In “The Listening“, Susanne Abbuehl and Stéphan Oliva share their love for the music of Jimmy Giuffre and Don Cherry, amongst others.
photo: Cecil Matthieu / photo: © Pia Neuenschander
Susanne Abbuehl voice
Stéphan Oliva piano
22/04 Daugavpil, Jazz Joy Spring festival / House of Unity
23/04 Valmiera, Cultural Centre
Sound engineer: Tijmen Zinkhaan
Tour booking and tour managing: Charles Gil
With the support of the French Institute of Latvia and the French Institute in Paris.
Transforming it by adding words for some of the compositions, and by a radical duo approach, they prove that the music of Jimmy Giuffre and Don Cherry is beyond time and trend. In a rare combination of a chamber music approach chartering wonderfully wild and untouched territory, they explore and develop the inner language of the duo.
New words for compositions such as “River Chant“, “Princess“ and “The Listening“ allow the music to take on a very vocal quality. Many of Giuffres compositions were taken from the two recordings “River Chant“, and “Music for People, Birds, Butterflies and Mosquitos“ – a phase, where Giuffre was combining written out material with an approach to improvisation that included folk elements. Compositions as “Desireless“ and “Arabian Nightingale“ by Don Cherry make for adding to a fascinatingly full panoply of possibilities in the duo. “All India Radio“ (“A.I.R.“) from Carla Bley’s opus “Escalator Over The Hill“ – and interpreted by Don Cherry and the Desert Band – has long been a favourite and is included in “The Listening“, too.
Having started their collaboration in 2001, Susanne Abbuehl and Stéphan Oliva have succeeded both individually and together to create their own musical world. As a longtime ECM recording artist (April – 2001 ; Compass – 2006 ; and The Gift – 2013) Susanne Abbuehl is one of Europe‘s most highly acclaimed voices in jazz. Stéphan Oliva’s career encompasses projects around music for film (Ghosts of Bernard Herrmann 2007 ; Film Noir – 2010 ; Vaguement Godard – 2013 ), different groups of his own with leading French musicians, and interdisciplinary projects including trapeze artist Mélissa Von Vépy and actress Hanna Schygulla.
Concert of the Year, Philippe Carles, Paris
Singer Susanne Abbuehl has a unique approach to setting verse, getting inside the texts, exploring their inner melodies and rhythms, setting them free to float and sway.
ECM, The Gift (2013)
“Abbuehl’s imagination seeks to conceive something lasting and profound. Yet this is not difficult or unapproachable music but thought-provoking and emotionally moving.“
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise (2010)
“The pianist’s Tallinn performance was imbued with profound subtlety and a gorgeous blend of improvisational élan and well-scripted arrangements. (…) His fine trilogy of film music adapted for solo piano is all that’s necessary to appreciate his strong interpretive skills and patiently restrained virtuosity.“
John Kelman, All About Jazz (May 2014) / Stéphan Oliva’s solo at Jazzkaar, Tallinn