Silvan Schmid Quintet: At Gamut

The Silvan Schmid Quintet really shook things up when they took the stage At Gamut, a music series in Zürich. Trumpeter Schmid wrote all the tunes for this unusual lineup of his horn with alto saxophone, cello, tuba, and drums. Beginning with clear and simple melodies, he and his band develop them in increasingly complex styles, frequently raising quite a ruckus in the process. Abrupt starts and stops, quick shifts of tempo, constantly evolving blends of instrumental colors, and continual movement between the foreground and background keep the listener on his metaphorical toes. As abstract and severe as Schmid’s music can be, the key thing is that there’s plenty of beauty revealed in these compositions as they unfold. At times, there’s so much happening at once, I could swear I was hearing more than a quintet playing. That’s partly due to the broad bottom of the band’s sound established by Lucas Wirz’s dark tuba and Silvan Jeger’s skittering cello. Then there’s the often appropriately busy drums and cymbals of Vincent Glanzmann. Schmid, with a brassy and penetrating sound centered in the trumpet’s middle register, and the excitable alto saxophonist Tapiwa Svosve make a responsive and nimble team in the front line. Svosve’s commanding solo on Spartitur I is just one of the album’s high points. Also worthy of praise is Schmid’s vocal-like introduction to Turn Into. The longest track on the disc is the finale, just shy of eleven minutes long. The quiet opening of In Bocca Al Lupo (a theatrical way of saying good luck) leads into a swirl of melodies and countermelodies. That quickly leads to a pastoral arco cello solo by Jeger cushioned by the organ-like blend of tuba, trumpet and alto sax which slowly builds in intensity and then ebbs into silence. It’s a lovely finishing touch on a provocative set of truly original compositions. Happily recommended.
hatOLOGY 751; Silvan Schmid (tp) Tapiwa Svosve (as) Silvan Jeger (clo) Lucas Wirz (tba) Vincent Glanzmann (d); Zürich, Switzerland, April 2016; Motten/ Spartitur II/ Ins Leere/ Turn Into/ Spartitur I/ In Bocca Al Lupo; 42:38. www.hathut.com