Swiss pianist
Irène Schweizer's solo concert of May 25, 1990, was close to breathtaking; she deserves every last clap of applause that we hear, but the fact that we do is the only really serious flaw with this release. It would have had a much nicer flow to it if the hurrahs had been snipped out.
Schweizer starts out on the light side with "Sisterhood of Spit," a clever take on the British-South African jazz group Brotherhood of Breath done with rolling, bouncy riffs that smack of
Dollar Brand (
Abdullah Ibrahim) or Brotherhood pianist
Chris McGregor, to whom the piece is dedicated. Other pieces employ the sort of rhythmic variations this pianist does well, but it is in the most abstract pieces, "Serious Hanging Out" and the inside-the-piano "Chuschtenploz," that she comes up with the set's finest music. She also has a smooth way with standards and coasts to the finish line with a
Monk tune.