Pressestimmen

The music on this CD gives best proof of Ignaz Schick’s living sense for creative art. Although the trio clearly plays in the free mind of the sixties, it achieves new facets of expression in each of the eight tunes. An apt choice for his alto style, the disc starts with Ornette Coleman’s "Lonely Woman", first recorded by the composer in 1959 with Don Cherry on trumpet. You hear this moving, ballad-like tune in a fascinating re-arrangement that makes fine use of diverse receipts from the free-jazz esthetics but adds a distinguished kind of dramatic feeling to the music creating that rare thing known as beauty.

Following the spirit of the opener, the CD continues walking on the edge between "in" and "Out" - with heavily swinging passages and fundamental rubato parts, memorably nice themes and strong personal statements from all players. Of Cherry’s own tunes, the disc presents the floating "Complete Communion" (from the legendary Blue Note album of the same title), Buddhist-inspired "Chenrezig" (from "Brown Rice") and African-rooted "Guinea" (from an "Old and New Dreams" album) - all played in a very pure and joyful way. You can’t help but be impressed and pleased by Ignaz Schick’s tone and phrasing and the congenial support he gets from bass and drums. The same is true for the trio’s renditions of Albert Ayler’s ecstatic, yet frolicsome hymns "Ghosts and "Holy Spirit" he first recorded in 1964 with Don Cherry in his band. Here the trio tunes up the energy level screaming like one man - until they get calmed down by Chick’s unaccompanied saxophone introduction to "Guinea".

Hans-Jürgen Schaal, December 1996
 
 

"Etwas anders", das trifft die Musik von Schick recht gut; eine breit angelegte Collage ohne feste rhythmische Struktur, mit extremen Dynamiksprüngen, mit Halbtönen, die sich reiben, mit Melodiebögen, die mal an den Freejazz der 60er von Albert Ayler oder Ornette Coleman erinnern, dann wieder an Werke der Zwölftonmusik oder an die Noise-Szene um John Zorn und Fred Frith. Die Partituren bestehen aus herkömmlichen Noten, aber auch aus Dreiecken, Blitzen und Anweisungen wie "Micky Mouse Imitations" oder "Death Scream". Für den Maler und Musiker Ignaz Schick sind Komposition und Graphik gleichberechtigte Ausdrucksmittel. "Mein Ziel ist es, Klänge sichtbar und Landschaften hörbar zu machen", sagt er. Schicks Landschaften gehören zu einer Welt, in der "etwas anderes" jederzeit möglich ist.

Wolfgang Farkas, SZ, 7.12.94