Jütz: HIN & ÜBER

Isa Kurz – vocals, accordion, violin, dulcimer; Daniel Woodtli – trumpet, flugelhorn, dulcimer, vocals; Philipp Moll – double bass, vocals; Guest: Julian Sartorius

Jütz moves freely through alpine musical cultures, far from the yodeling industry, and encounters folk music groups that touch with beauty and sincerity.

For example, on Peter Moser: he entrusts the trio, captivated by Moser's dances & tunes, with two of his compositions ("Postfeldwalzer" & "Bergaufpolka") in trust. Or Märku Hafner's "Häxesabbat im Pfaffeloch", inspired by a chilling story beneath the musical score. Time and again, the three musicians encounter the work of a kindred spirit: Werner Pirchner, the musician and critical mind, addressed the topic in the 1970s without regard for sensitivities. Jütz honors Pirchner's art with his composition "Judenburger Siebenschritt" and with an audio excerpt from the cult film "Der Untergang des Alpenlandes", heard in the aforementioned "Bergaufpolka". Turning the wheel of time much further back, Jütz encounters the freedom fighter Andreas Hofer and develops from a motif of his heroic song a postmodern fireworks display in the eerie original composition "Mantua". Jütz's approach to the material is not pre-planned; the creative approach speaks to a certain quality of musicianship: playful, upside down, virtuosic, with devotion. The balanced collective of the three personalities merges into its own unique music. Jütz constantly walks a tightrope between tradition and modernity, sometimes just a little more and it would be over... The alpine cultural sphere harbors many fine differences. Thus, Jütz specifically examines dialectology and freely translates the well-known Swiss song "Luegid vo Bärg und Tal" into Tyrolean. In "Schleuniger Tempo Dampfl", terms of locomotion are juxtaposed in spoken word form. An old text of unknown origin serves as the basis for an original composition ("A Blüamal und a Herz"), while other compositions are based on Jütz's travels in Norway ("Tunnelen") or in the Bernese Oberland ("Wengernalp").

In HIN & ÜBER, there is flexibility, whimsy, and finesse.

Starting from alpine dances and tunes, through tonal detours and pathways, Jütz turns the entire Alpine folklore upside down in the framework of an uninhibited, multisensory sound conference.

The ensemble, half from Switzerland and half from Tyrol, respectfully preserves a long-cultivated tradition of alpine folk music while also opening it up to "borderless improvisation and freedom outward, far from the current idealization of national identity in contrast to the non-Occidental other. In addition, the musicians reveal an understanding of home that should be set as the standard" (Folkmagazin, DE). Here, "an Emmental poetry recitation to fall in love with" (Jazzthetik, DE) meets "modern minimalist interactions" (Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, DE). The group does not shy away from altitude meters for stops in huts, galleries, or baroque concert halls and sees itself, abstaining from the traditional alpine attire, as a "highly modern particle filter against the acoustic pollution of the alpine cultural degeneration process" (Lois Hechenblaikner, AT).

For more information, visit: www.juetz.com