(Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz) John Tchicai and Irene Schweizer Group - Willi The Pig (Live At The Willisau Jazz Festival) - 1975, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This album documents a continuous, 48-minute live performance from 1975 by this international quartet, fronted by Danish alto/soprano saxophonist Tchicai and Swiss pianist Schweizer and rounded out by German bassist Buschi Niebergall and South African drummer Makaya Ntshoko. The music here is quietly (and occasionally not so quietly) intense free jazz that, despite some turbulent moments, never becomes fully explosive or over the top like a lot of post-Cecil Taylor/John Coltrane free jazz tends to get. Tchicai's tendency either to play quietly or at least not to scream has much to do with this restraint. In any case, there is a consistent, worrisome tension at work that, coupled with Tchicai's sour-toned alto and soprano playing and the somewhat hazy quality of the actual recording, gives the album a somewhat unappealing surface. Those who dig beneath that surface will find some stellar interplay (as expected with musicians of this caliber) along with several moments of reflective, almost meditative beauty; however, the second half of the piece does stall for a few minutes, as it seems to lose direction when Tchicai puts down his horn. A worthy, but not quite standout release, Willi the Pig is better left to established fans of Tchicai or Schweizer, or of more cerebrally inclined free jazz as a whole. [Note that the CD reissue was mastered from the LP -- not the original tapes -- so the CD had to be divided into two tracks, with a brief fade-out at the end of track one and a fade-in at the beginning of track two.]
by William York
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Another rarity excised from the attic of time this recording was taped at the first Willisau Jazz Festival, an event that has since provided a forum for some of the finest groups in improvised music. Released initially in a run of 500 copies it quickly went out of print and has since never been reissued. At Schweizer’s behest John Corbett opted to include it in his Unheard Music Series and the results of that fateful and far-reaching day are finally in circulation once again.
Of the players on the roster for this date John Tchicai is probably the most widely recognized having taken part in John Coltrane’s Ascension, been an integral member of the New York Contemporary Five, and contributed to numerous ‘New Thing’ sessions in the 1960s and into the 1970s as well as continuing to record today. Schweizer has had a similarly stellar career in Europe collaborating with the likes of Evan Parker, Joelle Leandre and a multitude of others. The rhythm section is somewhat obscure- Niebergall having recorded most famously on Peter Brötzmann’s Machine Gun, and Ntshoko’s other work being largely unknown.
One long piece penned by Tchicai and Schweizer, “Willi the Pig” is cleft in two by the original limitations of its LP release. Unfortunately the fades at the close of ‘Part 1’ and the onset of ‘Part 2’ remain intact as original albums were the only source available for the reissue; the master tapes having been lost in the intervening years. The composition begins with a protracted and melancholy theme statement before the Niebergall and Ntshoko drop out leaving the tandem leaders to quiet conversation that eventually builds in intensity and density. While countless moments of brilliant and inspired invention crop up, the sheer magnitude of the piece makes it somewhat difficult for the players to sustain momentum. I found myself straying from the sounds being divined on several occasions, and even the most attentive ears are likely to lapse a little at points during the lengthy repartee. Highlights include Tchicai’s wonderful solo stretches during middle and closing sections of ‘Part 1’ where he bleeds an absorbing streams of flowing liquid melody from his alto, and Schweizer’s dark interlude that dominates the first half of ‘Part 2.’ Whether the quartet had other opportunities to record is unclear, but what is a certainty is that their work here is well deserving of the careful and reverential treatment afforded by the folks at Unheard.
by Derek Taylor

John Tchicai - piano, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Irène Schweizer - piano
Buschi Niebergall - bass
Makaya Ntshoko - drums