Nik Bartsch's Ronin Live

[Facelift]

Does anybody know if these guys ever play in the US?

Also, does anybody know if Stoa or Holon were ever released on vinyl? Maybe it's just me, but all the lower-end resonance on these albums makes it seem like they would sound particularly awesome on vinyl.

[NogbadTheBad]

Just to second others opinions, wonderful album.

[Spiral]

Does anybody know if these guys ever play in the US?

They were just here last fall, but it was only for two or three shows at festivals on each coast. I don't imagine this kind of music having a lot of prospects for a 'proper' tour, tragic as that is.

[Steve F.]

Does anybody know if these guys ever play in the US?

They play the US, at least sometimes. I saw them in Washington, DC several years ago. They were in the USA (west coast only, I believe) several months ago.

[wideopenears]

They played Yoshi's here in the Bay Area a while back, and I'm still wearing the hair shirt because I missed them...

[Facelift]

They play the US, at least sometimes. I saw them in Washington, DC several years ago. They were in the USA (west coast only, I believe) several months ago.

They played Yoshi's here in the Bay Area a while back, and I'm still wearing the hair shirt because I missed them...

Good to know. I'll put them on my radar. I'd love to see one of these shows.

[E()]

Count me as a fan, particularly the live album.

[jkelman]

My reviews of all four ECM albums can be found here.

[chalkpie]

This kicks serious booty.

[Udi Koomran]

Glad to see brother Frankie sinking his teeth into this

[calyx]

I'm lucky that they seem to play Paris once or twice a year. Late last year as a trio, a few months ago again with Sha on bass clarinet, which I ultimately prefer.

[Udi Koomran]

How does the current band ( new bass player and no percussion ) strike you
Both ex members were phenomenal players who contributed immensely to the Ronin sound

[chalkpie]

Glad to see brother Frankie sinking his teeth into this

Loving it man. Thanks for showing me the way

I had heard/seen like a 5-minute YT clip a few years back but then pretty much forgot to check them out further, until you guys mentioned them on Ian's thread about minimalist jazz/rock. Really special stuff - I can see why you think so highly of this music. I can see the "spiritual" aspect too, not that dissimilar from Indian classical music in that respect. Still waiting on the 2-CD "Live" album in the mail.

[chalkpie]

I'm lucky that they seem to play Paris once or twice a year. Late last year as a trio, a few months ago again with Sha on bass clarinet, which I ultimately prefer.

How did the trio come off? That octet (or whatever) above is wonderful in they can go in so many different directions.

[Spiral]

That octet (or whatever) above is wonderful in they can go in so many different directions.

Then it's probably not Ronin, is it? My understanding was that that name is for the specific quartet, and Nik Bärtsch's Mobile is the outfit that can change configurations as needed.

[Spiral]

Ah. Now that I open the vid in a new page, I see the title says Ronin Rhythm Clan. Maybe that was a name he used for a one-off or something.

[chalkpie]

^ so that Octet is/was not the normal group?

[calyx]

Regular line-up these days is piano / bass clarinet / electric bass / drum kit.

[jkelman]

Ah. Now that I open the vid in a new page, I see the title says Ronin Rhythm Clan. Maybe that was a name he used for a one-off or something.

Not a one-off: an offshoot, saw them in Germany two years ago and they kicked ass. Think of Ronin but with a hen section giving it a little James Brown

My review:

November 10, Alte Feuerwache Mannheim: Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Rhythm Clan

Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch is one of the few artists that Enjoy Jazz Festival Director Rainer Kern invites back almost every year. And why not? He's an artist who has carved out a very specific musical niche, one that combines hypnotic elements of minimalism with some straight-up funk grooves, something that's been called "Zen funk" and "ritual groove music." His longstanding Ronin group has gone through some significant changes in the past couple years, with original bassist Bjørn Meyer leaving to focus more time on his own projects (in addition to Tunisian oudist Anouar Brahem, who will be at the festival with his Astounding Eyes of Rita group later in the festival), and, not long after that, losing percussionist Andi Pupato, leaving the group that, while together for considerably more years, began achieving greater international recognition for a series of ECM recordings that began with 2006's Stoa and can be heard, most recently, on 2012's Live, which featured Meyer's replacement, Thomy Jordi, on the two-CD set's closing track.

While that track made clear that, while Ronin would be changed, it would be in good hands with Jordi, it couldn't possibly prepare anyone for Bärtsch's 2013 Enjoy Jazz performance at the Alte Feuerwache. Labelled "Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Rhythm Clan," it was a significantly expanded version of Ronin, with remaining members Sha (bass clarinet) and Kasper Rast (drums) augmented by guitarist Manuel Troller and a three-piece horn section consisting of saxophonist/flautist Fabian Capaldi, trumpter/flugelhornist Martial in-Albon and trombonist Michael Flury. If the expectation was that this would be an amped up, more muscular version of Ronin, those feelings couldn't have been more wrong...and more right.

Read the rest of the review here (scroll down).

[jkelman]

Then it's probably not Ronin, is it? My understanding was that that name is for the specific quartet, and Nik Bärtsch's Mobile is the outfit that can change configurations as needed.

Not really. Mobile was an early group that hasn't worked in over a decade I think. Ronin, as the quartet it is now, is the core...the flagship group. But Nik is experimenting with other configurations around that core quartet and Rhythm Clab is one of them.

[Spiral]

Man, it's a bitch to find simple straight info about this guy online sometimes even at his own site. Here's the first thing I found in a search for Rhythm Clan...

http://www.skopjejazzfest.com.mk/nik...ythm_clan.html

NIK BÄRTSCH piano
KASPAR RAST drums
THOMY JORDI bass
SHA bass-clarinet, saxophone
MANUEL TROLLER guitar
FABIAN CAPALDI saxophone, flute
MARTIAL IN-ALBON trumpet, flugelhorn
MICHAEL FLURY trombone

Ronin is, at heart, made up of piano, bass clarinet, bass and drums, releasing their last album, Live, on ECM as a quartet. Expanding this basic line-up with an electric guitar and wind/brass section is a testament to Bärtsch's musical vision and incessant desire to explore. Although the structure of the music remains the same, the enlarged ensemble adds new dimensions that become more evident in live performance.

[jkelman]

How does the current band ( new bass player and no percussion ) strike you
Both ex members were phenomenal players who contributed immensely to the Ronin sound

Surprisingly, as a fan of the original group, paring down to a quartet actually leaves (not surprisingly) more space while allowing the drummer more freedom. The result is even broader dynamics in the music. The new bassist, Thomy Jordi, is a very different player than Björn Meyer...and that's a good thing. He brings a different kind of energy and restrained but clear virtuosity to the group, it still sounds like Ronin as a four-piece...but, at the same time different. I'll not say better, but I'll certainly say just as good, without reservation.

[jkelman]

Man, it's a bitch to find simple straight info about this guy online sometimes even at his own site. Here's the first thing I found in a search for Rhythm

Of course if you'd read my review below you'd have seen the full personnel listed (now conveniently bolded)

[Spiral]

Not a one-off: an offshoot ... Read the rest of the review here (scroll down).

Thanks! Somehow I'd missed that one (and didn't see your post until after mine). Good to learn something, even if I'm a couple years late.

And according to their official fb, it seems Mobile's still been active as recently as April.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Did the 'Rhythm Clan' release anything?

Sorry if this was made clear somewhere in the thread.