Afrika ist, auch wenn anlässlich der Fifa WM verstärkt touristische Blicke dorthin gerichtet wurden, aus Aasgeierperspektive weiterhin der Schwarze Kontinent, Rohstoffquelle, von Warlords, Raubbau, Dürre, AIDS bereiteter Gabentisch. Schauder und Mitleid liegen dennoch im Widerstreit mit Faszination. Serengeti, Tarzan und Fela Kuti sind zwar perdu, aber die Sehnsucht frischt sich immer wieder selber auf. Weil es da einen Klang gibt, so unwiderstehlich, als sei man pränatal davon geprägt. ROOT DOWN, TOMMY MEIERs großformatige Swiss-Allstar-Formation, mit Irène Schweizer, dem Keyboarder Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Michael Flury an der Posaune, zwei Trompetern, Reeds dreifach, Kontra- und E-Bass je doppelt, Doppelschlagzeug, dazu Gitarre und Turntables, hält, live im Zürcher Jazzclub Moods, die Sehnsucht nach Süden wach mit je zwei Songs von Chris McGregor und Fela Kuti, denen Meiers eigene Stücke auf The Master and the Rain (Intakt CD 181) nacheifern. Meiers Begeisterung ist weit mehr als nur oberflächlich. Ich teile sie als Africa Festival-animierter Würzburger gern. Aber es bleibt das Unbehagen, dass Afrophilie und Fairness auf einem, Gier und Korruption, Unfair Trade und schmutzige Geschäfte mit Rohstoffen, Waffen, Fischen, Blumen, Frauenfleisch auf einem ganz anderen Blatt zu stehen scheinen, während die Profite auf diskreten Schweizer Banken landen. Kuti hat das immer klar benannt: "Colonial Mentality", "No Agreement". Meier tut es ihm nach - "Ogoni" verweist auf die Opfer des Zusammenspiels der nigerianischen Machthaber mit Shell und jenen, denen Benzin nicht billig genug sein kann. "Busch"-Trommeln, eine alarmierte Trompete und Turntablesamples von Trixa Arnold, durchwegs ein Mittel der Irritation, schaffen Erregung und Brisanz. Auf das im Verborgenden lockende "The Forbidden Land" folgt die erste Dosis Afrobeat, der Meiers Arrangement freilich etwas den Biss nimmt. Er lässt lieber Kamele tanzen (McGregors "Camel Dance"), dämpft die Schritte mit Sand, hinter Schleiern von Wind, Hitze, Regen ("The Veil", "Across the Sands", "The Rain Pt. II") oder dem katzenzungigen Summton seiner Bassklarinette ("The Root"). "The Bride" ist swingende Brotherhood-Of-Breath-Blasmusik mit noch hoffnungsfrohem Sopranogesang der Braut (Co Streiff). Auf das kraus wuchernde und umeinander geisternde "Jackals, Children, Everything" folgen das hymnische "Invocation" und, in seinem Optimismus nicht ganz ungeschoren, der zweite Fela-Groove. Zum Ausklang schält sich aus knisterndem Feuer das Jajouka-inspirierte "The Master" mit flehender Trompete, munter quirlendem Piano und zuletzt Meiers Zurna zu Sufi-Tamtam.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Magazin 67, Deutschland, Herbst 2010

Fredi Bosshard, WOZ, Schweiz, 16. September 2010

Manfred Papst, NZZ am Sonntag, Schweiz, 19. September 2010

Christoph Merki, Tagesanzeiger, Schweiz, 21. September 2010

Swiss-born reed man Tommy Meier's immersion into African jazz dips into a body of music covering three continents touched by the African diaspora of people and sound. A follow-up to Root Down (Intakt, 2008), his Root Down orchestra's The Master And The Rain, once again, offers a large ensemble update on the music of Fela Kuti and Chris McGregor, along with nine of Meier's own compositions.
The pulse of Africa is at the heart of this disc; from the opening "Ogoni," where pianist Irène Schweizer dances above the insistent tempo, the locomotion never lags. Meier pulls together the largeness of sound reminiscent of Sun Ra's Arkestras, embroidering it with turntables and sampling. This allows for bubbling cauldrons heard on "The Forbidden Land," and the scratchy/popping LP sounds of the sampled Master Musicians of Jajouka, captured on "The Master."
Meier's compositions are indistinguishable from that of Fela Kuti, his "The Forbidden Land" melding seamlessly into Kuti's "No Agreement." Similarly, Meier's pieces mesh with music from McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, with saxophonist Peter Landis following bassist Herbert Kramis' opening solo on "The Rain Part II," layering the African rhythms with a European avant sound and American jazz. Backed by the orchestra, Kramis pushes outward, maybe the space ways being his final destination. Smart, muscular music heard here.
Mark Corroto, www.allaboutjazz.com, USA, 9. October 2010

Frank von Niederhäusern, Kulturtipp, Schweiz, Oktober 2010

Martin Schuster, Concerto, Österreich, Oktober/November 2010

Tom Gsteiger, St. Galler Tagblatt, 6.Oktober 2010

Wolfram Knauer, Jazzpodium, 11/2010, Deutschland

Mit „The Master and the Rain“ schlagen wir das zweite Kapitel der Fortsetzungsgeschichte des Afro-Jazz made in Switzerland auf. Eine aktualisierte Reminiszenz an die Zeit, als Chris McGregors Brotherhood of Breath aus Südafrika in der Eidgenossenschaft residierte. Als sich der Jazz, die Kwela- und die Great Black Music mit dem politischem Bewusstsein des Antikolonialismus vermählten. Eine Reminiszenz aber auch an Tommy Meiers Afrika-Erfahrungen, die Reisen nach Westafrika, Namibia und Zimbabwe, das Erlebnis von Fela Kuti live im „Shrine“ von Lagos und der Masters of Jajouka in Marokko. Das alles fließt ein in Meiers eigene Kompositionen und in die Interpretation solcher von McGregor und Kuti, hier dokumentiert anhand von zwei Live-Mitschnitten aus dem Zürcher Jazzclub Moods. Wie schon im ersten Kapitel von Root Down (siehe freiStil #19) kultiviert das vielköpfige Team von Tommy Meier samt Gästen einen sogenannten afrikanischen Zeitbegriff zugunsten der Entfaltung der Schönheit dieser Musik. Root Down pickt sich nicht einfach, wie die Schnellschussverwurster es tun, die Highlights heraus, sondern emanzipiert geduldig den Prozess ihrer Entstehung und ihres Echos. Das entspricht nicht nur den thematischen, sondern auch den Maßgaben des Timings. So werden wir Ohrenzeuginnen des so nützlichen wie selten anzutreffenden Verhältnisses von Spannung und Entspannung, von Hitze und Coolness. Kein Hudeln, kein Stress, aber selbstverständlich auch „No Agreement“, mit dem Fela Kuti die Ideologie von Root Down vorgibt. Fortsetzung folgt. Hoffentlich.
felix, freistil 35, Jan-Feb 2011, Österreich

Appropriation of voice has become a serious concern in the arts over the past few decades, with various groups charging that others – usually First World Caucasians – are stealing their history for their own purposes. Although this situation is more often expressed when it comes to visual arts and literature, so-called World music performers can be equally suspect. This introduces a problem that could affect saxophonist Tommy Meier's Root Down ensemble. Made up in the main by Swiss players, the 14-piece band's repertoire is either directly taken from, or is adaptations of, African material.
So why is The Master and the Rain erudite and pulsating big band music while other African-influenced sound spectacles fail? For a start, Meier, best-known for his work with partner and fellow saxophonist Co Streiff, also present here, is working in the Jazz idiom. Despite sound fundamentalists, this African-American birthed sound is the world's most profound example of sound miscegenation. More to the point, Meier several times traveled extensively through Africa, playing with local musicians. He also attended local concerts by Fela Kunti, one of the African musicians saluted on the disc.
Furthermore, veteran Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer -- who in the 1960s gigged with exiled South African musicians affiliated with pianist Chris McGregor, the other African innovator honored here – is an integral part of Root Down. Moreover, by expanding his concept so that non-traditional, contemporary electronic sounds produced by turntablist Trixa Arnold and keyboardist Hans-Peter Pfammatter are included on the CD, Meier puts an original stamp on the music he loves.
Take, for example, the arrangement of McGregor and the Brotherhood of Breath (BOB)'s "The Bride". Meier gives a modern big band feel to a line initially influenced by South African kwela and gospel music. Streiff's snaky soprano saxophone flutters on top of the massed horn lines and nerve beast from the percussionists, while the weighty syncopation is held in place by Pfammatter's electric piano comping. Schweizer divides her contributions in two, splattering chord extensions skywards, while pumping out a connective bass rhythm.
The same rhythmic abandon is brought to the Kunti tunes as well. For instance "No Agreement" matches rolling and shaking percussion ruffs with kalimba plinks and a sharp, near-human, muezzin-like cry from Meier's zurna. As the vamping horn parts become kinetic – and the rhythms concentrate and darken – westernized intermezzos appear in the form of plunger grace notes and opaque growls from trombonist Michael Flury, plus flashing chords from the pianist.
Meier has learned his Third World musical lessons well enough so that his originals also rollick with a self-confident rhythmic impetus. He proves this with "The Master" and "Across the Sands. The later tune has an almost calypso lilt, quivered from the composer's bass clarinet, as the band plays a backbeat that is powerful without being overpowering. Another variant finds the rampaging percussion tones exploding with gunshot-suggesting beats as Meier's narrowed smears join in double-counterpoint with the keyboardist's kinetic vamps.
Adapting another riff from the Master Musicians of Jajouka on "The Master", Meier again demonstrates First and Third World linkage, when his thin and piercing zurna solo is followed by a triplet-laden exercise from trumpeter Marco von Oreilli, whose cornucopia of silky tremolo runs is reminiscent of Mongezi Feza's solos with the BOB. Von Oreilli's sucked tongue and mouthpiece extensions bring other softly riffing horns to the foreground as Schweizer tinkles the key as if she was Mary Lou Williams in a 1940s big band. The climax involves the piano's polyphonic lines contrasting with successive vamps from different sections of the band.
Helped immeasurably by his Swiss band mates, Meier has created a session that adapts music from elsewhere while giving it an impressive personal spin.
Ken Waxman, www.jazzword.com, USA, February 17, 2011

Auch nicht zu verpassen: die neueste African-Roots-Exegese des 16köpfigen Zürcher Orchesters. Bei allem Respekt für die frühere und bisherige Arbeit von Root Down - so gut, kompakt, frisch und überzeugend klangen sie noch nie zuvor. Jetzt macht die Sache langsam RICHTIG Spaß. Neben einigen früheren Stücken überzeugen die subtilen Umschichtungen in Klangfarbigkeit, Dynamik und Arrangement. Tommy Meier, der die afrikanische Musikkultur in verschiedensten Facetten kennt, schätzt, liebt, ist mit diesem Ensemble zu einem der wirklich ganz großen europäischen Transformatoren dieser Musik herangereift. Zwei Fela-Kuti-Klassiker ("No Agreement Today" und "Colonial Mentality") in neuem Arrangement machen die Sache dann so wirklich rund. Das rollt und geht, und welche Geschichte(n) können wir in all den Entwicklungen und Zwischentönen hören. Ganz großartig und ohne Aussetzer unbedingt empfehlenswert!
by HONKER, MADE MY DAY, TERZ-Magazin, Deutschland, November 2010

An odd development in international Jazz history, involves the receptiveness of the landlocked country of Switzerland to the African impulse in Jazz. When he immigrated to Europe, Abdullah Ibrahim brought his trio to Zurich where he found initial international success. Throughout the '70s, bands like Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath and Ibrahim's Ekapa and musicians like Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza, Fela Kuti, and others were frequent performers at Swiss music festivals. And, more importantly, elements of their music crept into the styles of various players. Most notable is avant-garde pianist Irene Schweizer who incorporates passages of African rhythms and harmonies into her solo piano recitals that demonstrate a profound influence that style of music has had on her music.
Saxophonist Tommy Meier plays an overt evocation of African music in his big band Root Down. Obviously inspired by the joyous shout of the Brotherhood of Breath and the Afro Beat of Fela Kuti, he has assembled a band that digs deep into the groove of African music, meting out inspired solos. The music on "The Master And The Rain" is culled from three different live dates. Meier has fashioned suites out of the 13 pieces that explore the wide range of African music. And it's a musical vision he can justifiably claim as his own. The section that opens the first 20 minutes of this disc raises the music skyward. From "Ogoni" (which incorporates a motive from Andrew Hill's "Compulsion"), the pulsating rhythm and big chunky horn riffs build towards a mighty Irene Schweizer piano solo that finds her blending dense post-Taylor pianisms with the driving rhythm. "The Forbidden Land" briefly brings the music down for an atmospheric interlude before the forces swarm again taking off into Fela's "No Agreement." The entire disc continues like this. Meier has some of the cream of the Swiss Jazz scene in his band, including reed players Peter Landis and Co Strieff, bassists Herbert Kramis and Jan Schlegel, drummers Chris Jaeger, Fredi Flukiger, and American trumpeter Russ Johnson. Meier's arrangements craftily incorporate themes from various African forms (Congolese Baila and Joujouka) to create something individual. It's clear these musicians are inspired and committed to this music and it makes for some of the most exciting big band music I've heard in some time.
Robert Iannapollo, Cadence Magazine, USA, apr - may - jun 2011

Se nello specchietto retrovisore si stagliano le sagome di Fela Kuti e Chris McGregor, se prima si tira in ballo l'Andrew Hill di Compulsion e poi si chiamano a raccolta i Masters Musicians of Jajouka, è chiaro che si sta parlando d'Africa. L'Africa vista dalla Svizzera, e raccontata dai Root Down, ovvero l'orchestra varata nel 2004 dal sassofonista-clarinettista Tommy Meier e giunta alla fatica numero due dopo l'omonimo esordio pubblicato, sempre dalla Intakt, nel 2007.
I settanta minuti di The Master and the Rain raccontano il meglio di tre serate che hanno visto la band salire sui palchi del Jazzclub Moods di Zurigo e del festival di Willisau. Rispetto a quattro anni fa le coordinate musicali non sono cambiate. Quel che colpisce fin dal primo ascolto è la forza d'urto della band, che deriva non soltanto dal peso dei numeri, ma anche, e soprattutto, dalla straordinaria compattezza delle sezioni, dalla precisione millimetrica con la quale vengono interpretate le composizioni in scaletta, dalla ricchezza di dettagli e preziosismi. Non ci sono slabbrature né pressapochismi nell'intrecciarsi di ottoni e ance che sorregge la strepitosa "Bride" di Chris McGregor o l'immortale "No Agreement" di Fela Kuti (l'apice del disco). L'ispirazione e il calore sono africani, ma l'impeccabile gioco di incastri è tutto svizzero.
Il valore aggiunto, per quel che riguarda lo spazio concesso ai solisti, è rappresentato dagli interventi di Irène Schweizer. Il pianismo percussivo della signora del free elvetico trova nella formidabile carica ritmica delle partiture di Kuti, McGregor, e dello stesso Meier, un sostrato ideale per le proprie evoluzioni. Ascoltare, per credere, l'assolo che spacca in due l'iniziale "Ogoni": tra Cecil Taylor e Abdullah Ibrahim. Entusiasmante.
Valutazione: 4 stelle.
Luca Canini, italia.allaboutjazz.com, 14-05-2011, Italy

Op Tommy Meiers debuut uit 2008 klonken vooral zijn eigen composities met een unieke blend van Europese (big band) jazz en Afrikaanse muziek lekker. De twee covers van Afro Beat god Fela Kuti waren toen nog te slaafs en dus gespeeld met de bilnaad stevig dichtgeknepen. Ook op deze nieuwe 'The Master And The Rain' vind je opnieuw twee Fela Kuti tracks, maar deze keer is Meier zeker genoeg om zijn eigen concept ook hier toe te passen. En zo klinkt ook Kuti alsof Duke Ellington er zich mee bezig heeft gehouden. Jungle Music zoals de grootmeester het wel wou. Ook van ander idool Chris McGregor alweer twee tracks. En ook hier een veel relaxtere, zelfzekerdere aanpak. Primitief en opzwepend maar verfijnd, vooral door het heerlijk uitspelen van de leden van zijn 13 (tot 20) muzikanten. Afsluiter "The Master" is een hoogtepunt dat start met heerlijk krakend vinyl van klanken en ritmes uit de Sahara. Meier bouwt vandaar in alle rust op tot sfeer, avant jazz, en pure Afro samenkomen tot een eigen geheel. De perfecte synthese van een stevige, sfeervolle en boeiende plaat.
Soundslikejazz, Belgium, 23.8.2011