Claudio Puntin & Lucerne Jazz Orchestra - Berge Versetzen (2010)

The cooperation between Claudio Puntin and the LJO, together with Swiss Radio DRS and the Label Unit Records, resulted in a witty yet sensitive piece of art. The CD production is embedded in a striking artwork by Martin Stützle, artist from the Swiss Canton of Glarus.
«Berge versetzen» incorporates different elements of Swiss folk music, creating autonomous, vivacious and fresh compositions. Puntin does not compose plain folk music, nor does he reuse the cliché of «Folklore Imaginaire». Instead he combines own experiences of folk music (his grandfather played double bass in various famous Swiss ensembles) with his renowned contemporary groove oriented stylistics. Thus two different approaches to the terms home and origin find their way into one musical cycle.
Poems by Lucerne lyricist Sabina Naef further influenced the musical development. Puntin transfers her intimate verses into tonal output, deeply linked to the poem’s mood. Some of the shorter poems resulted in poetic compositions without any vocal parts at all. Where songs evolved, Puntin created them especially for the delicate voice of vocalist Insa Rudolph.
The shift from strictly instrumental tunes inspired by folk music to the songs is arranged in a symmetrically structured pattern. The cycle as a whole is united by the Solo Clarinet and Bass Clarinet of Claudio Puntin. Puntin’s Clarinets play a variety of roles in the different tunes and can act as vocalists or narrators, improvisors, expressing of joy as well as melancholy – they act as a constant companion.
Apart from Clarinet and Vocals different members of the LJO contribute to soloistic accents as well, among others on the Buechel (a Swiss variation of the Alphorn) or the so-called Zischboard (German for hissing board), an instrument invented by Puntin creating air-percussion sounds.
The CD has been recorded at the Volkshaus Basel by Swiss Radio DRS together with composer and multi-instrumentalist Steffen Schorn as studio manager. The CD was released by Swiss Jazz Label Unit Records on 29th of October 2010.