How does he do that? The miracle voice from Switzerland: Videos

The Swiss voice acrobat Andreas Schaerer ranks success in success. In the documentary film “The Sound of the Voice” he is now also to be admired in the cinema. And his latest band project is a first highlight in the still young jazz year.

“That’s a circus. That does not belong in a respectable study, »said the lecturer to the young music student Andreas Schaerer, as he imitated with his voice a trumpet. Fortunately, the student did not let himself be discouraged. Because there was no common literature, he simply developed his own vocabulary, his own vocal instruments for his own compositions. Actually, he always sang outside the norm. Even as a small button, he sang about the structure of his aunt’s “Plättliboden”, says Andreas Schaerer in the documentary film “The Sound of the Voice” by Bernhard Weber, who won the “Prix Public” for the most popular public film at the Solothurn Film Festival.

41-year-old Andreas Schaerer is a vocal wonder, a vocal acrobat whose voice penetrates new universes and amazes the listener. He is constantly expanding his vocabulary. He is currently practicing click and snap rhythms, making a whistling sound with his cheek muscles and singing over his nose. Everything at the same time! Without tricks and technical aids. How does he do that?

The mainstream is knocking

He has long since left his mark on the Swiss jazz scene. As a musician, composer, teacher, impetus, impulse giver, role model, figurehead and leading figure for young, up-and-coming Swiss jazz. Two years ago, he was honored in Germany with an “echo” in the category for the best international jazz singer. Since then, organizers from all over the world have been rapturous about the miracle singer from Switzerland. Schaerer plays in the Champions League of European jazz and makes his former idols like Bobby McFerrin look old.

And suddenly even the mainstream knocks on Schaerer’s door. The SRF regional journal is interested in him and recently he was a guest at “Aeschbacher”. Amazing for a newbie and avant-gardist like Schaerer. Or maybe not: Because despite all the desire to experiment, Schaerer’s art also has a high entertainment value. And he himself does not seem detached, is a sociable, uncomplicated type. “I felt very well at Aeschbi,” he says.

And now, for the past two weeks, he has also astonished the moviegoers in Switzerland. Already over 4500 visitors have seen the film, which even left “Papa Moll” in last week’s cinema charts.

Commissioned work for the Sinfonietta

Schaerer is a possessed, a driven. A workhorse at the height of his creative power. His last year’s acclaimed work “The Big Wig” led him to European grand orchestras, to the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and to further composition commissions, for example for the Sinfonietta Basel. The work will be premiered at the opening of Casino Basel 2020.

Also last year was an album with a veritable super band of European jazz released. “Out of Land” with the high flyers Emile Parisien (sax), Vincent Peirani (accordion) and Michael Wollny (piano). And in these days, the next blow follows: “A Novel Of Anomaly” is the third album within a year on the ambitious German label ACT of the well-known producer Siggi Loch. The core is the duo with the Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli, extended by the guitarist Kalle Kalima and the accordionist Luciano Biondini. When the bassless quartet met for the first time at the end of 2015, it sparked immediately. “It was love at first tone. Everything evolved naturally and naturally, »says Schaerer.

The singer is the band’s symbolic leader, but the quartet sees itself as a “sworn unity” without hierarchies. “Out of Land” is a project of four individualists, “A Novel Of Anomaly” a real band. A quartet that celebrates life. It breathes Italian poetry but is very rhythmic and groovy. Italianità meets the African experiences of Kalima and Niggli. Schärer yodels and represents the alpine cultural area. For the singer, it is important to give way to the sound of each musician’s mother tongue. “Fiore Salino” is Italian, “Laulu Jatkuu” Finnish and on “Swie Embrie” Schaerer sings Valais German in his first native language. “A Novel Of Anomaly” plays a breathtaking, emotional, adventurous and incredibly rich music. It is a European jazz band of the absolute top class and the first highlight in the young jazz year.

USA not interesting

Crazy! Schaerer’s diary is full. “I do not have the time to do intensive tours with all projects,” he says. Currently he is in Israel, then in Mexico and meanwhile even organizers from the country of origin of Jazz have become aware of the vocal virtuosos. “For me, the US has not been the focus of my interest so far,” says Schaerer, rejecting the requests from the US for the time being. There is no relation between expenses and returns, and in general working conditions for musicians in Europe are more relaxed than in the USA.

Schaerer is in the comfortable position of being able to select the performances in a targeted manner. He has set a limit of a maximum of 100 concerts a year. His family with the singer Brigitte Wullimann and the two children plays an important role in this consideration: “It is important to me that our family has enough space.”

Cinema “The Sound of the Voice” by Bernhard Weber with Andreas Schaerer and Regula Mühlemann.

CD Andreas Schaerer A Novel Of Anomaly (act / mv). Appears tomorrow.

Live 2.4. Out Of Land, Stuttgart; 4.4. with Christoph Stiefel Stanzerei Baden; 29.4. A Novel Of Anomaly, Off Beat Festival Basel; 18.7. Hildegard Learns Flying, Voice Festival Lörrach; 24.8. Hildegard Learns Flies, Gysenstein; 25.10. The Big Wig with Wuerttemberg Philharmonic, Reutlingen; 11.3. A Novel Of Anomaly, JazzNoJazz Festival Zurich.