LUCAS NIGGLI ZOOM MEETS ARTE QUARTET

Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli set up his Zoom trio in 1999, with trombonist Nils Wogram and guitarist Philipp Schaufelberger. The group also plays in an extended formation with clarinettist Claudio Puntin and double bassist Peter Hebert, as Big Zoom. Besides that Niggli is also known as part of the energetic Hammond-avantcore-trio Steamboat Switzerland, the Ensemble für Neue Musik Zürich and his work with pianist Sylvie Courvoisie and vocalist Susanne Abbuehl. The repertoire of the Arte Quartet, established in 1995, varies from Arvo Pärt, Phil Glass and Steve Reich to contemporary Swiss composers such as Rudolf Kelterborn and Jacques Wildberger. The collaboration between Zoom and the saxophone quartet resulted in CD, Crash Cruise, about which The Wire wrote: ‘German trombonist Nils Wogram is the star here, opening the album in a relentlessly swinging duo with drummer Niggli that reels in guitarist Philipp Schaufelberger and the four saxophonists. The compositions and arrangements are needle sharp and effortlessly executed, and the soprano parts are played at speed and absolutely dead centre.’