Carte Blanche: Dave Gisler

Dave Gisler is one of the nine artists who have received a Carte Blanche from Moods for the 24/25 season. The Carte Blanche is awarded to outstanding musicians on the Swiss jazz scene and offers them the opportunity to further develop their current musical work and try out new things. In this interview, the busy guitarist tells us what he has planned for his two Carte Blanche evenings.

Dave Gisler plays guitar in various bands, has been a lecturer at the HSLU since last autumn and has a family – so he never gets bored between practising, preparing lessons, budgeting and organising things like writing applications. The Carte Blanche and its freedom of organisation mean additional work, but also an opportunity that Dave Gisler wants to make the most of. Be it to invite the singer Yumi Ito with the band Pilgrim and see what comes of it. Or to present a newer project, such as the duo with Franziska Bruecker. In this interview, Dave Gisler explains how he puts together his Carte Blanche evenings.

06. Februar – First Carte Blanche Evening

Franziska Bruecker & Dave Gisler
Franziska Bruecker and Dave Gisler met as teenagers at a music camp in Uri. They both decided to pursue a career as musicians, but it wasn't until two or three years ago that their paths really crossed again: «I heard her and was very enthusiastic. We then got talking and decided to do something together.» From there, one thing led to another. The duo have only had a few gigs so far, so Carte Blanche offers the perfect setting to present their project. For Dave Gisler, the duo also represents a new field of experimentation: «In the duo with Franziska, I try to reduce myself a little with the effect devices. I simply try to use the guitar as it sounds, with a little reverb and not much else. That's exciting, also what happens to me. I somehow play differently.»

Pilgrim
«Pilgrim is a band that is extremely important to me, I was able to learn an incredible amount as a musician in this band. Now I wanted to bring in something new.» That's how the idea of inviting singer Yumi Ito came about: «I'm delighted that it's working out, she's an incredible talent. We've never played together before, but I've been very enthusiastic about her, her music and the way she improvises for a long time.» The Carte Blanche offers the perfect opportunity to try something like this out and see what comes of it, says Gisler.

29. April – Second Carte Blanche Evening

Flo Stoffner
Flo Stoffner opens the second carte blanche with a solo piece. «I think Flo is a great musician, he's a great guitarist, he plays very differently to me. What he plays always has a certain urgency and meaning and it's difficult to find his equal. And that's why I wanted him on board.»Dr.O.G.E
«Dr.O.G.E is also a very important band for me. Fredy Studer, the legendary Swiss drummer, started this trio. He and the organist Dominik Blum wanted to form a classical jazz organ trio together. They didn't know me at the time, but they had heard me play and wanted me to join. That made me very happy, as I also admire them both very much.» But the trio didn't last long in this formation: «We only played one gig with Fredy, then he died. That was around the same week that Jamie Branch died, who I had also played with in the trio. It was a huge shock that someone in two of my bands had just died. The question was, what am I going to do now?» With Dr.O.G.E, they definitely decided to carry on: «We then came across Valeria on drums. It's wonderful that the band is still going strong.»