"Swiss jazz musicians get together with a musical partner and compose, improvise and produce a duet together. The duo partners come from different language and cultural regions. The works are produced independently by the artists, recorded and introduced with a short conversation. In it, the listeners encounter the creation of the piece and the working conditions in the different lives of the two musicians."-JAZZCHUR_EXILE website

"The alto meanders just above the ground, stoically mapping the topography of the terrain, while the soprano joins in like a bird, prancing and inviting its counterpart to a pas de deux. It is initially a cautious probing, as if neither is yet sure that they want to enter into a dialogue with the other. As a result, they cautiously approach each other, ensnare each other, perform pirouettes. At times the alto gains altitude, explores the sound of the soprano from a bird's-eye view, then-after a brief synchronicity-the game begins anew with the roles reversed. An aerial dance in four parts, during which the two protagonists develop a flair for each other and juggle with the states of aggregation.

Basically, we witness an intimate dialogue between two improvisers. If there had not been a special circumstance leading to this result. Christine Abdelnour and Hans Koch could not hear each other. In fact, "FFlair" is based on two separately recorded solo improvisations, which were superimposed at the end. Mind you, without any subsequent editing.

If you ask yourself now, how in God's name can this lead to such a homogeneous result? To a dialogue that is immensely seductive in its fragile intimacy-despite the demands it makes on its listeners? And which, up to the last minute, follows a dramaturgy that would actually only be possible if both musicians had shared one and the same space during the improvisation?

Is the result an "accident"? Or should we call it a coincidence? If we consider that an accident is an unintended event, while coincidence describes an unexpected event, we could answer yes and no in both cases.

Before we delve further into this question, here are some facts about the origins of this album: The association "Jazz in Chur" is pursuing an exciting project with "JAZZCHUR_EXILE", in which Swiss jazz musicians team up with a musical partner for a duet. The duo partners each come from different language and cultural regions. The works are produced and recorded independently by the artists.

When Hans Koch was asked by "Jazz in Chur" for this project, it was quickly clear to him that he would ask Christine Abdelnour for this project. The two have known each other for a long time. Although they have only played together very rarely, both have followed the development of each other's musical language very closely over the years.

Both Koch and Abdelnour are among the most distinguished improvisers of the contemporary era. Koch (1948, Switzerland) caused a worldwide sensation for 30 years with the hardcore chamber music trio Koch-Schütz-Studer, while Abdelnour (1974, Lebanon), who lives in France, has consistently pursued her musical path for more than 25 years in changing formations. Both hold their instruments close to their hearts because they are based on the most fundamental thing humans need to live: Our breath.

"The mouth is like the door of the body. It is a peaceful cavity surrounded with complex ways. It opens and closes a cycle of roads. It is not a question of expelling our air and emptiness, but crossing it in the body," Abdelnour once told British music magazine The Wire (issue 344, October 2012).

So back to our question how-under the circumstances mentioned-such an impressive result was possible at all? If we exclude "accident" and coincidence, we inevitably end up in those realms where John Coltrane pursued a path into the unknown in his last years. Wasn't it Bob Dylan who once said that he didn't write songs? They were all already there, he just had to catch them like butterflies.

"FFlair"-already in the title of this album all the possible explanations seem to be hidden: the awareness-by constantly breathing in and out-that we live, that we exist. But there is also air that we take in. And in this air sounds are hidden, which become audible to others through us. Christine Abdelnour and Hans Koch may have recorded their solo improvisations at different times in different places on this earth. But maybe they were both in this invisible world at the same time at the same place ... and caught butterflies together.

The writer of these lines could keep on trying to describe the magic of "FFlair" in words. He would end up like Sisyphus, caught in an endless spiral of verbal improvisation. Let him therefore evade and leave the last word to none other than Plato: Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."-Rudolf Amstutz, June 2023

This album has been reviewed on our magazine:


The Squid's Ear!