Sarah Buechi Contradiction of Happiness & Jena Philharmonic - The Paintress (2021) [Hi-Res]

They've taken to the skies – the chamber orchestra and the septet of Sarah Buechi – masterfully beyond all categorisation. The singer's septet Contradiction of Happiness with piano, bass, drums and three string players is in itself already something of a polyphonic and liberated orchestra. Sarah Buechi has expanded this ensemble with the chamber orchestra of the Jena Philharmonic. The success of the first performance was overwhelming and the recordings on this album, which also took place in Jena, enable one to experience and relive the playful ease with which this ambitious project was accomplished.

Classical intonation, Jazz vocalisations, chanting, microtones reminiscent of Indian music and Konnakol, rhythmic vocalisation – all these elements exist companionably in the compositions. "A music full of the joy of understanding," writes German jazz journalist Bert Noglik in the liner notes, "of the flapping of the wings of the poetic in the joint flight of the septet and the orchestra."

Sarah Buechi Contradiction of Happiness:
Sarah Buechi, voice
Vincent Membrez, piano
Wolfgang Zwiauer, bass
Lionel Friedli, drums
Estelle Beiner, violin
Isabelle Gottraux, viola
Sara Oswald, cello
Jena Philharmonic
Simon Gaudenz, direction