Sebastian Strinning, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet (CH/LU)
Yara Li Mennel, violin, voice (CH/TI)
Natalie Peters, voice (CH/D)
Jacek Chmiel, zither, electronics (PL)
This quartet draws inspiration from the encounter of four extremely diverse musicians.
Sebastian Strinning is one of the most interesting representatives of the current free jazz scene in Switzerland.
Natalie Peters and Yara Li Mennel from Locarno have been working together for several years and have performed as a duo at various festivals.
Their work is entirely based on a natural and spontaneous use of voice and instrument, which through their communicative ability always finds new aesthetics.
Jacek Chmiel, from Poland, studied in Basel with Fred Frith and moves in an exciting field of tension between deep listening and powerful sonic gestures.
To fully exploit the encounter between these very different characters, the music develops entirely in the here and now. The resulting music captivates through the fusion of musicians into sound worlds that emerge in completely unpredictable ways, ultimately enchanting with their harmony and intensity.
The quartet moves with strength, confidence, and at the same time delicacy through the individual pieces. They are compositions born of the moment, poetic ciphers that arise from the deep sensitivity of the participants.
The title of their album “CATACRYPTICO,” which is set to be released in May 2024 on AUT Records, is a play on words between catacombs and cryptic, alluding to this.