Percaso

Percaso production was established in 1986 by Swiss saxophonist and composer Christoph Gallio who operates the label singlehandely. percaso production is a “subjective” label not charakterized by certain musical styles, but rather a selection by director’s choice. Quality of musical expression counts; commercial determinans not. percaso production collaborates with visual artists in packaging. Danish graphic designer Anne Hoffmann places the format and image into context making the medium a message as well as the music. Percaso production releases are created with utmost loving care. All in all: music produced by and for the audiophile.

Percaso Production – the uncompromising but playful Swiss label

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447cf94a62

Day & Taxi

Artists

2014, percaso production 2CD 31/32 // 30 tracks // CD1 41:40 / CD2 43:31

Musicians:  Christoph Gallio alto, soprano, C-merlody & baritone sax | Silvan Jeger double bass | David Meier drums | Production notes: All compositions by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at PERCASO studio in Baden by Will-y Strehler & DAY & TAXI, 2014 September 20, 21 & 22. Edited by DAY & TAXI. Mixed & mastered at Klangdach Studio in Guntershausen by Will-y Strehler & DAY & TAXI. Produced by Christoph Gallio. Photo by Philipp Ottendörfer. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover art by Alex Hanimann

unnamed

Aphoristiker am Saxophon

Der 1957 in Winterthur geborene Saxophonist zählt seit Jahrzehnten zur Schweizer Jazzszene – als Leiter von verschiedenen nebeneinender existierenden Formationen wie Mösiöblö, Rosen für alle und Road Works. Seine bekannteste Band ist indes Day & Taxi. Sie begann 1988 als Quartett, wurde nach einem Jahr jedoch als Trio ohne Harmonieinstrument weitergeführt. Gallio am Alt- und Sopransaxofon bildete die Konstante, während die Positionen am Bass und am Schlagzeug wiederholt neu besetzt wurden. In der gegenwärtigen Formation wirken Silvan Jeger am Bass und David Meier am Schlagzeug mit. Auch auf seinem Opus 7 mit dieser Band verbindet Gallio Kompositionen von aphoristischer Kürze mit weit ausgreifenden Improvisationen. Formbewusstheit, Witz und Temperament kennzeichnen sein Spiel. Ein Purist ist Gallio nicht; vielmehr setzt er auf Heterogenität und ein Kaleidoskop der Stimmungen, in denen auch Ironie und und Kitsch Platz haben. Sammler der Tonträger von Day & Taxi wissen, dass Gallio immer wieder mit bildenden Künstlern zusammengearbeitet hat. Grössen wie Ei Weiwei, Alex Katz und Gilbert & George haben seine Covers gestaltet. Diesmal stammt das Artwork von Alex Hanimann. Mit Produzenten muss sich der Musiker dabei nicht streiten: Bereits seit 1986 betreibt er unter dem Namen Percaso sein eigenes Musiklabel. — Manfred Papst

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$ 24.00
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RZ_Percaso Derendinger_Umschlag.indd

Ueli  Fuyuru Derendinger

2014, percaso production CD 30 // 10 tracks // 59:00

Musicians: Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger shakuhachi. Production notes: All compositions are traditionals, except tracks 3, 6 and 9 by Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger. Recorded at the auditorium in Waldegg Castle in Feldbrunnen by Tibor Elekes & Ueli Derendinger, 2014 June 1. Edited by Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger. Mixed & mastered at Klangdach Studio in Guntershausen by Willy Strehler. Produced by Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger & Christoph Gallio. Photo by Lukas Rohner. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover art by Cécile Wick

The shakuhachi

is an end-blown five–hole bamboo flute. In the 8th century it made its way from China to Japan, where it was used in conjunction with other instruments in the traditional court music (gagaku). In the 13th century the shakuhachi was introduced a second time in Japan. Since the 16th century the instrument could be found in the hands of wandering monks belonging to the Fuke sect, who believed their ancestor to be the 9th-century Chinese Zen master P’u K’o (jap. Fuke). They strove to play „as though they had lost their reason“, and made breathing audible to achieve „absolute tone“. Over time, this emphasis on tone resulted in music of „singular beauty“.

Ueli Derendinger

was born in Olten, Switzerland. He studied flute with Felix Manz at the Music Academy of Basle. Since 1980 he has been studying the shakuhachi, first with Andreas Fuyû Gutzwiller in Basle, then with Satoshi Zenpô Shimura in Osaka. In 1998, Derendinger received the title of Shihan and the professional name Fuyûru from shakuhachi master Kawase Junsuke III of Tôkyô (Kinko school). In 2002 his home canton Solothurn awarded him the cultural prize for music.

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37ccccc44f

Gallio / Streuli

Road Works

percaso production 28 / 29 (CD / DVD)

Christoph Gallio: alto & soprano saxophones | Andrea Neumann: inside piano, mixer & piano | Ernst Thoma: synthesizer | Dominique Girod: double bass | Julian Sartorius: drums

All compositions by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at Hardstudios in Winterthur, 2012 March 23 & 24 by Moritz Wetter. CD edited by Christoph Gallio, DVD edited by Beat Streuli. Mixed at Hardstudios in Winterthur by Moritz Wetter. Mastered at Hardstudios in Winterthur by Ron Kurz. Co-produced by Schweizer Radio DRS 2. Inside photos by Marie Le Mounier. Photo booklet by Moritz Wetter. Liner notes by Klaus Merz. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover art by Beat Streuli. The interdisciplinary creation ROAD WORKS was commissioned by MaerzMusik and the Aargauer Kuratorium (Art Council of the Kanton Aargau) and was premiered at the MaerzMusik Festival in Berlin, 2011. ROAD WORKS is the fourth collaboration between the artist Beat Streuli and composer Christoph Gallio.

72 tracks | 1 movie | 49:23 (DVD) | 48:56 (CD)

Ernst Thoma, Andrea Neumann, Christoph Gallio, Dominique Girod, Julian Sartorius | Photo by Moritz Wetter

Ernst Thoma, Andrea Neumann, Christoph Gallio, Dominique Girod, Julian Sartorius | Photo by Moritz Wetter

wir rollen eine strasse
vor uns aus, sie führt
zu menschen, vorbei
an zwitschern, karos-
serien, spiegelblind

gittern entlang und häuser-
zeilen – das buchstabieren
überlassen wir den kindern
hundegebell, der asphalt
altert, donner rollt

kommt zeit, kommt rat
die winde blasen, dein
nackenhaar erzittert:
schliesst die ventile! wir
bauen weiter an der stille

atmen die heisse luft
sie hebt uns wiegend
in die höhe, öffnet den blick
auf weite buchten und
auf das engnis stadt

glasklar der klang
der uns die ohren spült
fern glühen trommel-
feuer und frohes jammern
bricht aus unsern hüften

wir rollen eine strasse
vor uns aus, sie führt
zu menschen, vorbei
an zwitschern, karos-
serien, spiegelblind

Liner notes by KLAUS MERZ, UNTERKULM

Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio

has always been interested in expanding his music beyond expected strictures. To this end he’s worked with vocalists, utilized poetry for lyrics and experimented with different formats such as LPs and DVDs. Now with Road Works, his second collaboration with artist Beat Streuli, he’s attained one of his artistic highpoints, composing a soundtrack for Streuli’s quick-moving films of what else? – highways, street and sidewalk scenes – that works equally well on its own on this CD.

Actually Gallio’s almost 49-minute composition consists of six dozen cues, sequences and themes lasting from less than 15 seconds to almost three minutes. Using intimations of other sorts of music, the blended together transitions are like film jump cuts, as if the shifts are being made with a super high-speed editing-machine, with little respite for the ear to adjust to a new sound before the next arrives.

To do a job such as this, the Baden-based alto and soprano saxophonist had to call on sympathetic associates, whose speedy reflexes are utilized as well. Most surprising of the collaborators is Berlin-based Andrea Neumann. Better-known for her inside-piano explorations, she does some of that here, but also showcases conventional piano tropes, ranging from burlesque hotel lounge melodies, pseudo-impressionistic and formal so-called classical themes and faux jazz. Also on hand are three Swiss musicians: Ernst Thoma, who uses the synthesizer’s signals and samples for the addition of unusual tones, which replicate sequences as different as those that come from the vibraphone at a late-night boite, to machine-driven radio waves; bassist Dominique Girod, who often works in a New music context; and drummer Julian Sartorius, whose expanded kit that can approximate, bongos and kettle drums as well as expected jazz-like rhythms, has been put to use by other leaders like pianist Colin Vallon and composer Rhys Chatham.

As the composition unrolls, so the musical references multiply. They include Cool Jazz sax lines and Klezmer melancholy; Power Pop back beats and a 1950s style Rock-a-Ballad theme played on the piano; electronic music static and oscillated undulations; outer-space like intimations and machine-like lathing sounds; and Africanized drum patterns. Plus there are also frequent and unexpected passages of frenzied amorphous timbres, mixed with exhilarating Aylerican sax splinters. Trying to keep track of every variant is fruitless. Still Gallio is a sophisticated enough composer that none of the successive sequences appear shoehorned in or in opposition to the preceding and following lines.

Demonstrating that even Gallio is determined to remove the level of artifice associated with a composition like this that was commissioned by an arts council, the only audible phrases at two junctures are in English. “A sound is not what it seems” precedes a short episode of clanking drums, thumping bass and squeaky sax, immediately followed by so-called classical piano variants on that theme. Later what sounds like “massive big hit or could have been the disaster of the year” is repeated three times by what sounds like a teenage girl’s voice. More tellingly, preceded by a Bud Shank-like boppish alto solo and followed by a stiff military march from the pianist is a sequence where a female, pants inchoately and supposedly passionately à la Jane Birkin on “Je t’aime…”

A soundtrack for the eyes and ears, Road Works is a high quality diversion for all concerned, especially the audience. Who knows what Gallio will produce next? Perhaps not even him.– Ken Waxman

72 tracks | 1 movie | 49:23 (DVD) | 48:56 (CD)

 

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fishland

Christoph Gallio

fishland

percaso production LP 002 – ©+p 1985/86

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosaxophone

Max Spielmann: soundprogramming on “me and my fishes” Composed by Christoph Gallio. Recorded 22. December 85 and 22. February 86 by Andreas Rathgeb at Galerie Vision, Basel and KOPROD, Zürich. Cover Art: Beat Streuli

Fish farm to time to start where it sounds most peculiar

as they say in the country from which this duo comes, Switzerland, dedicated to four free improvisations between two and eight minutes in length the fascinating aquarium, so at least their titles. In truth, here come a freelance saxophonist with a lot of taste, has certainly learned a lot from the free Archie Shepp and the free time for a short time Sanders, who does not self-indulgent to Braxton, and at all timelessly incorruptible Total freedom anywhere from R ‘n’ B seems to come, and a synthesizer artist a well-forgotten old school, of the yet-to-find sound namely, to cooperate and develop a small chamber music that we had earlier called artist shit, and and today just in their modest, timeless, tasteful Non intensity that never empties into the schmo can hear it want silence, quite well made. — Diedrich Diederichsen

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2f18184affChristoph Gallio

certainty sympathy

percaso production 05

©+p 1988 Christoph Gallio: sopranosax Alfred Zimmerlin: violoncello Matthew Ostrowski: electronics

Composed by Gallio / Zimmerlin / Ostrowski. Recorded August 24. and 25. 1988 By Charles S. Russel at Studio PASS, New York N.Y.Mixed by Charles S. Russell and Matthew Ostrowski at Studio PASS, New York.Premastered and edited by Max Spielmann and Johannes Vetsch at elephant château, Basel.Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Cover Art: Beat Streuli

An extended 40-minute work

really a kind of suite made ​​up of many short episodes. Although credited as soprano saxophonist Christoph Gallio’s composition, his partner Matthew Ostrowski and Alfred Zimmerlin CLEARLY made ​​significant Contributions. The trio sound like theyhave Played together a lot, and SEEM comletely confortable with the stylistic range and extreme contrast. The sectional arrangement Could have made for a disjointed effect, but for me it kept things fresh.– Mark Sullivan

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3c8ae34ba8Brian Agro

a hole in the ice

music for solo piano played by Katharina Weber

percaso production 06 – ©+p 1988

Katharina Weber: piano

Composed by Brian Agro. Recorded September 24. 1988 by Charly Suter at Radiostudio Basel. Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Cover Art: Silvia Bächli

  1.   PRELUDE 3
  2.   PRELUDE 4
  3.   VISIONS (12 PIECES – THE ENTRANCE // OVERLAND // A HOLE IN THE ICE // FRANTIC SEARCH // THE OLD HOUSE // RED SKY // SURVIVAL KIT // BEFORE THE FLOODS BIRD NEST // BENEATH THE ROCK // SILHOUETTE // JUST IN TIME TO LEAVE)

In A Hole in the Ice

Katharina Weber does a wonderful job interpreting pieces Agro composed between 1980 and 1988. He seams to have been unaffected by academic trends from serialism to minimalism; if anything, he‘s a neoclassicist. While freely bitonal and chromatic, his work always hints at understandable harmonic structures, and the phrases are as clearly shaped and expressive as anything in the nineteenth century tradition. It‘s always refreshing to see talented people following their own destinies, especially when they‘re as gracious and intelligent about it as Agro. — Jim Aikin

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MARIAS_PLACEKanan, Su

Maria’s Place

percaso production CD 010 – ©+p 1992

Nathanael Su: alto saxophone. Michael Kanan: piano.

Recorded 10.8.91 and 11.8.91at DeAngelis Studio, Manlius, New York by Kyle Weston. Digital Mastering by Dr. B. Bernfeld, Harmonia Mundi, Freiburg i.B. Produced by Christoph Gallio. Cover Art: Anna Hoffmann

Zürcher Saxophonist auf Tristanos Spuren.

Die Barklee School of Music in Boston ist wohl die renommierteste Ausbildungsstätte für Jazzmusiker aus aller Welt. Dort trafen sich der Zürcher Altsaxophonist Nathanael Su und der New Yorker Pianist Michael Kanan und beschäftigten sich intensiv mit einem lang vernachlässigten Kapitel der Jazzgeschichte: der Musik des legendären Pianisten Lennie Tristano (1919 bis 1978), dessen hochkomplexe Motive und lineare Improvisationsweise immer mehr Bewunderer finden. Die nun auch auf CD festgehaltene Arbeit des hervorragenden Duos Su / Kanan dokumentiert deutlich das Potential dieser speziellen Spiel- und Improvisationskunst. Die beiden Musiker spinnen verwobene Fäden über Standards, Eigenkompositionen und Themen Tristanos und decken damit ein mindestens hierzulande noch unerforschtes Territorium ab. — Nick Liebmann

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allDAY & TAXI

all

percaso production CD 011 ©+p 1985/86

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosaxophone Lindsay L. Cooper: bass Dieter Ulrich: drums

Composed by Christoph Gallio (1,2,8,9,10), Lindsay L. Cooper (3,4,5,6,11,13), Dieter Ulrich (7) and Coward (12). Recorded October 4. and 5.1991 By Andreas Rathgeb at Radiostudio Zürich. Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Cover Art: Gilbert & George (part of “All”), 1989

Though clearly situated in a jazz/improvised music milieu

characterized by formal structures (tunes), lyricism, swing-to-free rhythmic underpinning, solos, trades and the like, a refreshing inferential quality pervades DAY & TAXI‘s program … the music, imbued with an open breathing quality, strikes an admirable unselfconscious balance between the cerebral and the visceral, the direct and the oblique. — Milo Fine

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carsChristoph Gallio

cars & variations/high desert songs

percaso production CD 013 ©+p 1994

Christoph Gallio: saxophones, Irene Aebi: vocal & violin, Chie Mukay: kokyu & vocal, Alfred Zimmerlin: violin, cello, Matthew Ostrowski: electronics, Stephan Wittwer: electric guitar, Fredi Lüscher: piano, Lindsay L. Cooper: bass, Dieter Ulrich: drums

High desert songs composed by Christoph Gallio, Words by Francis Picabia. Recorded Dezember 22, 1990 and February 22, 1991 By Andi Rathgeb at sound & vision, Zürich and at various locations. Digital edited by Max Spielmann at elephant château, Basel Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Cars and variations composed by Christoph Gallio except 1, 11, 18, 20 by Gallio/Ostrowski/Zimmerlin, 6, 13, 16, 29, 30 by Gallio/Wittwer, 32 by Gallio/Lüscher. Recorded at various locations. Digital premastered and edited by Max Spielmann at elephant château, Basel. Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Foto inside by Tetsu Takiura. Cover Art: Maya Rikli

  1. G with OSTROWSKI / ZIMMERLIN (1)
  2. G with LÜSCHER (2)
  3. G with WITTWER (6)
  4. G with AEBI (10)
  5. G with OSTROWSKI / ZIMMERLIN (12)
  6. G with WITTWER (13)
  7. G with LÜSCHER (19)
  8. G with AEBI (23)
  9. G with OSTROWSKI / ZIMMERLIN (25)
  10. G with COOPER / ULRICH (26)
  11. G with AEBI (27)
  12. G with WITTWER (29)
  13. G with MUKAI (33)

This intriguing release feautures reed player Gallio

in the company of various groupings of solos, duos and trios for two long suites, each constructed of multiple short sections ranging from 20 seconds to 3 minutes in length. Rushing by like a series of improvisational flash cards, the music encompasses spare duet setting for poems by Surrealists Picabia and Meret Oppenheim (of fur-lined teacup fame) sung by Irene Aebi; fractured, frenetic spars featuring Wittwer or the scratch and scrabble electronics of Ostrowski and cellist Zimmerlin; and flowing duets with pianist Lüscher and trios with Cooper and Ulrich. Comprising most of the CD, the first suite, „cars and variations“, moves through 33 segments punctuated by 4 brief found-sound snippets. The proceedings are roughly paced by moving from harsh electronic pairings to more stately duets with Lüscher and Aebi. Yet, with such rapid swiches and quick pacing, any depth or development in the playing is sacrificed. Hard, rocking struts dissolve into measured, halting, angular phrases; melodious art songs dissipate into jangling trios; short ideas start to be sketched out, only to disappear mid-phrase. This is contrasted with the only piece over 3 minutes, a leisurely trio with Cooper and Ulrich, as Gallio‘s long, gracefully sinuous lines unfurl over the bass and drums. The final suite, „high desert songs“ is a group of 12 short floating verses delivering a tour de force for solo voice by Irene Aebi. This release makes clear that Gallio has no shortage of ideas. — Michael Rosenstein

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uliUeli Derendinger

San`ya

percaso production CD 014 – ©+p 1995

Ueli Derendinger: Shakuhachi

Recorded August 9th 1994 at St. Michael’s Chapel in Waldegg Castle, Solothurn by Ueli Derendinger. Mastered by Martin Lachmann, Studio Gamma. Cover Art: Susanna Niederer

Not an experimental music disc

this, but a rather traditional one. Derendinger treats us to a sequence of Japanese compositions in the Meian-ryu; indeed, it gives us nearly one-third of the pieces which exist in this style. The sound of the shakuhachi — an end-blown bamboo flute — is, however, surprisingly resonant for Western listeners more used to hearing these kinds of sounds in an experimental music context. — Richard Cochrane

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wol Christian Wolfarth

3-3-2 – 8 pieces for drums

percaso production CD 015

Christian Wolfarth: drums

Composed by Christian Wolfarth. Recorded Dezember 22, 23, 24 1994 By Andreas Litmanowitsch at Schlosskeller Fraubrunnen, Bern. Mixed by Rolf Büttikofer and Andreas Litmanowitschat Zone 33, Bern. Mastered by Glenn Miller at Greenwood Studio. Cover Art:Urs Frei

  1. 11
  2. 3-3-2
  3. 16

Eine differenzierte Richtung

schlägt der Pierre Favre-Schüler Christian Wolfarth ein: der Minimalkünstler in der Rolle des Mediateurs. Sein Spiel fasziniert von Anfang an durch eine originelle Klangsprache und man folgt wie gebannt einem „Hörspiel“ im ureigenen Sinne … es bleibt die Erinnerung an eine höchst ungewöhnliche Reise durch skurille, intelligente Klanglandschaften. — Hans Dieter Vötter

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gertrude Christoph Gallio

à Gertrude Stein

percaso production CD 016 ©+p 1996

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosax Ellen Christi: voice William Parker: bass Rashied Ali: drums

Words by Gertrude Stein, Music by Christoph Gallio except2,8,13,17 by Gallio / Christi / Parker / Ali. Recorded October 10 and 11, 1994By Rick Rowe and Royston Langdon at Baby Monster Studios, New York. Mixed and edited by Max Spielmann at Elephant château, Basel. Mastered by Glenn Miller at Greenwood Studio Nunningen. Cover Art: Claudio Moser

If the writer Gertrude Stein

stylistically influenced in their Paris circle painters such as Picasso and Matisse, or writers like Hemingway, then that should actually apply to musicians. Stein’s associative sequence of clauses and the lack of punctuation seems predestined for musical transformations. The saxophonist has dared to experiment with success. The vocalist Ellen Christi takes care of Stein’s texts, while Gallio, bassist William Parker and drummer Rashied Ali on their instruments move heaven and earth and make music in a huge dynamic range. — Peter Bürli

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about DAY & TAXI

about

percaso production CD 017 ©+p 1998

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosaxophone Dominique Girod: bass Dieter Ulrich: drums

Composed by Christoph Gallio except 5 by Dieter Ulrich. Recorded August 2 and 3 1997 by Martin Pearsonat Radio Studio SF DRS, Zürich. Edited by Max Spielmann at elephant château, Basel. Mastered by Peter Pfister, Berikon. Liner notes by John Corbett. Cover Art: Beat Streuli

I’ve had About by Day & Taxi sitting way down on my eMusic wish list for maybe a year.

It went on the list for the same reason as all its neighbors: The Penguin Guide to Jazz. I am not sure quiet why I finally got around to it. It may have had something to do with the beguiling photo on the cover. At any rate, it is a real find, exactly the kind of thing you are going to like, if you like that sort of thing. Day & Taxi is a trio led by Swiss soprano saxophonist Christoph Gallio. On the 1998 release, Dominique Girod plays bass and Dieter Ulrich is on drums. Saxophone trios aren’t common and do not seem to command a large audience. They tend to empty the air around them like some ancient bard and lean heavily toward the moody and abstract. Playing soprano sax does nothing to reverse the direction. It is no wonder that sax trios almost always play avant garde jazz. — Ken Blanchard

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fillChristoph Gallio

Mösiöblö

percaso production CD 019 ©+p 2001

Sarah Maurer: mezzosoprano, Marino Pliakas: guitar, Thomas Eckert: Bb and bass clarinet, Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosax, Peter Schärli: guest, trumpet and flugelhorn,John Halpern and Felix Klopotek: liner notes.

All compositions are by Christoph Gallio except track 5, 20 by Maurer, Pliakas, Eckert, Gallio,track4, 7, 17, 25, 34 by Maurer, Pliakas, Eckert, Gallio, Schärli, track 10, 26, 35 by Maurer, Pliakas, Eckert, track 16, 31 by Maurer, Eckert, Gallio, track 11 by Pliakas, Eckert, track14 by Eckert, Gallio, track 22 by Pliakas, Gallio, track 29 by Maurer, Eckert.Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich, 1999 July 3 & 4 by Martin PearsonEdited, mixed and mastered at Elephant Château Studio Basel, 2000 July and August by Max Spielmann and Christoph Gallio. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover Art: Emmett Williams

A tribute to the Fluxus poet Robert Filliou

from the consistently stimulating saxophonist Christoph Gallio. Gallio’s background was in free jazz and improvisation, where he has worked with the likes of William Parker and Rashied Ali. The seemingly naive imagery and flirtatiousness of Filliou’s texts couldn’t be further removed from the angst and tension of free jazz and has allowed Gallio to “begin again from the beginning”. His chirpy saxophone lines set the tone for Sara Maurer’s texts while Thomas Eckert (clarinets), Marino Pliakas (guitar) and Peter Schärli (trumpets) add a surreally animated backdrop, not too far in spirit from those oddball East European cartoons that Channel Four used to broadcast. — Philip Clark

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agroBrian Agro

Poems and Preludes

percaso production CD 018 – ©+p 2001

Tomas Bächli: piano

Tomas Meyer and Brian Agro: liner note. Music by Brian Agro. Recorded live direct two-track at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse Berlin, 1999 August 2 & 3 by Marcus Waibel. Edited, mixed and mastered at Elephant Château Studio Basel, 2000 July and December by Max Spielmann and Christoph Gallio. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover Art: Alain Huck.

In Poems and Preludes

Tomas Bachli gives a powerfully expressive solo piano performance of modern classical music by Brian Agro. The forms are varied, contrasting, and adventurous, and at times evoke the spirit of Ferrucio Busoni’s early 20th century Sonatinas, particularly at track number four, entitled “What Goes Up.” However, as a composer, Agro is not so easily pigeonholed, as his technique is all encompassing, making use of the complete harmonic spectrum and orchestral range of the modern grand piano. And his chromatic concept should not be underestimated. Even students of improvised music should benefit from close attention to the highly original chord structures and melodic treatments here. Make no mistake about it: these are perfect piano recital pieces. The depth and breadth of these performances make them as important as Paul Jacobs’ late 1970s sessions for Nonesuch Records. — James D. Armstrong Jr.

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privDAY & TAXI

PRIVATE

percaso production CD 020 ©+p 2003

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosaxophone, Daniel Studer: double bass, Marco Käppeli: drums.

Composed by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich, 2001 December 15 & 16 by Andy Neresheimer. Edited and mixed at Elephant Château Studio Basel by Max Spielmann. Mastered at Gallus Tonstudio St. Gallen by Johannes Widmer. Liner notes by André Behr and Christoph Gallio. Text corrected by Dieter Lüdin. Foto inside by Beat Streuli. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover Art: Christopher Wool

DAY & TAXI has been a distinguished improvising unit for over 15 years

and for most of that time, soprano and alto saxophonist Gallio was joined by drummer Dieter Ulrich and either bassist Lindsay L. Cooper or Dominique Girod. In 2001, Gallio rekindled the concepts of the trio , which now features bassist Studer and drummer Käppeli. The music of this version of DAY & TAXI is dotted with angularity and keen incisiveness. Gallio alternates between connected phraseology and abrupt terseness, keeping the music in an ever-changing mode. He barks out sharp retorts on the stright horn and than glides easely into longer- formed lines of unstructured speech. The soprano selections are marked with acuteness. Gallio burrows deeply into the marrow of the compositions and rattles around the bone to produce music with chilling vibratos. The strident voice of the soprano dominates the soundscape with the eerie tonality. — Frank Rubolino

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matDAY & TAXI

MATERIAL

percaso production CD 021 ©+p 2003

Christoph Gallio: soprano & altosaxophone Daniel Studer: double bass Marco Käppeli: drums

Composed by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich, 2001 December 15 & 16 by Andy Neresheimer.Edited and mixed at Elephant Château Studio Basel by Max Spielmann. Mastered at Gallus Tonstudio St. Gallen by Johannes Widmer. Liner notes by Dominik Steiger.Text corrected by Dieter Lüdin. Foto inside by Beat Streuli. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover Art: Peter Z Herzog

Festes Tuch, fein gewoben //

Inspiriert von heutiger Kunst und Lyrik geht der Saxophonist Christoph Gallio seit Jahren einen eigenen Weg, der sich durch abgezirkelte Melodien auszeichnet. Im Trio mit Daniel Studer und Marco Käppeli spinnt er prägnante Materialideen fast bedächtig fort – frei, aber bestimmt. Die Musik besitzt Poesie und feinen Humor. Eine runde Kreation zum aufmerksamen Zuhören. 
– Jürg Solothurnmann

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liveDAY & TAXI

live in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Taipei

percaso production LP 022 ©+p 2005

Christoph Gallio: alto & soprano sax Christian Weber: bass Marco Käppeli: drums

All compositions by Christoph Gallio (exept Lun Hua Hua). Recorded live by DAY & TAXI (exept the concert at the Living Room in Taipei which was recorded by Corbett Wall and the recording at the Taipei National University Concert Hall) March 22nd, 2005 at JZ Club in Shanghai, P.R.ChinaMarch 29th, 2005 at True Color Club in Shenzhen, P.R.China April 1st, 2005 at National University Concert Hall in Taipei, TaiwanR.O.C.April 2nd, 2005 at Living Room in Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.Edited by Christoph Gallio and Christian Weber. Postproduction and mastered by Christian Weber. Produced by DAY & TAXI. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Photos inside by Irene Huang and Christoph Gallio. Cover art by Ai Weiwei (Fotos “Untitled” 2005, courtesy Galerie Urs Meile, Switzerland)

Der Alto- & Sopranosaxophonist Christoph Gallio

war mit seinem Trio, das seit 2004 mit dem Bassisten Christian Weber und dem Drummer Marco Käppeli besetzt ist, immer schon reiselustig – Russland (1993, 2000), Baltikum (1993), Kanada (1994, 1998), U.S.A. (1998), Japan (2001). Im März/April 2005 brachten die drei Schweizer dann sogar Taiwan und die Volksrepuplik China zumindest musikalisch unter einen Hut. Etwas kokett, was durch die Vinyledition noch betont wird, zeigen sie nun akustische Schnappschüsse von diesem Trip. Hört her, Day & Taxi im Living Room und der National University Concert Hall in Taipei, im JZ Club in Shanghai, im True Color Club in Shenzhen. Andererseits, da mag Konfuzius noch so sehr die Stirn runzeln, spricht Gallio mit seinem Lacy-esken Cool-Jazz-Pidgin eine derart attraktive und elegante Weltsprache, dass die Vorstellung, sie tatsächlich in einem fernen, wenn nicht völlig fremden, so doch weitgehend unvertrauten Kontext auszuprobieren, zu verlockend war, um sie nicht zu realisieren.– Rigobert Dittmann

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out DAY & TAXI

OUT

percaso production CD 023 ©+p 2006

Christoph Gallio: alto & soprano sax Christian Weber: bass Marco Käppeli: drums Sara Maurer: guest on 4 & 18, mezzo soprano.

All compositions are by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich, 2004 June 26 & 27 by Ron Kurz. Edited by Christoph Gallio and Christian Weber. Mixed at Will-Y Klangdach in Guntershausen by Willy Strehler, ChristophGallio and Christian Weber. Mastered at Oakland Recording in Winterthur by Walter Schmid. Foto inside by Beat Streuli. Liner notes by Peter Z Herzog. and Christoph Gallio. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover art by Yoshitomo Nara

This incarnation of DAY & TAXI

the ongoing project of Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio, welcomes the playing talents of double bassist Christian Weber and drummer Marco Käppeli, together with vocalist Sara Maurer who appears as a guest in two tracks. The smart choice of dividing the record in many segments – some of them lasting a little more than 30 seconds – highlights the extreme variety and the polyhedric culture of these artists, who tackle the music with the right attitude. We hear modifications of jazz formats, rock vamps, ironic swing that gets obliterated in favour of instant calypso recollections. And, what’s most important, everything sounds absolutely un-sugarcoated and highly digestible – even if at the end of the CD you won’t probably remember a single line or theme. One never experiences a seething feeling while listening to “Out”, not even in the most complex pieces: the absence of excessive contrapuntal knots, mixed with a lucid interpretation of the spur-of-the-moment intuition that animates most of these tracks, and the musicians’ notable technical fecundity yield an energizing album that fuses composition and improvisation into a whole that – as very rarely happens in new jazz – is both lighthearted and donative in terms of aural gratification. — Massimo Ricci

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hits GALLIO / STREULI

HITS / STILLS

percaso production 24/25 DualDisc (DVD PAL 16:9 / CD) ©+p 2006

Claudia Rüegg: piano Beat Streuli: visuals Christoph Gallio: music

All compositions are by Christoph Gallio. Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich, 2004 June 9 & 10 by Ernst Thoma. CD edited by Christoph Gallio, DVD edited by Beat Streuli Mixed and mastered at Oakland Recording in Winterthur by Walter Schmid. Foto inside by Ernst Thoma and Annamira Jochim. Graphic design by Anne Hoffmann. Cover art by Beat Streuli

This release is indeed a double layer disc: one side CD, the other DVD

(in European Pal format). In both sides the music was composed by Christoph Gallio and interpreted by Claudia Rüegg on piano. The “Hits” are eighty short segments (that’s right, eighty) of sketches, glimpses and delicacies that follow a kind of artistic ideal which I share completely, as I myself have always been fascinated by the idea of suggesting without concluding, like planting a small seed that the receivers will water with their own imagination. These vignettes alternate refined harmonies, barely imagined scale fragments and ironic outbursts (OK, very few of the latter ones) but never leave the ambit of an inquisitive, reflective mood that, in some moments, made me mentally define them like a compound of Chick Corea’s “Children songs” and certain well-known pages from Erik Satie’s book. Rüegg plays with competent technique and semi-detached approach, the compositional depth clearly audible throughout the program. On the DVD, the tracks accompany a series of photographs and “Stills” by Beat Streuli, shot in Tokyo in 2006. The strange pairing of Gallio’s music with images of huge buildings and people from the street (the large part of them dealing with a cell phone, one would say) works well, the highlight being Rüegg’s digital adroitness underlining splendid nocturnal visions featuring the anti-crash red lights of the skyscrapers, continuously on and off in a flickering game of hide-and-seek with blackness. — Massimo Ricci

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brianBRIAN AGRO

PROCESSION OF THE ORNAMENTS

©+p 2007

Tomas Bächli: piano

All compositions are by Brian Agro. Recorded at Boxhagener Saal Berlin, 2006 December 13 & 14 by Klaus Barm. Edited and mixed at Percaso Studio Baden by Christoph Gallio and Martin Lorenz. Mastered at Oakland Recording in Winterthur by Walter Schmid. Graphic design by Anne Hoffman. Liner notes by Raphael Urweider. Cover art by Rolf Winnewisse.

Pianist Tomas Bächli

studied with Werner Bärtschi and has been the receiver of numerous prizes throughout a career largely built upon interpretations of the works of modern composers (although he regularly performs Bach, Albeniz and other past heroes, too). He’s also half of a piano duo with Gertrud Schneider, in which they tackle quarter-tone and just intonation music. In this CD, Bächli plays a set of 14 pieces by Canadian Brian Agro, this recording constituting my first encounter with his output, in spite of the fact that he’s already released material on this very label. Although he was born in 1953, Agro is one of those authors whose writing appears to be firmly positioned in a back-looking time frame: elegant lines and semi-consonant chords are sparsely deployed, fruits of a nostalgic temperament ready to be harvested by expert hands. In certain passages the instrument (which seems to have been recorded in a large room from a distance) resounds charmingly, an aura of smiley sadness pervading the air in a tranquil afternoon. Music that leaves a lot of space for thoughts to fly around and pose on the dusty shelves of distant reminiscences, played without magniloquence yet far from being secretive. A responsive interpretation of a rather mysterious artist’s compositional idea, his obscurity contributing to an even deeper intrigue in enjoying this disc. — Massimo Ricci

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mosiCHRISTOPH GALLIO

MÖSIÖBLÖ “AMPLE FOOD”

©+p 2007

Sylvia Nopper:  soprano | Marino Pliakas: guitar | Thomas Eckert: clarinet & bassclarinet | Christoph Gallio: soprano & alto sax. | Guests –  Peter Schärli: trumpet | Bernhard Bamert: trombone | Dominique Girod: double bass | Martin Lorenz: vibes | Ernst Thoma: electronics

All compositions are by Christoph Gallio. Words by Robert Filliou. Recorded 2006 September 3 & 4 at Will-Y Klangdach in Guntershausen by Willy Strehler. Recording supervised by Martin Lorenz. Mixed by Willy Strehler and Christoph Gallio. Mastered at Oakland Recording in Winterthur by Walter Schmid. Liner notes by Steve Dalachinsky. Cover art by Andres Lutz / Anders Guggisber.

The new CD by Gallio is more close to modern classical music then to jazz.

He composed a suite made up of 92 small pieces, not one longer then 60 seconds. Prominent are the vocals of Sylvia Nopper, who sings with classically trained voice. Gallio plays soprano and alto saxes, Marino Pilakas (from Steamboat Switzerland) guitar and Thomas Eckert plays clarinet and bassclarinet. All of them we hear throughout this album, assisted by a few other musicians in some of the pieces. The miniatures are played very sensitive and with taste. The arrangements are crystal clear. Beautiful simple music. Gallio took inspiration from the poetry of Robert Filliou for this work. Each composition is named after a question that Gallio took from the work of Filliou and Sylvia Nopper sings them. The voice of Nopper is okay, however I often had difficulties in understanding what she exactly is singing. But let that be the only minor point for this excellent cd. —  Dolf Mulder

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