Irene's Hot Four

Irène Schweizer: Piano Rüdiger Carl: Saxophones, Clarinet, Accordion Johnny Dyani: Bass, Vocal Han Bennink: Drums, Percussion, Megaphone. Irène’s Hot Four is a resounding posthumous release from the great jazz pianist, activist and icon Irène Schweizer, who died last year (2024). The publishing of this first concert by the quartet with her companions Rüdiger Carl, Johnny Dyani and Han Bennink - which existed for around a year and a half and only played a handful of gigs - closes a gap in the pianist’s discography. "The concert with the Irène Schweizer Quartet in Zurich 1981 demonstrates a theatrical performance that remains musically coherent despite the spectacle. The music is action-oriented, pushy, and takes on an urgency and bidding character through constantly interwoven repetitions. This snapshot resembles a manifesto. This is Jazz with the anger of a Charles Mingus, the boldness of a Fats Waller and the energy of punk", writes Bert Noglik in the liner notes.