Chico Freeman: Der Alleskönner als Vorbild

He is a virtuoso on the saxophone, an icon of jazz and a gifted composer: Chico Freeman. With his music, he not only inspires his audience, but also shapes the saxophonists of tomorrow. But how?

Chico Freeman is the Swiss army knife of the jazz scene. The multi-instrumentalist has already proven himself in a number of genres, sharing the stage with the greats (Sam Rivers, Elvin Jones, Anthony Davis, Famoudou Don Moye and many more). Freeman, a true Chicagoan, began playing music at an early age. However, his first love was not the saxophone, but the piano. Later he also played the trumpet and was an enthusiastic singer.Numbers instead of notesAlthough Freeman came from a musical family, he did not initially pursue a career as a musician, but wanted to become a mathematician. It was only during his math studies that he discovered his love for the tenor saxophone. A liaison that would be marked by success.At the end of the 70s, his star rose in the jazz sky. He played in various bands and ensembles, immersed himself in different genres and showed a pioneering spirit. Freeman is probably one of the first experimental jazz musicians to release a purely standard album with “Destiny's Dance”.In his almost 40 years on stage, he has enchanted - or even inspired - many with his wonderful saxophone sounds. Versatility is the trump cardOne person who looks up to Freeman is the young Dutch-Swiss saxophonist Charlotte Lang. But why? “Versatility is also important to me,” she explains to SRF Jazzcollection. However, Freeman's versatility has also been seen by some as eclectic - or in other words: it is uncreative.But Lang vehemently disagrees: “I think that's exactly what makes him special.” She is fascinated by how Freeman has found his own personal path. His music lives from influences from his life. This makes his pieces particularly personal. Find out just how big Freeman's influence is, what Lang finds particularly exciting about his music and why the name Freeman is a musical seal of quality in the SRF article.

If you want to marvel at Freeman's skills live, you should keep March 18 free. That's when the all-rounder will be performing with Chico Freeman’s Exotica at Moods again after more than ten years.