“The Big Wig” is a masterpiece by the multi-talented vocal marvel Andreas Schaerer. This is a work which situates him quite clearly and definitively among the most important composers and interpreters of contemporary music of his generation.
Andreas Schaerer, from Berne in Switzerland, is currently one of the most talked-about vocal artists on the international music scene, and with good reason. He was awarded the title of International Vocalist of the Year at the 2015 ECHO Jazz Awards (in the year immediately following Gregory Porter), but he is considerably more than just a singer - and to classify him under jazz doesn’t really do him justice either. Schaerer uses his voice in the manner of a juggler, a magician. He can not only make it sound forth in contrasting stylistic idioms and vocal registers, (switching at will from songster to crooner to scatter), he can also produce all kinds of sounds and imitate a whole range of instruments. He can do beatbox percussion, or he can stack up polyphonic vocal parts on top of each other in a way which seems unfeasible. In additio...
line upHildegard Lernt Fliegen:
Andreas Schaerer / voice, beatboxing, human trumpet
Andreas Tschopp / trombone
Matthias Wenger / alto & soprano saxophone, flute
Benedikt Reising / baritone saxophone & bass clarinet
Marco Müller / bass
Christoph Steiner / drums & marimba
Orchestra of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ACADEMY
conducted by Mariano Chiachiarini
Composed & orchestrated by Andreas Schaerer
Recorded & filmed live in concert at Lucerne Festival,
KKL Lucerne concert hall, 5th September, 2015
Recorded by Moritz Wetter for Radio SRF 2 Kultur
Radio producer for SRF 2 Kultur: Peter Bürli
Edited by Christoph Utzinger & Andreas Schaerer
Mixed & mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin
Produced by Andreas Schaerer
Cover art by Uwe Kowski, Tisch, 2015
by courtesy of Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016
