Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Welcome Back (2015) [Hi-Res]

Irène Schweizer and Han Bennink like to play together – you can hear it in every note. After a tour of Switzerland, the two went straight in the recording studio. The result is a stunning second album: "Welcome Back“. The music moves between freely improvised pieces, beautiful jazz standards, and songs influenced by South-African melodies which are a trademark of Irène Schweizer (such as her classics 'Rag“ and 'Bleu Foncé“). Schweizer says: “Han and I are soul-brother and soul-sister. We have the same taste and rhythmical feelings in jazz music.”

As Kevin Whitehead points out in the liner notes: “Hard to believe this is only the second Irène Schweizer-Han Bennink duo album, given how much they share, how far back they go, and how obviously they love playing together. But then, top improvisers have hectic schedules. Folks talk about how loud Han can be, how ruthless with duo partners, but this music confirms his sensitivity to dynamics in conversational playing, his generosity in support, his eagerness to hear his partner’s views.”
The two share the same sense of play, lyricism, swing feeling, percussive clarity and historical grounding. A mastepiece! (https://www.intaktrec.ch/images/363_Schweizer-katalog21.pdf)

1.01 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Welcome Back (6:01)
1.02 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Kit 4 (3:02)
1.03 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Trap 5 (3:57)
1.04 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Free for All (4:44)
1.05 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland (2:13)
1.06 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Verflixt (2:43)
1.07 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Rag (2:53)
1.08 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Bleu Foncé (3:43)
1.09 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Apus Melba (4:40)
1.10 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Ntyilo, Ntyilo (3:25)
1.11 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Firewood (3:05)
1.12 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - To Misha with Love (3:23)
1.13 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - I Surrender, Dear (2:18)
1.14 - Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer - Eronel (1:54)