Ecstatic and unusual free jazz recordings for Radio-Studio DRS Zurich from the 6ix-tet of Jacques Demierre on piano, Urs Leimgruber on saxophone, Okkyung Lee on cello, Thomas Lehn on synth, Dorothea Schurch voice and singing saw, and Roger Turner on percussion.
"6IX is a group of six musicians: Jacques Demierre on piano, Urs Leimgruber on saxophone, Okkyung Lee on cello, Thomas Lehn on synth, Dorothea Schurch voice and singing saw, and Roger Turner on percussion. The music is a subtle reminder of what each improvisation should strive for: explore a little bit further - almost even further - than the previous piece of music you played. When it seems impossible, try to give a little bit more. The music is an intimate and fascinating conversation between six musicians. To be engaged in the conversation one has not only to speak but listen as well. And this is a great art."-Leo Records
"In Bernd Schoch's wonderful documentary But the Word Dog Does Not Bark about the Schlippenbach Trio (hopefully soon to be released on Intakt) Evan Parker remarks about the process of improvised music that "it's a question of finding a new path in an essentially known landscape (...). We sort of know the territory and when we get to the edges of the territory, what happens then? Can we see something we didn't see? We go to that corner of the territory but instead of looking back to the things we know, for once we take the chance to look out".
This is particularly true for 6ix's Almost even further, the musicians explore their territory, they go out really far before they proceed even further. 6ix is Jaques Demierre (piano), Urs Leimgruber (saxophone), Okkyung Lee (cello), Thomas Lehn (synthesizer), Dorothea Schürch (voice, singing saw), and Roger Turner (drums), together they sound like a micro ensemble reminding of Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble or King Übü Orchestrü. You feel like sitting on a hide listening to the music of the forest at night, unknown sounds come up, strange creatures communicate in a foreign language, which is fascinating because you are allured and attracted by this strange world. However, you have to be careful because the voices are very shy, as soon as you think you can catch one it immediately withdraws.
There are a lot of great moments on this album: Lehn's synthesizer blends so well with Leimgruber's saxophone and Lee's cello, and Schürch's voice is both scary and exquisite. When she enters the scene for the first time she is breathing heavily, whispering, panting, like the wind sweeping eerily through the treetops. Lehn works with her sounds, supports and processes them. It is a magical moment of high intensity - actually sensational.
The whole album is a game of concentration, sound colors, spicks and specks everywhere - as if a Jackson Pollock painting came to life - great art, really demanding. The more often you listen to it, the more beautiful details you can find in these sound landscapes."-Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog