feat. Ivo Neame, Jim Hart, Percy Pursglove, Immy Churchill
Florian Arbenz «London Group»
JazzJazz Modern CreativeModern Creative Jazz
In sound dialogue
Basel-based drummer Florian Arbenz has recorded twelve albums with renowned colleagues. He is now on tour with this «Conversation» box set.
This experience in 2000 was particularly encouraging for Florian Arbenz. The drummer has just completed his «Conversation» project, for which he recorded twelve albums with 26 colleagues. These include Osby again, but also British percussionist Jim Hart, Dutch saxophonist Tineke Postma, German trombonist Nils Wogram and Lucerne guitarist Christy Doran. He launched the project during corona, says Arbenz: «All the musicians had time, so I asked those I already knew, but also those I wanted to play with.»
Arbenz has been self-confident since kindergarten, when he and twin brother Michael played the piano that their father had just explained to them. The brothers tried out every instrument they could find. Their motto was «learning by doing» - alongside classical music lessons. This was followed by pop and rock bands, the New Jazz Trio and then the band Vein, with whom they are still touring successfully today. Pianist Michael is also a university lecturer in Lucerne, while Florian has his own bands such as Convergance, with which he celebrates jazz in all its forms. «Covergence was the mother formation for the Conversation project,» he reveals, emphasising the diversity of his music, which combines monk jazz, hip grooves, improvisation and world music facets. «This is how I want to explore my musical world,» he says, adding: «The jazz world is very international, but manageable. That's why well-known musicians are also willing to take part in my projects.»
Florian Arbenz' albums «Conversation #1 - #12», created since 2021, are now available as a vinyl or CD box and stream. He is currently on tour with them. Having just returned from Chile and Cuba, he will make a guest appearance at Moods in Zurich, then continue across Europe, and in May the proactive drummer will be back in Switzerland.
Frank von Niederhäusern, kulturtipp
The article appeared in the current issue of Kulturtipp. More information and subscriptions on kulturtipp