Wohl auch
schon 20 Jahre waren sie auf ihren Besen geritten, als LES DIABOLIQUES
am 3.3.2006 im Jazzclub Moods in Zürich sich der 20-Jahrfeier ihres
Labels Intakt anschlossen. Was Irene Schweizer, Maggie Nicols &
Joëlle Léandre da lieferten als „nice old ladies“,
die mit einigem Erfolg ihre Staubwedel gegen die Humorresistenz der
Avantler geschwungen hatten, war es wert, als Jubilee Concert (Intakt
DVD 141) von Jürg & Marianne Rufer auf Video festgehalten zu
werden. Senorita Schweizer brütet unter ihrem weißen Schopf
wie eh die wildesten Notensprünge aus, sie pingt Pünktchen
genau aufs i, drückt ihre Tasten aber auch mit der streichelnden
Vorsicht, die bekanntlich die Mutter der Porzellankiste ist. Umso gröber
sägt die barocke Bassistin am rechten Flügel ihr Instrument,
wringt und drückt von den Saiten Glissandos, schlägt sie mit
dem Bogen, der Sound ist gewohnt üppig und so buntscheckig wie
der Bajazzo, der ihr immer wieder aus den Augen funkelt. In ihrer Mitte
die pikante Würze dieser Krawallschachtelsuppe, Maggi(e), die unverwüstlich
überkandidelte Vokalistin in diesem Improtheater, die nach allerhand
Gekirre, geflöteten Üüüüs und zersplittertem
Antibelcanto Irving Berlins ‚All alone‘ anstimmt, gefolgt
von einem judäorussischen Scat bis zum höchsten Hiiii und
sirenenhaft modulierten Schauerwellen, bis sich auch Léandre
in ihr Kauderwelsch einmischt und Schweizer klatschend und klopfend
den Disput der cholerischen Bassistin mit der plötzlich pikiert
strengen Lehrerin Nicols akzentuiert, der sich in ein wohlgefälliges
Taptänzchen auflöst. Mit ihrem ‚Dip Me in Chocolate
and Throw Me to the Lesbians‘ geht Nicols dann in die Offensive
und beweist mühelos, dass man weder jung noch schön sein,
noch schön singen können muss, um die Lacher auf seiner Seite
zu haben und den Saal zu tobendem Jubel anzustacheln, dem mit einer
kleinen Zugabe gedankt wird. Viva Les Diaboliques.
Rigobert
Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Nr. 62, Deutschland, 2009
The
trio of Irène Schweizer, Maggie Nicols and Joëlle Léandre
- Les Diaboliques - represents a primary factor in the history of Intakt,
since they were all present in the label’s very first record (Live
At Taktlos) before going on to become one of the most lively expressions
in the macrocosm of present-day improvisation. Their catalog, also published
by the Swiss imprint, provides indispensable samples of theatrical and
instrumental virtuosity.
Those who haven’t had the lucky chance of watching these women
on stage can now appreciate their attitude thanks to this DVD, which
captures them in March 2006 at Zurich’s Jazzclub Moods for the
celebration of Intakt’s 20-year Jubilee. Schweizer reports that
after a date in Mulhouse the previous year, jointly considered as Les
Diaboliques’ live pinnacle, they believed that no other performance
could surpass that particular highlight. This didn’t prevent Patrik
Landolt from setting everything up for the recording of this gig. Shortly
ahead of the event, director Jürg Rufer and his wife Marianne asked
for permission to film the proceedings, luckily granted. A few weeks
later, Schweizer was so motivated upon reviewing the tapes that a video
release was scheduled by Landolt and label co-manager Rosmarie A. Meier.
Shot with great quantities of technical deftness hiding the paucity
of means, Jubilee Concert is not your average multi-camera jamboree,
rather a Spartan pictorial representation of unadulterated inventiveness.
The document is not overly long, but definitely succeeds in conveying
the unique mixture of effervescence, musicianship, irony and nimbleness
that these improvisers (whose age, let’s not forget it at the
risk of impoliteness, ranges from 58 to 68) persistently generate. The
three characters clearly stand out as completely different portraits:
Schweizer – entirely dressed in executive black, moccasins and
socks included – is the lucid architect who tries to give some
kind of order to an otherwise uncontrollable flux. Yet she’s often
caught purse-lipped, trying to repress laughter as her companions do
damage elsewhere. Nicols, a cross between a tender-yet-bitchy jazz singer
and an exuberant hippy, alternates incredible vocal skill to tap dancing,
the whole characterized by gestural allusions that testify to the joy
of being part of such an adventure and, at large, still surviving in
a world of miserable values. Léandre appears as the oversensitive
soul, always able to seize instantaneous suggestions and slight vibrations
from the air, retransmitting huge amounts of expressiveness enlightened
by tremendous expertise, her droning counterpoints and percussive instinct
the trademarks of an all-around musician.
The complete exhibition can be defined as a success, but if a single
episode must be committed to memory, that has to be “Interference”.
Nicols blathers in an invented lexicon mixing various idioms, syllabic
snippets and psychic contortion, while Schweizer uses many parts of
the instrument (including the insides, played with hands and mallets
to depict vague simulacra of Partch and Tippett) to prescribe tiny pills
of forward-looking pianism. Nevertheless it is Léandre who steals
the show, abruptly exploding in a furious invective following a heated
exchange of stuttering concepts with Nicols, then remaining in squawking
solitude – imagine a rapidly aging arteriosclerotic woman –
as the British vocalist courteously attempts to convince her to leave.
The faces she makes, the hysteric gibberish, the autistic bumping of
the head on the double bass’ neck – all the while playing
ecstatic phrases revealing an amazing ear – attribute to the French
specialist a personal Oscar, my stomach ruthlessly stretched in convulsive
laughing during the piece. Schweizer underlines the finale with nostalgic
arpeggios in 3/4, somewhat reminiscent of a soundtrack for a silent
movie. Nicols concludes by wearing a t-shirt printed with the immortal
words: “Dip Me In Chocolate And Throw Me To The Lesbians”,
which also happens to be the title of the ensuing avant-blues, masterfully
rendered by these authentically fiendish women. As hilarity-induced
tears dry, the only adjective that comes to mind is “inspirational”.
A magnificent object both visually and musically, Jubilee Concert is
an obvious addition to the “best of 2009” list and a perfect
match for other recent video-biographic masterpieces dealing with two
of the three artists involved here: Christine Baudillon’s Basse
Continue (about Léandre, on Hors-Oeil) and Gitta Gsell’s
Irène Schweizer (again on Intakt). Missing this stuff would be
inexcusable.
Massimo
Ricci, www.bagatellen.com, April 14, 2009
En 2006 à
Zurich, la pianiste Irène Schweizer invitait Maggie Nicols (chant)
et Joëlle Léandre (contrebasse, chant) à fêter
avec elle le vingtième anniversaire du label Intakt. Les diaboliques
ainsi reformées, de profiter aussi de sa vingtaine d’années
d’existence et de création.
S’il n’avait été filmé par Jürg
et Marianne Rufer, l’événement aurait beaucoup perdu
: concert déjà intense qui imbrique dans l’allégresse
de multiples langages (accents monkiens de Schweizer, folies contemporaines
de Léandre et constructions fantasques ou exercices de style
de Nicols), Jubilee Concert profite en effet de ses images. Car, souvent,
la grande représentation prend des airs de théâtre
halluciné, pour le bien duquel le trio manie le grotesque avec
une élégance hors-norme.
Alors, sur l’air de déconstructions improvisées
ou d’hymnes patentés, les trois femmes pensent, grondent
et pleurent, s’emportent toujours, se cherchent sans arrêt,
et puis : édifient une relecture grandiose d’All Alone
(Irving Berlin) avant de supplier qu’on les jette en pâture
: Maggie Nicols à lunettes noires et tee-shirt orange requérant
« Dip Me in Chocolate and Throw Me to the Lesbians ». L’essentiel
aura été dit ; aller voir ce film tient de la priorité.
Le son du grisli, France, 29. Mai 2009
Martin
Schuster, Concerto, Österreich, Juni/Juli 2009
Godehard
Lutz, Jazzpodium, Deutschland, Juli/August 2009
Reiner
Kobe, Jazz n' More, Schweiz, Juli/August 2009
Guillaume
Belhomme,
Les Inrockuptibles,
France, juillet 2009
Interview
mit Irène Schweizer, Thorsten Meyer, Jazzpodium, Deutschland,
September 2009
Joëlle
Léandre, by Philippe Carles, Jazzmagazine, France, Septembre
2009
Dieses Trio
jüngerer Damen ist nun schon seit ungefähr 20 Jahren musikalisch
aktiv. Als das Züricher Intakt Label 2006 ebenfalls sein 20stes
Jubiläum feiern konnte, waren Irène Schweizer, Maggie Nicols
und Joelle Léandre auf die Bühne des Jazzclubs Moods geladen
und geladen: nämlich voller Energie, Spielwitz und skurrilem Humor.
Der Auftritt, zunächst nur zu Dokumentationszwecken filmisch festgehalten,
existiert aufgrund seiner pointierten und einfach-konkreten Schärfe
nun als erste offizielle DVD des frei improvisierenden Trios. Die acht
aufgeführten und aus dem Moment heraus entstandenen Stücke
wirken - wie Pianistin Irène Schweizer in ihren Linernotes treffend
beschreibt - zusammen wie ein spontanes Theaterstück, dem sich
mit Vergnügen folgen lässt: drei freie Frauen, die in dieser
Konstellation eine ganz spezifische Energie entwickeln.
"made my day" by HONKER, TERZ 09.09
Nathan
Turk, Signal to Noise, USA / Canada, Fall 2009
Duncan
Heining, Jazzwise, UK, October 2009
Annie
Landreville, La Scena Musicale, Canada, Oktober 2009
Les Diaboliques
have long been worthy of special acclaim, not just because they’re
three wonderful improvisers who work well together in this long-standing
trio. While that is most emphatically the case, what I like best about
them is the way they combine their musical intensities with playfulness
(their anarchic romp through tunes and musical conventions of all sorts)
and real humor (not of the schticky variety, but the real deal, borne
from pain). On this lively concert recording, Nicols’ introductory
marks alone are worth the price of admission: “We are three beautiful
old ladies, and we don’t remember exactly when our first gig took
place.” She proceeded to insist that the group was going to “muscle
in” to the Intakt 20th Anniversary celebration, which was the
occasion for this concert. And from there, they had their way with the
audience.
The music opens with gorgeous piano/bass counterpoint like the Messiaen
piece you never heard. How lovely the thicket of overtones and glisses,
with Nicols so bold and robust, declaiming on her own amid the Leandre/Schweizer
storm but completely a part of it just the same, whether in growls or
birdsong. What’s really powerful here is how central tension is
to Les Diaboliques—healthy, creative, and respectful (but not
too respectful) tension. During the Jubiliation trio that opens the
concert, there are long passages where Schweizer sounds like she’s
interpolating various aspects of Jazz piano tradition, certainly working
through the Monk-to-Taylor continuum on some level. Yet in response
to Leandre’s at times lachrymose shapes, the music veers off into
obtuse European art song or chamber improvisation. It’s here where
the mischievous (but never merely mischievous) Nicols is so wonderful.
She never really embraces the direction, but limns its limits, in one
stretch incanting like a ritual virtuoso and then slurring like some
drunk lounge singer, and never in any intelligible idiom. And then before
long the trio is off into their own weird world again. They also excel
at creating vivid contrast: at its most serene moment, Nicols takes
the music by the throat, making noises like Popeye as a toy dog. The
trio are also occasionally direct in their satire, as when Schweizer
and Leandre get deep into an ominous drone, whereupon Nicols mutters
“Oh no, oh no, I must not touch the apple. I’m a nice heterosexual
girl.” Leandre ululates in response, they repeat the gesture,
and explode in frenzy. Hilarious but also quite powerful.
Between tunes, Nicols warms up the crowd, mugging as she folds her shawl,
then apologizes to her mother for not folding it so well, despite having
been taught how to do so: “It’s completely irresponsible.
There’s a fine line between freedom and irresponsibility.”
Oh yes, indeed! And they’re back at it, diving swiftly into the
notey and contrapuntal “Jubiliation III” before taking a
breather with a 3-minute tour through Berlin’s “All Alone”
(Nicols sings her own lyrics, while Leandre doggedly works a dog-whistle
arco). There follows a hysterical track where Nicols starts speaking
a mélange of faux European dialects, almost as if she’s
bartering with her bandmates (who then join the fun). The piece ends
just outrageously, with Nicols and Leandre pantomiming a couple’s
argument, breakup, and subsequent solitary brooding (Leandre dourly
hunched over her instrument, Nicols stoically performing a tap dance
for the audience). The music is top notch throughout, and I hope these
descriptions make abundantly clear how valuable it is to have a DVD
of this splendid performance. Get this one.
Jason Bivins, Cadence, USA, Oct-Nov-Dec 2009
Nina Polaschegg, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 1/2012, Deutschland (PDF-Datei) |
