Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin

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"Nik Bartsch and Ronin have crafted a singular sound, a curious mix of mathematics, mysticism and ringing rhythmic beauty. Who says there's nothing new happening in jazz?" - Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Nik Bärtsch’s music occupies a niche all its own, equidistant from contemporary composition, funk/soul grooves and scattered world musics. What to call it? “Zen funk” is one of Bärtsch’s terms for his pieces, “ritual groove music” is another. It is music that can claim the widest influences – in interviews Bärtsch has referenced Stravinsky, Morton Feldman, Bartók, James Brown, the Meters, ritual music of Japan, folk music of Greece, Romania, Sweden. The list goes on. It is much more of a ‘body music’ than the music of the Minimalists to which it is frequently compared. The concert coincides with the release of Holon which follows directions set in motion by the band’s first ECM album Stoa. “The band”, says Bärtsch, “has simply reached a much higher level of playing, and as an organism is much further developed.”