Lotus Crash
Marco von Orelli : trumpet
Tommy Meier : tenorsax, bass clarinet
Luca Sisera : bass
Sheldon Suter : drums
Lotus Crash brings together four outstanding improvisers; their musical biographies are very different; all of them have already distinguished themselves with strong, artistically independent projects and they have been working together for quite a long time in a variety of different constellations. What unites them is their idea of sound and aesthetics. This quartet sounds raw and primal; it has an astonishingly warm and expressive sound. The repertoire consists of their own highly original themes. The line up with two wind instruments plus rhythm section, no harmony instrument, has a long tradition.Lotus Crash develops this tradition further through the use of contemporary instrumental techniques, open forms and hidden composition. The Band`s sophisticated improvisations are off the beaten track; this is creative Jazz at its best.
Lotus Crash Trailer
The respective musicians comprising this quartet have made the rounds across Europe`s fertile progressive jazz scene as leaders or valued sidemen for numerous entities, largely focused on generating an outside-the-box schema in various shapes, forms and colours. The band translucently shifts paradigms while bringing a signature mode of attack to the table, firmed up by bassist Luca Sisera`s stout and lyrical lines amid the quartet`s undulating deconstruction and rebuilding processes. – Glenn Astarita
Lotus Crash on the Road
There is an impressive statement from a visual artist from India. She hears this kind of improvised music for the very first time in her life and is deeply touched by it. Our music is not remote or complicated, but very direct and, above all, very narrative. Manfred Papst writes at the end of his review in the NZZ am Sonntag the inconspicuous but remarkable sentence: “We hear clever dialogues … and understand every word“.
What more could you want? We are convinced that even an unbiased audience that is not “of the trade” can “understand” this language.
With this in mind, our goal is to play in venues that attract more than just a specific jazz audience.
Lotus Crash plays AKA
If you don`t go walking away from «AKA» with a spring in your step an a smile stretching what Jack Kerouac so delicately called a skull cover, part of you has already expired. – Marc Medwin
Lotus Crash plays Triptychon
A set of music like this, that affords a smile, a tear and insight as deep, singular and complex as the music, is to be welcomed. – Marc Medwin
New Release:
The music itself tells us where we are going. It tells us quietly but insistently, in breathy, almost toneless shapes from the trumpet, resonant frictions from the tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, low drones and rhythmic pulses from the contrabass, and a whole orchestra of sounds – not just “time” – from the percussion. Lotus Crash is a marvellous new record from a new jazz imprint, which also has a great deal of history behind it, as well as a desire to move ever forward into the music’s future. – Brian Morton
Tobi Müller says:
Isn`t it one of the hardest things to play cool but never slack? To develop a flow that breathes freely but holds the tension? This is what has always attracted me to New York downtown bands. It`s also possible in Switzerland, thanks to LOTUS CRASH. How Marco von Orelli plays the trumpet over the open snare of Sheldon Suter, how the bass clarinet of Tommy Meier gets into conversation, and Luca Sisera holds the groove: you hear the cold breath of the city, feel the hard shell and the pulse inside, witch can only remain so low with a lot of willpower.
Bruce Lee Gallanter says:
Right from the opening song “Lotus”, the quartet sounds like they are playing one of those South African/spiritual jazz grooves. Mr. Meier’s tenor sax has that wonderful, dark, probing Trane-like tone which will make you feel better instantly. He takes a short introductory solo before Mr. Von Orelli takes over on trumpet, slowly, assuredly floating on top like a butterfly with the blues. The rhythm team has that swell William Parker/Hamid Drake-like sound, hypnotic and most stirring. Mr. Von Orelli writes strong, memorable melodies which feel like some sort of spiritual medicine. One of Downtown’s best bassists is Adam Lane, who is also a multi-bandleader and impressive composer. Mr. Lane’s “Spin with the EARth” is a great choice and fits perfectly with this quartet’s repertoire. It is a sort of Mingus or Mario Pavone—like bass-led piece with a few unaccompanied solo sections.
Bassist Luca Sisera is featured throughout this piece and is in strong, spirited and inventive form, holding the piece together. While he solos, the horns sail in to play some haunting harmonies with him and the drummer. I must admit that I am a sucker for one of those cerebral, repeating, ritualistic, trance-like lines, which hold on and don’t let go. “Maiduguri” has one of those slow, sly, throbbing grooves which reminds me of a Native American chant. It sounds somehow simple but it pulls you right in and won’t let go.
“Wittgenstein” has one of those great Blue Note like themes except that there is no piano, just tenor sax & trumpet up front. You will be humming along immediately and smiling as well. This entire disc makes me smile, like sort of salve meant to wash away our blues. If you are tired of all of the bad news going round’, then you best grab this disc and play it with your loved ones. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
News &remarkable
LP & CD – we are getting closer
What we have already heard sounds fantastic!
Marco von Orelli
trumpet
www.marcovonorelli.ch
Tommy Meier
tenorsax, bass clarinet
www.tommymeier.ch
Luca Sisera
bass
www.lucasisera.ch
Sheldon Suter
drums
www.instagram.com/sheldon_drummer/
