Vienna Art Orchestra – Inside Out, Live ‘87 (Double CD, D’CD 2062/3)

More than 100 minutes of live music by one of Europe’s most important big bands at the height of its powers. In November 1987 the Vienna Art Orchestra under Mathias Rüegg played two concerts in Switzerland, at the Mühle Hunziken and at Kaufleuten in Zurich. This double CD captures both nights.

The line-up is the classic VAO: Lauren Newton on vocals, Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Sokal and Roman Schwaller on saxophones, Herbert Joos, Hannes Kottek and Bumi Fian on trumpets, Christian Radovan on trombone, Jon Sass on tuba, Uli Scherer on keyboards, Heiri Känzig on bass and Wolfgang Reisinger on drums. The programme is typical Rüegg, full of wit and contrast. There are original compositions with wonderful titles like “The Opener Is Bizarre”, “When Blue Serpents Refuse to Dream in Prison” and “Three Questions for an Improvising Pianist” (“Drei Fragen an einen improvisierenden Pianisten”). There’s an arrangement of Herbert Joos’ “Melancholie”, and the orchestra’s own versions of Thelonious Monk’s “Off Minor” and the standard “Cry Me a River”.

Big band power, free improvisation, humour and a lot of soloist freedom: this is the Vienna Art Orchestra as audiences experienced it on stage. Released on Moers Music. When you buy here, you’re buying directly from the label, and we only sell originals.

The Side Story

Mathias Rüegg founded the Vienna Art Orchestra in Vienna in 1977, and the band became one of the leading jazz ensembles in Europe and an official cultural ambassador for Austria. Many of the musicians on this album were there from the very beginning: Lauren Newton, Wolfgang Puschnig, Harry Sokal, Christian Radovan and Jon Sass were all founding members. The mid-1980s were the busiest years. The orchestra toured relentlessly across Europe, played festivals from Montreux to Moers, and topped nearly every jazz poll.

That’s what makes this recording special. Shortly afterwards, at the end of the 1980s, the orchestra broke up for a short time. When the VAO returned in 1992, it was smaller and focused more on arrangements of Ellington, Mingus and classical composers. Inside Out is one of the last documents of the classic big band line-up.

The Swiss concerts were a kind of homecoming. Rüegg was born in Zurich, and bassist Heiri Känzig is Swiss too. Almost every musician here appears on other Moers releases: Puschnig and Mitterer on Obsoderso, Puschnig and Reisinger with the Pat Brothers, Sokal and Känzig in the trio Depart, and Newton, Joos and Radovan with the Vienna Art Choir.

Tracklist

1. The Opener Is Bizarre – 10:08

2. Melancholie (Herbert Joos, arr. Rüegg) – 9:15

3. A Light Poem in a Dark Soul – 7:04

4. Off Minor (Thelonious Monk) – 15:50

5. When Blue Serpents Refuse to Dream in Prison – 9:06

6. Drei Fragen an einen improvisierenden Pianisten – 7:30

7. Dedicated to I. N. – 6:33

8. Bewegung im toten Punkt No. II – 6:22

9. Inside Out – 5:10

10. Cry Me a River (Arthur Hamilton) – 7:37

11. Lost Statement – 7:22

12. Two Little Animals – 9:51

Compositions by Mathias Rüegg unless otherwise noted. Total running time: approx. 102 minutes

Personnel

• Mathias Rüegg – conductor, composer, arranger

• Lauren Newton – vocals

• Hannes Kottek – trumpet

• Bumi Fian – trumpet

• Herbert Joos – trumpet, flugelhorn

• Wolfgang Puschnig – alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute

• Harry Sokal – soprano & tenor saxophone, flute

• Roman Schwaller – tenor saxophone

• Christian Radovan – trombone

• Jon Sass – tuba

• Uli Scherer – keyboards

• Heiri Känzig – bass

• Wolfgang Reisinger – drums

Details

• Format: Double CD

• Label: Moers Music

• Catalog no.: D’CD 2062/3

• Recorded: Live, November 14 and 15, 1987, Mühle Hunziken and Kaufleuten, Zurich, Switzerland

• Price: €20.00 (instead of €26.00)