Over het album

The fourth album of working band BLAER, founded in 2013 by composer and pianist Maja Nydegger, is pure and essential - A „dive into calmness“ as the Swiss Jazz magazine JNM precisely describes the drift of the music. The longstanding and diligent collaboration of the band members continues subtly, persistent and with musical intelligence. Since releasing their last album YELLOW (RRR 2020), the band was frequently touring and continued to improve its crystal clear musical concept. By this genuine attitude of a band spirit, the new album reaches a self-confidence and natural maturity, generously and clearly lead by Maja Nydegger with her elaborated compositional and pianistic skills and taste. Since the last album, which attracted attention in the new jazz and ambient scene, the music developed into an even more original blend of different influences like ambient, minimal, spherical and independent music and contains even a pinch of movie scores.

The album PURE forms a clear bow, consisting of five individual tracks and three interludes called GOLD I – III. They are all based on a sophisticated rhythmical organization and on familiar but at the same time surprizing harmonies – a paradoxical phenomenon in BLAER’s music. With its consciousness for instrumentation and sound the band does often sound like a whole orchestra with seducing, glowing melody guidelines.

Reeds player Nils Fischer and Claudio von Arx play the blending and counterpoints of their instruments with a collegial sense for duo colours and dynamics. The rhythm section with drummer Philippe Ducommun and bass player Simon Iten creates a dynamic flow based on a relaxed togetherness and trust in each other. Elegant master mind Maja Nydegger herself guides the spherical groove organism BLAER with her creative taste and decisions as if by magic.