Marco von Orelli, trumpet
Manuel Mengis, trumpet
Co Streiff, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Peter Landis, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone
Hans Anliker trombone
Hans-Peter Pfammatter, piano, keyboards
Luca Sisera, double bass
Valentin Dietrich, electric bass
Fredi Flükiger, drums, rain percussion
Chris Jäger-Brown, percussion
Trixa Arnold, turntables
: Music is the living history of mankind. The ROOT DOWN ORCHESTRA is deeply rooted in tradition, in the African and Arab music, in black Free Jazz of the sixties and Europ`s „New Music“ scene. The radical changes in the Arab countries were the actual trigger for my new large ensemble compositions; the set actually starts with an adaptation of a protest song of the Tunisian rapper „El Général“ that became in fact the anthem of the Arab Spring. The music on TAHRIR draws from memories and at the same time comments on current dramatic events; i am also particularly interested in the „cultural“ rifts, edits, crossfades, overlappings; the themes then only serve as a kind of marker; in-between the collective liberates itself and erupts with enormous energy.
