Potage du Jour to tour southern Africa

The band, formed in late 1999, is the result of informal live sessions where sounds are fused, strung together, juxtaposed or opposed to widen the limits of playing and interacting. The inventions breathe with vocal actions, chants, rhythm pulses, sound cascades, reverberations, melody clips and unorthodox sounds.

As a vocalist, Franziska Baumann explores the human voice as a multifaceted instrument by expanding traditional boundaries. In her performances she seeks to explore and to invent new forms of vocal expression.

Jürg Solothurnmann absorbs and transforms a multifaceted style whose spectrum ranges from folklore imaginaire through jazz to speech-like and pointillist sound figures. The varying aesthetics of song within diverse cultures from around the world inspire him as much as does the most modern classic.

Christoph Baumann, one of Switzerland's most ubiquitous musicians and composers, is firmly rooted in contemporary jazz, but on the other hand has a profound understanding of such styles as salsa and new classical music.

Performing two pieces

The Trio will be performing two pieces: A[we]-struc[k]-ture and Sing You! la-re-ti by South African composer and musician Pierre-Henri Wicomb who they met in 2011 when he was on a Pro Helvetia supported residency in Switzerland.

A[we]-struc[k]-ture is a piece for ensemble and tape (pre-recorded electronic track), written for different musical set-ups. For the Swiss ensemble Ums `n` Jip, another Swiss duo with whom Wicomb collaborated during his Swiss stay, this piece was strictly notated for counter tenor and tenor recorder. This second version, rewritten for the free improvising approach of the ensemble Potage du Jour, is written more as an open score, with no time signatures or specific notes.

Sing You! la-re-ti is a piece for voice, saxophone, piano and soundtrack composed for Potage du Jour. In creating the piece, Wicomb recorded vocal improvisations by Franziska Baumann, which he then manipulated into a pre-recorded track. As Wicomb explained: "The intention is to allow the musicians to improvise over their improvisations."

After the tour, the Potage Trio will remain in the Mother City and, together with the composer, record his compositions. The CD release is planned for early next year.

Tour dates