Early on in 1976, the jazz critic Wilhelm E. Liefland once said something that can hardly be overlooked: “Irène Schweizer treats the piano like almost no other.” Günter »Baby« Sommer later added: “Irène Schweizer unites the best of a pianist and a drummer.” As a young girl, the autodidact, born in Schaffhausen, played Dixieland and Swing on drums, enraptured by a Louis Armstrong concert in Zurich. 1958. She then changed to ragtime and boogie-woogie on piano, and like so many musicians of her generation, practiced learning by hearing,. Always on the pulse of time, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Horace Silver, Junior Mance, as well as Monk, Bill Evans, Mccoy Tyner and then finally a live encounter with Cecil Taylor which almost meant the end of her career as a pianist as Taylor seemed so overpowering. Schweizer let herself be impressed and also inspired, and developed an independent voice as a key pianist in European jazz. The spectrum of her playing spans from ragtime to Dollar Brand, from Taylor, Monk and Carla Bley to Second Viennese School. In 2011, just before her 70th birthday, Irène Schweizer was finally allowed to play on the precious Zurich Tonhalle concert grand piano, despite her known rough playing. The concert was a victory and was released with the self-assured title “To Whom It May Concern” on Intakt Records. A classic!
