The Swiss composer and pianist Nik Bärtsch developed a special style of his own with his band Ronin, described by him as Zen Funk. That means a striking mix of Steve Reich's 'minimal music' with the sound of a jazz band, the grooves of a funk band and the phase-shifting polyrhythms of an ethnic music group. The music is somewhat like the repetitive trance-like jazz improvisations of The Necks,
… although the songs are shorter than those of this Australian trio. Bärtsch wrote all the pieces on Holon (all entitled Modul), but the album is clearly a product of the entire band, further consisting of saxophonist / bass clarinetist Sha, bass guitarist Björn Meyer, drummer Kaspar Rast and percussionist Andi Pupato. Small individual improvisations are secondary to the group sound, but at the same time provide subtle variations and nuances in the meditative grooves, making them never dull. Bärtsch Ronin delivers with Holon a wonderfully fascinating album and proves that beautiful new things can still happen in jazz. (HB)more
