Passé par l'école Lacy, Jürg Wickihalder n'oublie jamais totalement son maître soprano étranglé et volubile, thèmes made in Lacy, diffraction des phrasés, mises en place millimétrées. Il est entouré ici par deux immenses musiciens, Messieurs Barry Guy et Lucas Nigli. Et quel plaisir de retrouver le contrebassiste dans un contexte plus jazz que d'ordinaire : phrasé rond et enveloppant, jazz quoi! Idem pour le percussionniste-batteur, englobant le rythme dans un ample et vif mouvement plutôt que de le contester.
Si Wickihalder est très proche de Lacy au soprano, il est beaucoup plus convulsif alto et ténor en bouche tout en s'adonnant parfois au plaisir des lyrismes oubliés. Il y aura aussi quelques moments de franches révoltes, ceux-ci à la charge d'un batteur et d'un contrebassiste soudainement épris d'une envie d'en découdre avec la matière. Moments forts -et virtuoses- d'un enregistrement en tous points remarquable.

Nous avons déjà parlé à plusieurs reprises du saxophoniste suisse Jürg Wickihalder, tant au sein de son grand orchestre qu’en duo avec des pianistes, Chris Wiesendanger et Irène Schweizer en particulier, ou au sein du quartette de Ulrich Gumpert (cf. Culturejazz « Trois grands orchestres et quelques pépites » 27/10/2014). Le voici entouré de deux maîtres, le contrebassiste Barry Guy, et le batteur Lucas Niggli. D’emblée, le premier thème nous renvoie à Steve Lacy, influence majeure de Wickihalder. Cette composition nous en annonce d’autres aussi belles où le lyrisme et la sensibilité du saxophoniste, au soprano comme à l’alto et au ténor, s’expriment et s’épanouissent. Il va sans dire que le travail de fond de Barry Guy et la pertinence et “l’ouverture” de Niggli ne sont pas pour rien dans ce beau disque de musique fraîche, enlevée et vivante. Une belle réussite.

https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article3360

Två schweiziska musiker och en engelsman, blir en Beyond trio. Fast Barry Guy har bott i Schweiz i flera år, så detta är inte någon tillfällig konstellation. Och utifrån begreppet beyond och att Guy medverkar så tänkte jag att detta skulle bli musik skapad i improvisationens underströmmar. Delvis besannat kanske, men mest spelar man rätt "föreställande" med Wickihalders mycket fina sopransax i förgrunden. Flera intressanta och hetsiga teman, där musikerna vänder på en femöring från lagom till blixtsnabbt tempo, men hela tiden med skrivna teman som grund. Barry Guy är kanske den som mest förkroppsligar en nervöst hetsande spelstil. Han växlar från "vanliga" basgångar till snabba löpningar över hela basens register. Spel som vi sannolikt känner igen. För mig är det därmed mest roligt att upptäcka Jürg Wickihalder och Lucas Niggli och deras bidrag till samspelet i trion. Wickihalder använder altsax bara någon gång och tenoren lika sällan. Så mest blir det sopransax där han har en varm och vacker ton och ofta en lugnande inverkan på sina stirriga spelkamrater. Niggli har lite samma temperament som Guy, snabba växlingar mellan hackigt och rytmiskt, lugnt och fullt påställ! Kul platta, med nya bekantskaper som kanske går lättare att följa, nu när Intakt har svensk distributör.

Jürg Wickihalder spielte im Duo mit Irène Schweizer, wirkte im Billiger Bauer-Projekt des Omri Ziegele mit, werkte im Ulrich Gumpert Quartett. Jetzt ist auf Intakt eine sehr schöne Trio-CD des Saxofonisten mit Barry Guy am Bass und Lucas Niggli an den Fellen erschienen. Die klassische Besetzung, die Sonny Rollins schon in den 50ern präsentierte, kommt ohne Harmonieinstrument aus. Die drei Meister halten aber die Spannung. Dichte und Energie stehen im Vordergrund. Das Meiste hat Wickihalder geschrieben, lediglich ein Stück stammt von Guy und eines vom deutschen Schlagzeuger Michael Griener. Die Tracks entwickeln Logik und verfügen über eine wunderschöne Transparenz. Dass exzellent musiziert wird, muss man bei solchen Kapazundern nicht extra betonen. Die technische Raffinesse gehört zum selbstverständlichen Handwerk, die hervorragende Aufnahmetechnik zum Label. Die Titel schließen irgendwie einen Kreis. A New One sorgt für einen fast fröhlichen, tänzelnden Auftakt, The Last Breath am Ende wirkt wie ein schlichter, melancholischer Nachhall.

Fra ukjent hold

Den unike engelske bassisten Barry Guy har gjort sveitser av seg og her møter vi han sammen med to spennende nye landsmenn.

Lucas Niggli, Barry Guy og Jürg Wickihalder gjør ting på sitt vis.

Via det meget oppegående sveitsiske plateselskapet Intakt Records har jeg fått stifte bekjentskap med den 44 år gamle alt-, sopran- og tenorsaksofonisten Jürg Wickihalder ved to tidligere anledninger. Først var det i en kvartettsetting med to blås, bass og trommer og den andre i en duo med pianisten Chris Wiesendanger. Nå er det i nok en ny konstellasjon: med bassisten Barry Guy og trommeslageren Lucas Niggli.

Wickihalder, som har skrevet sju av de ni låtene, fortalte meg allerede ved de to første møtene at han er en saksofonist vel verdt å låne både ett og to ører til. Det er bortimot ti år siden de forrige møtene og her bekrefter han at han har fortsatt utviklinga fram mot noe svært særprega.

De som mener de kan finne spor etter salige Steve Lacy her, er absolutt inne på noe. Lacy bodde vel i deler av sitt liv i Sveits og det er fullt forståelig at unge musikanter henta mye fra den originale sopransaksofonisten. Likevel har Wickihalder tatt inspirasjonen med seg til sitt eget sted.

Sammen med Guy, som jeg knapt har hørt i en så tilnærma straight setting før, og Niggli, tar Wickihalder oss med på ei melodisk, men samtidig åpen og fri reise der alle tre får mer enn nok rom og plass til å vise hvem de er både individuelt og kollektivt. Her føres det samtaler på høyt nivå og det er lyttere av det langt framskredne slaget vi får hilse på. «Beyond» er tøff, annerledes og kompromissløs musikk skapt av tre musikanter vi altfor sjeldent får anledning til å høre her hjemme. Her er i alle fall en mulighet nysgjerrige sjeler bør benytte seg av.

https://torhammero.blogg.no/1510600045_fra_ukjent_hold.html

Like army recruits moving into the front line in a crucial battle, two youngish Swiss improvisers accede to the reed and percussion roles in this trio outing which in the past have been taken by the likes of saxophonists Parker, Trevor Watts and Mats Gustafsson and drummers Paul Lytton, John Stevens and Paul Lovens. Concerned with pushing sounds forward, not looking backwards, soprano, alto and tenor saxophonist Jürg Wickihalder and drummer Lucas Niggli form a bond with veteran British double bassist Barry Guy for a personalized take on the trio tradition. As well, rather than recreating earlier skirmishes, the double bassist prodigious skill as soloist and composer means that he too can go beyond expected trio situations since reanimating that configuration has, along with solo concerts and large ensemble orchestrations, been his focus since the late 1960s.

Respectively nearly two (Niggli) or three (Wickihalder) decades younger than Guy, the Swiss have almost opposing musical background, with the percussionist involved with ethnic music and Rock and the saxophonist the product of extensive Jazz pedagogy. Niggli has also worked in Guy’s small and large ensembles since 2002, while Wickihalder’s background includes extensive gigs with pianist Irène Schweizer, who has her own long history with Guy.

Overall though, awkwardness is nowhere to be heard by “Relaxing in the Forest”, the second track and one of the seven of nine composed by the reedist. Guy’s aggressive splayed fingering replaces the consoling string emotions with which he began the session, and soon enough the cantilevered exposition is also being conveyed by Niggli’s bopping breaks and Wickihalder’s peeping sharpness. This high energy program continues on the subsequent “The Valley”, where Guy’s guitar-like strumming matches a keening soprano saxophone line that incredibly enough manages to negotiate the landscape between reassuring Alpine-shepherd-like puffs and Aylerian split-tone vocalizing. The Guy-penned “Return of Ulysses” solidifies the partnership still further when this low-key romp, seasoned with cymbal accents and reed honks, turns into a ferocious Free Jazz exercise enlivened with bass string swipes and sawing.

This triangular exposition continues for the rest of the CD with neither divergent musical influences nor playing history retarding the trio members’ close cooperation. Although the tune flow sometimes hesitates before starting up again, the journey is usually smooth and chromatic. Appropriately enough, the final track is entitled “The Last Breath” and while he doesn’t exhibit death-bed expiration, the saxophonist’s wispy high-pitched tone is affected enough by Guy’s compact string oscillations to end the piece with a gentle salute to either love … or fading breath. Taking this at face value, the solo helps to prove beyond a doubt that Beyond is a breath-taking experience.

https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/jurg-wickihalder-barry-guy-lucas-niggli/

Come avrebbe suonato alto e tenore Steve Lacy se vi si fosse dedicato? La domanda sorge spontanea come si dice - ascoltando questo bel cd che il quarantaquattrenne polisassofonista svizzero Jürg Wickihalder condivide in ditta con i due gloriosi partner, ma di cui è il reale responsabile. Massiccia la sua adesione a modelli, appunto, lacyani, in ambito sia strumentale (cinque i brani affrontati al soprano, più due a testa per alto e tenore) che, ciò che di fatto conta persino di più, compositivo (sette su nove i pezzi a sua firma). Il risultato è un album equilibrato quanto felicemente alterno nelle dinamiche, con soluzioni ora più aventurose, ora più compassate (climaticamente e non), in un tutto di cui Wickihalder tiene le fila da cima a fondo ma alla cui riuscita Guy e Niggli offrono ovviamente un apporto decisivo, sia che occupino al centro del proscenio (ciò che di fatto accade piuttosto di rado) sia che agiscano in sinergia collettiva. L'iniziale A New One, Arts And Crafts e Dipper appaiono gli episodi migliori fra quelli con Wickihalder al soprano, il vivace Return Of Ulysses (di Barry Guy) e, per contro, l'arnioso Singi tra quelli, rispettivamente, all'alto e al tenore. Nel complesso un lavoro di sicuro pregio.

Nouveauté. La Suisse est réputée pour ses montagnes, ses glaciers, ses banques, son horlogerie, ses chocolats et bien sûr ses musiciens de jazz. L'impétueux multi-saxophoniste Jürg Wickihalder, partenaire en double de la diabolique pianiste Irène Schweizer, est pourtant un secret bien gardé de ce côté-ci de la frontière avec la Confédération helvétique. Ce quadra, pensionnaire du Barry Guy New Orchestra, est aussi un ancien élève de son idole, l'envoûtant saxophoniste soprano américain Steve Lacy. Formé deux ans avant cet intense enregistrement, le Trio Beyond associe les anches audacieuses du leader- compositeur avec la contrebasse libertaire du Britannique Barry Guy et la batterie expressive de son compatriote, Lucas Niggli. L'entente interactive entre ces trois fines lames de l'improvisation européenne est à son zénith. Stimulés par une redoutable rythmique imaginative, les chants d'oiseaux du soprano agile de Wickihalder débordent de vitalité communicative. Sur la pièce The Valley, le leader troque sa fidèle carotte pour un alto aux accents aylériens accompagné par la grisante walking bass mingusienne de Barry Guy. La sonorité râpeuse de son ténor magnifie la belle ballade lyrique Sussholz. Les deux compères de la rythmique tissent la bossa nova maligne de Dipper sur laquelle Wickihalder improvise très librement. Cet album free- bop incandescent aux explosives couleurs chatoyantes est un régal à écouter sans modération.

Swiss sensibilities of good humor and camaraderie are a principal facets of the music on Beyond. Two of the players can rightly claim citizenship and bassist Barry Guy has been a resident of the alpine nation for years. Geographical proximity helped precipitate the trio’s formation, but the music they create together swiftly reveals deeper, indelible bonds. It’s the latter elements that take the two-day session recorded in the fall of last year out of the province predictability presumably predicated by its instrumentation and into the realm of something entirely special.

Jürg Wickihalder handles the three major members of the saxophone family as well as compositional responsibilities for seven of the disc’s nine pieces. Guy’s frantic “Return of Ulysses” and Michael Griener’s “Süssholz” are the other two. On “A New One” the reedist betrays an early Steve Lacy influence, slaloming through a sing-song melody before hardening and ruffling his tone with a string of reed-masticating bursts. Guy is all over his bass from the jump and there are moments where his manifold movements become a mesmerizing blur. Niggli listens closely throughout, contributing in jackrabbit barrages that never err over into bombast.

“Relaxing in the Forest” opens as a feature for Guy, his strings taking on the brittle resonances routine to a zither through the application of dampening agents. Wickhalder’s soprano brings ripe melody to the thicket of crosshatched texture, prompting Guy to make an unexpected switch to a straight striding line for a brief stretch. Later, the saxophonist injects his lines with a laconic drawl and more Lacy-like repetitions. Such moments of dry humor signal another of the trio’s specialties along with a uniform willingness to travel wherever a tune takes them.

Wickihalder’s alto and tenor also get their share of spacious workouts. The former dodges and darts through tension wrought obstacle course of “The Valley” leaving a rippling trail of scalding vibrato in its skidding and spiraling wake before a quick about-face into an African-indebted groove and several other cosmetic iterations. What’s most palpable is the sense of fun that pervades the sessions, shared between the players in the making of music and the playful testing of each other’s skills. That consistent conviviality filters directly to the listener, relatively undiluted and refreshingly absent any sort of audience-inveigling artifice.

https://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/163761484554/j%C3%BCrg-wickihalderbarry-guylucas-niggli-beyond

Using compositional form as a way to prise open space for improvisation is, of course, second nature to the British bassist and composer Barry Guy and to Swiss percussionist Lucas Niggli who, alongside his work as a jazz and rock drummer and improviser, has long expressed a keen interest in modern composition: he's performed music by John Cale and John Cage. But this is Jürg Wickihalder's gig and the saxophonist has created a distinctive book of compositions for his trio clearly designed to play to his musician's strengths while nudging them towards directions beyond their usual stylistic affiliations. Hearing Barry Guy play straight jazz time is quite the revelation. In 'The Valley' he pulls together independently moving lines with an abruptly asserted walking bass - a moment that's pure Mingus - and 'Dipper' requires him to dig deep into a bossa nova rhythm which, once up and running, keeps floating off centre. Wickihalder is a considered improviser, though sometimes his reliance on turkey-like cackles and squawks becomes a mannerism. 'A New One' finds him at his best, spinning merrily between rapidly changing inflections of texture and harmony, the form forever malleable and hanging by a thread.