Captured live in the Manila studio, the duo of Swiss drummer/percussionist Christian Bucher and alto saxophonist Rick Countryman engage in improvisation built on the idea of musical phrasing as syntax, where saxophone lines, punctuated drums and responsive space converge into a series of sound-sentences in which tone, pause and gesture become elements in a live lexicon of form.
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Sample The Album:
Christian Bucher-drums
Rick Countryman-alto saxophone
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Label: FMR
Catalog ID: FMR 723
Squidco Product Code: 36857
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: UK
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Strawberry Jams Studio, in Quezon City, Philippines, on July 16th, 2025.
Recorded in Manila's Strawberry Jams Studio on 16 July 2025, Phra-se-ol-o-gy documents a live duo encounter between Christian Bucher (drums, percussion) and Rick Countryman (alto saxophone). The album title-drawn from "a manner of organizing words and phrases into longer elements"-hints at the conceptual underpinning of their improvisation: sound as syntax, gesture as phrase.
Throughout the session the saxophone outlines fragmented melodic shapes, wind-generated textures and incisive tone-clusters, while the drums and percussion respond with subtle pulse, delicate cymbal shimmer, sharp articulation and open space. The result is not a showy display of virtuosity, but a layered investigation of phrase, pause, resonance and the meeting-point of two distinct voices in real time.
With Bucher's flexible timekeeping and Countryman's alto voice attuned to nuance, the music evokes the architecture of language-shifting phrases, interrupted syntax, recomposed motifs-transposed into sound. For the listener, this is a document of active listening, real-time composition and musical phrasing sculpted in the moment.
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Christian Bucher "Christian Bucher (* 1969 in Zug ) is a Swiss drummer in the field of jazz and improvisational music . From 1990 to 1997, Bucher studied musicology , art history and literature at the University of Bern, and from 1992 to 1997 he studied music at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Zurich (jazz music with Kevin Austin, Tony Renold, Peter Preibisch, diploma). He also attended workshops with Paul Lovens and Billy Cobham and studied with Pierre Favre , Willy Kotoun, Marcel Bernasconi and Andreas Hermann at the Lucerne Music College . He then continued his post-graduate studies in free improvisation with Walter Fähndrich, Peter K. Frey and Christoph Baumann at the Lucerne Music College (2002-2003). Bucher also worked as a drummer teacher at the music school Horw , Emmen and at the teachers' seminar St. Michael Zug from 2000 to 2005. Guido Egli and he wrote the music for the two documentary films of Stefan Jäger "From the Ground I Were a Man to Life" and "Steps against the Wind", which was shown on television and at film festivals. Bucher was a co-founder of Jazztrios Nevertheless and a member of the group of 9 artists . Bucher works as a soloist and plays in duo with BUG, in the duo Bucher / Fehlmann, in the duo ZurBucher and in the band Portobello; He is still involved in projects related to other art genres. As drummer and percussionist he gave solo concerts, partly in connection with painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, performance, architecture, literature, theater and dance. He has played CDs and has recorded radio and TV recordings as well as festival performances, concert tours and performances, which take him to Australia, Bulgaria, China, Germany, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Slovenia, Spain. South Africa, the USA or Turkey." ^ Hide Bio for Christian Bucher • Show Bio for Rick Countryman "Rick Countryman (January 31, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist. After years attracting little attention as a baritone saxophone player, including an extended sabbatical, Rick made a late-life change to alto sax, at the urging of bassist, Simon Tan. His first recorded session with Simon and Christian Bucher, avant garde drummer from Switzerland, attracted the attention of French label "Improvising Beings" and was released as "Acceptance - Resistance". The recordings received many positive reviews, both in the United States and Europe. Rick currently now has 9 releases on 4 labels across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including multiple CDs with Japanese improvisational drummer, Sabu Toyozumi, who has made several trips to Manila to perform and record. The music continues to receive positive reviews and airplay. Two recordings were listed in "Gold Dolphy 2018". Since 2011, Rick has been an active member of the Manila jazz scene. He leads and performs in ensembles on baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, alto flute and bass flute; performing original compositions, as well as free jazz/improvisation, in his own jazz quartets and trios. His style is heavily influenced by Eric Dolphy, Sonny Simmons and the 60s Free Jazz movement. He was a student of Bert Wilson, and considers Michael Bisio and Rick Mandyck early mentors." ^ Hide Bio for Rick Countryman
10/29/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
10/29/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Reciprocity 1:36
2. Gift Of Isolation 1:55
3. What Has Turned Out To Be 3:03
4. Revisioning 2:45
5. Intensification Of The Poetic 2:14
6. Nature Of Miraculous 2:03
7. Lacking Pretense 2:53
8. Contact With the World Of Instinct 2:05
9. Truth Is Lived 2:39
10. Interspersed With The Dream 2:09
11. Cultural Construct 2:08
12. Language Of Freedom 1:55
13. Lexical Units 3:30
14. Infused With the Galaxy And Stars 1:58
15. Phraseology 2:27
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Duo Recordings
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Percussion & Drums
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