss on saxes and flute.
This is improvised music. It needs a certain mindset. It needs your full attention.

I've listened to the album a couple of times the last week and I really enjoyed it.
Full of surprises, interacting and responding to each other, Markus Stauss and Jacques Widmer will make you part of their world.

One of the things that I like about this album is that Markus Stauss is able to mix free jazz phrasing with more reserved melodic playing, while Jacques Widmer both follows and directs.
I love it.

Available from Markus Stauss
https://www.markus-stauss.ch/online-shop/

Or from Unit Records
http://unitrecords.com/de/release/922

STAUSS ARTGENOSSEN - TREASURES OF LIGHT

• stauss artgenossen: treasures of light
      (2017, 2cd, switzerland fazzul music fm 0835)

Saxophone player and composer Markus Stauss' latest project is called Stauss Art Genossen. This can be translated as Art Companions, or maybe as Enjoying Art (Geniessen) or even as Companions of the Same Kind (Art)..
A nice play on words.

The original concept for Artgenossen was a trio: the Vogel Stauss Artgenossen Trio with Richard Koch, Remy Sträuli and Markus Stauss. They released an album in 2004.
Trumpet player and performance artist Richard Koch currently lives in Berlin, Germany. Drummer Remy Sträuli is from Basel, Switzerland. You should know him from previous projects with Markus Stauss, but also from the excellent Fido Plays Zappa band.

For this recent edition of Stauss Artgenossen, Markus invited bass player Damien Campion (Trank Zappa Grappa In Varèse?) and his old cohort John King (http://johnkingmusic.com/) to transform his trio into a quintet.

The result is an impressive, energetic album that got recorded live at the One Drop Studio Basel on March 24 and 25, earlier this year. It's a fine mixture of powerful jazz patterns, experimental excursions, and some firm guitar lines. I like it a lot.

"Treasure Of Light" is an excellent album. It will take you on a fine journey.

Recommended listening !!

Available from :
https://www.markus-stauss.ch/en/

A MARKUS STAUSS UPDATE

Markus Stauss says :

Right now I work on a new quintet project with these musicians:

Damien Campion: bass, electric bass (you know from Trank Zappa Grappa ...)
Richard Koch: trumpet (from my ARTgenossen trio and the 5th Spaltklang)
  http://ritschekoch.com/
John King : electric guitar (my old friend around 1988-93 when we played with Jean Chaine and David Moss)
  http://www.johnkingmusic.com
and Rémy Sträuli: drums (from Spaltklang, Ulterior Lux & ARTgenossen trio)

The recordings are done and now I work on the mix.
A release during the next months (maybe autumn) looks to be realistic.

ZAUSS - TRITTICO - IMMER - ALL OVER

• zauss: trittico - immer - all over
      (2017, 2cd, switzerland, fazzul music fm 0834)

Francesco Zago and Markus Stauss (ZAgo + staUSS = ZAUSS) have made a new album : "Trittico - Immer - All Over".
The liner notes say : "The music on this album consists of interwoven cycles similar to Zauss' 2nd album "überall in terra straniera borders beyond" (fm 0829). This time, there are four "tenor sax - soprano sax - flute - bass sax" cycles, two on each CD."

The result is very impressive. I just love the sound of an acoustic saxophone (or flute) against the tone of the electric guitar. At times, their sound is very different, but there are moments that they almost sound the same. Superb interaction.
On "Tritico - Immer - All Over", Zauss presents two times eight beautiful soundscapes.
And there's the addition of Giuseppe Olivini to the duo. With his subtle percussion, Giuseppe adds extra texture and more depth to the pieces.

A music journey.
A great album in a handsome package.
Recommended listening.

Out on Fazzul Music.
https://www.markus-stauss.ch/en/zauss-trittico-immer-all-over/

Xenometal
Outtake from Kurai (2006)
Giuseppe A. Olivini, percussion * Markus Stauss, bass sax * Peter Schmid, bass clarinet

NEW ALBUM BY FRANCESCO ZAGO AND MARKUS STAUSS

Zauss (Francesco Zago and Markus Stauss) has a new album out !
Out on the Italian Altrock record label.

BIRD STAUSS AND HIS ART COMPANIONS RICHARD KOCH & REMI STRÄULI - EN ROUTE

• bird stauss and his art companions richard koch & rémy sträuli: en route
      (2014, cd, switzerland, fazzul music fm 0833)

About three weeks ago, Markus Stauss' Fazzul Music label released a new (and excellent) Zauss album. The Zauss project has Markus collaborating with guitar player Francesco Zago. The album is called "Diafonia Leitmotiv Waves" and it's the fourth Zauss album to date. You definitely need to check it out.

But there's more, as the Fazzul record label lets us become acquainted with Bird Stauss and his Art Companions (or Vogel Stauss und seine Art Genossen as they're called in the German language), the Art Companions being Richard Koch on trumpet and Rémy Sträuli on drums and weird background keyboards noises.
"En Route" sounds very fresh and open. Composed, and yet with a lot of space for improvisations.
As Markus Stauss added : "(it sounds) almost 'happy' compared to other Fazzul productions."

http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/

BIRD STAUSS AND HIS ARTCOMPANIONS

Markus Stauss, Richard Koch and Remy Sträuli have created a new project called Bird Stauss and His Artcompanions.
The album, "En Route" got released earlier this week.

http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/english/news.php?4v=4:1449

More info soon.

ZAUSS - DIAFONIA LEITMOTIV WAVES

• zauss: diafonia leitmotiv waves
      (2014, cd, switzerland, fazzul music fm 0832)

The music on "Diafonia Leitmotiv Waves" was improvised and recorded by Francesco Zago and Markus Stauss on July 27, 2013, in Tradate, Italy.
"Diafonia Leitmotiv Waves" is Zauss' fourth release, the fourth report of the duo's journey into the world of improvised music.
As always, a lot of care went into the total package. The album cover shows a beautiful picture of wild nature. No well-kept garden, but nature as it is.
The album title is just three words. In different languages and with a different meaning.Diafonia stands for interference or cross-talk. The electromagnetic effect that one cable has on  the next one in an electronic circuit.
Leitmotiv stands for the musical theme, and Waves, well, you know what waves are.
The fact that these words are in different languages might also mean that you should expect no musical boundaries.

Listening to the album isn't the easiest thing to do. It asks for your full attention. I listened to it with my headphones on and with my eyes closed.
In the excellent liner notes, Claudio Bonomi describes the music as challenging, as a test for both the musicians and the audience.
I guess that Claudio was right. This is not for the faint hearted (or eared for that matter), but it is worth the effort.

If you're in to experimental and improvised music, you need to check this out.

www.fazzulmusic.ch

NEW ZAUSS ALBUM TO RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER 2014

Next month will see the release of the new Zauss (Francesco Zago and Markus Stauss) album.
This will be the 4th Zauss release !

Check out the Fazzul Music website for more info :
http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/english/news.php?4v=4:1432

SPALTKLANG - IN BETWEEN

• spaltklang: in between
      (2013, cd, italy, altrock alt037)

The italian Altrock record label keeps popping up in these pages. Earlier this year, the label released Alter Huevo's "Cucamonga" album with Zappa-inspired music from Argentina. The latest Humble Grumble disc, "Flanders Fields", is also out on Altrock.
And now there's Spaltklang's "In Between", another fine addition to the Altrock catalogue.

It has been three of four years since Spaltklang released "En Suite". For this new release, bandleader and composer Markus Stauss changed the line-up and the setting quite drastically.
In his own words: "The music has a different sound because of the new instrumentation. The composition technique is quite the same as on the last 2 Spaltklang albums. I just had more possibilities thanks to the 5 piece line up."

Besides Markus Stauss (tenor and soprano saxophones) and Rémy Sträuli (drums), the quintet is made up of trumpet player Ritschke Koch, guitarist Francesco Zago (Yugen, Zauss) and double bass player Christian Weber (Kurai). The expansion of the ensemble does indeed have a postive effect on the overall sound.
"In Between" is a very impressive album. Each of the five musicians stands out. Each one has a disctinctive voice and fits perfectly into the whole.
I love it. I love the intensity of the drive and the dynamics of the improvisations.
If you are familiar with Markus Stauss' output, you know that you will have to check this out.
Highly recommended to fans of experimental rock / jazz-rock / modern jazz music. 

Out on Altrock
http://altrock.highsite.it/?wpsc-product=i-between

Also available through the Markus Stauss website
http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/english/news.php?4v=4:1395

More info on Spaltklang (in German)
http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/deutsch/spaltklang.php

ÜBERFALL - SO UFERLOS IM ABENDWIND

• überfall: so uferlos im abendwind
      (1994, cd, germany, wmms 060)

Swiss jazz-rock quartet Überfall released three albums in the late 1980's. The  music was characterised by medieval melodies that got performed in a modern, jazz-rock setting and that were used as a basis for improvisations.

Markus Stauss: all saxes, additional keyboards, vocals
Pit Kayser: keyboards
Andi Muckenhirn: drums, percussion

As the three albums were vinyl-releases only, German WMMS released a CD-sampler entitled "So Uferlos Im Abendwind" in 1994.
Quite impressive.

MARKUS STAUSS - NEOLITHICUM

• markus stauss: neolithicum
      (2004, cd, switzerland, fazzul music fm 0819)

Swiss composer and saxophone player Markus Stauss released "Neolithicum" 10 years ago. Subtitled "Bass saxophon solo & extras", you know what to expect.

In 15 compositions, Markus Stauss investigated the possibilities of the bass saxophone. Besides the clean sound of the bass saxophone, he also used a delay and a sampler to add and modify the sound of his compositions and improvisations.

This release is not aimed at the faint hearted. This is music from the other side of the fence.
Experimental music !!
Check it out !

Shut up 'n play yer saxophone !!

http://fazzulmusic.ch

KURAI - KURAI

• kurai: kurai
      (2009, cd, italy, altrock alt008)

Altrock Productions promotes experimental music. From free jazz over prog rock to classical contemporary music, and everything in-between.
Besides the Altrock Festival, which is held in June every year, there's also the Altrock record label. Humble Grumble's "Flanders Fields" and more recently "Guzzle It Up" both got released on Altrock.

The first release on Altrock was Yugen's "Labirinto d'Acqua" (2006). Driving force behind Yugen, was Altrock co-founder Francesco Zago.
In 2008, Francesco started Kurai, a project / ensemble that served as a counterweight to the adventurous and complex music of Yugen. The result got released on an album in 2009.
The list of musicians does include a couple of familiar names: Enrica Di Bastiano, Maurizio Fasoli, Giuseppe Olivini, Peter Schmid, Markus Stauss, Christian Weber and Francesco Zago, which leads to a chamber music setting: harp, piano, harpsichord, clarinet, saxophone, double bass and electric guitar.

Kurai, japanese for 'dark', does indeed present dark and floating soundscapes. The music does not sound unusual or does not make you feel uneasy. It is, however, touching and intriguing. And dark. Very dark.

Recommended listening.

http://production.altrock.it/index.htm

ULTERIOR LUX - ADVENTURES

• ulterior lux: adventures
      (1997, cd, switzerland, xopf records cd nr.30)

Jean Chaine formed Ulterior Lux in the eighties in Miami. In 1990, Markus Stauss joined the band and they recorded their first album, "The Dancing Man".
"Evergreen" got released in 1996, and the impressive (and final Ulterior Lux album) "Adventures" in 1997.

Funk fusion and modern jazz fans should most definitely check this out.
Markus Stauss on saxes, Jean Chain on electric bass and Rémy Sträuli on drums.

fazzulmusic.ch

Album cover & data have been added to the United Mutations Archives.

STAUSS, CHAINE, LINDENMAIER - OPEN

• stauss, chaine, lindenmaier: open
      (1994, cd, switzerland xopf cd nr.21)

November 1993, saxophone player and composer Markus Stauss and bass player Jean Chaine teamed up with improvised jazz drummer / percussionist Heinrich Lukas Lindenmaier.
The recording session resulted in an album release on the Swiss SOPF label.

"Open" shows that Markus Stauss and Jean Chaine had already performed and recorded together on various occasions and in different settings. The playing is very tight. The addition of H. Lukas Lindemaier was an excellent choice.
The album presents seven compositions, all by Markus Stauss. In the liner notes, Markus states that the pieces are a mix of old, very old and brand-new tunes. He chose (and wrote) them well. Beautiful melodies and fine improvisations.

"Open" is a jazz album. If you're familiar with Markus Stauss' output, you will probably agree that this is one of his more accessible albums.
Perfect to start the day.

I like it a lot.

http://www.fazzulmusic.ch/english/welcome.php