Swiss-born pianist and composer Sylvie Courvoisier is one of the most internationally renowned jazz pianists, at home in both concert halls and jazz clubs. A formative figure on the contemporary jazz scene for 20 years, she is known for her ability to combine two different worlds – the detailed chamber music of her European roots and the experimental sounds of the jazz scene in New York, where she has been at home for all this time. She released her first and so far only solo album in 2007. And so it’s high time for another testimony to the art of her solo playing, which is as playful as it is intense, and as rooted in tradition as it is searching and adventurous. “At the same time, in her solo music too, one can hear that Sylvie Courvoisier is an artist who never revolves only around herself. The immense spectrum of her pianistic expressive power and the broad width of her compositional imagination is shaped by her constant curiosity about perspectives other than her own. Thelonious Monk, Geri Allen, Olivier Messiaen and, most recently, Igor Stravinsky”, writes Julia Neupert in the liner notes. She adds: “On this album, not only do we hear the multi-faceted self-portrait of one of the most remarkable pianists of our time. Sylvie Courvoisier also shares with us her conviction that playing alone does not mean being alone.”

Cover and booklet art: Véronique Hoegger
Graphic design: Paul Bieri
Liner notes: Julia Neupert
Photos: Véronique Hoegger

All compositions by Sylvie Courvoisier. Recorded on February 27 and 28, 2024, at SWR Studio, Freiburg im Breisgau, by Manfred Seiler and Manuel Braun. Mixed on June 29, 2024, at 35th St. Studio, NYC, by Owen Mulholland. Mastered in July 2024 at Skye Mastering, UK, by Denis Blackham. Produced by Sylvie Courvoisier, SWR Kultur and Intakt Records. Executive production by Anja Illmaier.