Sylvie Courvoisier

Composer/pianist Sylvie Courvoisier is known for an unusual, impulsive style that weds the chamber music of her European upbringing with the hook-filled jazz of her adopted home of New York City. She emerged in the mid-'90s with a pair of quintet albums, 1994's Sauvagerie Courtoise (as the Sylvie Courvoisier Quintetto) and 1996's Ocre. A highly collaborative artist, she recorded with musicians such as violinist <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Mark Feldman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3gkJ7lXtLpE4KauFHpk2vK">John Zorn</a> before eventually releasing her solo piano debut, Signs and Epigrams, in 2007. She followed it with numerous further collaborations, including several with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> and a series of albums with her trio with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4HMyzDtVu6uNLYQZqYeOXK">Drew Gress</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6Zn84vmI9vs51dH9UK52bV">Kenny Wollesen</a>. In 2021, Lockdown teamed Courvoisier with woodwindist <a href="spotify:artist:3iPiojms0LEjBg8RqKuChh">Ned Rothenberg</a> and percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:6uZnp5qm39fcS98jofdiHz">Julian Sartorius</a>. Each composition was dedicated to a different inspiration on the 2024 solo piano outing To Be Other-Wise.

Courvoisier was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, in November 1968. Both a prolific composer and an imaginative pianist, she attended the Conservatoire de Lausanne, where she trained in composition, conducting, and piano. At the Conservatoire de Montreux, she studied jazz. Recording under the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Unit+Records%22">Unit Records</a> label as the Sylvie Courvoisier Quintetto, she released her debut album, Sauvagerie Courtoise, in 1994. In both 1995 and 1996, she was selected to appear in Baden-Baden at the New Jazz Meetings, and in the latter year, she received the Swiss Young Creators Award. Courvoisier took sole credit in 1997 on her next album, Ocre (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enja%22">Enja</a>), which featured <a href="spotify:artist:5h5CQGflOLRx79yYFfzknh">Pierre Charial</a> on barrel organ, <a href="spotify:artist:1A25jYWj9rD6Co1KbnBGav">Michel Godard</a> on tuba, <a href="spotify:artist:3r8v3ACOoZ2REcs2gJowqI">Tony Overwater</a> on double bass, and <a href="spotify:artist:6SQsd6xpvo1Ho9gYdQa1PL">Mark Nauseef</a> on percussion. She recorded as a duo with <a href="spotify:artist:6SQsd6xpvo1Ho9gYdQa1PL">Mark Nauseef</a> for the 1997 album Birds of a Feather (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Unit%22">Unit</a>), with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Mark Feldman</a> on 1999's Music for Violin and Piano (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Avant%22">Avant</a>), and with <a href="spotify:artist:0ZsCrNbXiG1JKXjIMWrwW3">Lucas Niggli</a> on that year's Lavin (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>).

Courvoisier's first release of the 2000s, August 2000's Deux Pianos was a duet album with <a href="spotify:artist:2dClEco8R0GNt4xWdQYZbg">Jacques Demierre</a>. Y2K appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enja%22">Enja</a> that November, featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1A25jYWj9rD6Co1KbnBGav">Godard</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5h5CQGflOLRx79yYFfzknh">Charial</a>. In 2002, she came back with Passaggio (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>), an improvisational album with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6Vl8OiMNnnLoHgrJTUBaru">Joëlle Léandre</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1Ub2G3ThYqXfRGFI0XSakJ">Susie Ibarra</a>, and Black Narcissus (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tzadik%22">Tzadik</a>), the debut of the <a href="spotify:artist:0hQQBGGnyJdh0boY48Sn0Y">Mephista</a> trio, which included <a href="spotify:artist:1Ub2G3ThYqXfRGFI0XSakJ">Ibarra</a> and electronic musician <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Ikue Mori</a>. The three of them followed it up in 2004 with Entomological Reflections, also on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tzadik%22">Tzadik</a>. In the meantime, the pianist partnered with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> and cellist <a href="spotify:artist:4fnXO89NQseAxkF5QtoDU0">Erik Friedlander</a> on 2003's Abaton, a double album for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> label. In 2004, she appeared alongside <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> on Masada Recital, a performance celebrating the tenth anniversary of <a href="spotify:artist:3gkJ7lXtLpE4KauFHpk2vK">John Zorn</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:119vFqB5OFMzhEGtH7gRU7">Masada</a> project. Courvoisier and <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> continued to explore <a href="spotify:artist:3gkJ7lXtLpE4KauFHpk2vK">Zorn</a>'s music with 2006's Malphas: Book of Angels, Vol. 3 (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tzadik%22">Tzadik</a>). The following year, she appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:6GIuatS579tQok4b5wam14">Herb Robertson</a>'s Elaboration album (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clean+Feed%22">Clean Feed</a>) as one of the so-called NY Downtown Allstars, and she released her first solo piano album, Signs and Epigrams (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tzadik%22">Tzadik</a>). Lonelyville (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>), a live quintet date with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Mori</a>, cellist <a href="spotify:artist:5BIPwQz0A7OFdHPJxbvaEi">Vincent Courtois</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4RvllXSRb8WB2CsfjalFs9">Gerald Cleaver</a>, was also issued in 2007. Courvoisier, <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Mori</a>, and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:5lQJ66Sc8W6j6IqrwhmFIy">Lotte Anker</a> joined up for Alien Huddle, which arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a> the following year. In 2009, Courvoisier, <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Mori</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5hqB3Fxgin9YGYa0mIGf1G">Laurie Anderson</a> were among the contributors to <a href="spotify:artist:3gkJ7lXtLpE4KauFHpk2vK">John Zorn</a>'s Femina, a tribute to the creativity of women, and Courvoisier released a duo album with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:79CKjkgIoXOZB6Hwzg5vrz">Ellery Eskelin</a> titled Every So Often (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Primesource%22">Primesource</a>).

In 2010, the ensemble for <a href="spotify:artist:4fnXO89NQseAxkF5QtoDU0">Erik Friedlander</a>'s 50 Miniatures for Improvising Quintet (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SkipStone%22">SkipStone</a>) consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:4fnXO89NQseAxkF5QtoDU0">Friedlander</a>, Courvoisier, violinist Jennifer Choi, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6hvUUAdvQkBwvcbSzAGXbU">Trevor Dunn</a>, and percussionist Mike Sarin. That year, she also issued As Soon as Possible (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CAM+Jazz%22">CAM Jazz</a>), a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:79CKjkgIoXOZB6Hwzg5vrz">Eskelin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5BIPwQz0A7OFdHPJxbvaEi">Courtois</a>, as well as a duo album with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> called Oblivia. Credited to the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet, 2011's Hôtel du Nord (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>) featured the rhythm section of <a href="spotify:artist:6txzCcsy6ZKKKQLHmE3Y9L">Thomas Morgan</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3HXQYmafC5U58QeKtwdW1D">Gerry Hemingway</a>. The duo re-emerged on Live at Théâtre Vidy–Lausanne in 2013, a year that also delivered the <a href="spotify:artist:4fnXO89NQseAxkF5QtoDU0">Erik Friedlander</a> recording Claws and Wings, featuring Courvoisier (piano, spinet) and <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Mori</a> (laptop). A duo album with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:42WVIJPKijZYsOWhNqnAke">Evan Parker</a>, Either Or And (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relative+Pitch%22">Relative Pitch</a>), followed in 2014, as did Birdies for Lulu (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>) by the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet, filled out this time by <a href="spotify:artist:7AxNB7slEfo3WsWmZf4TSs">Scott Colley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0x93sQfixNNuX3utx7cU25">Billy Mintz</a>. The year 2014 also saw the debut of Courvoisier's acclaimed trio with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4HMyzDtVu6uNLYQZqYeOXK">Drew Gress</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6Zn84vmI9vs51dH9UK52bV">Kenny Wollesen</a>, Double Windsor (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tzadik%22">Tzadik</a>).

Courvoisier, <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Mark Feldman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:42WVIJPKijZYsOWhNqnAke">Evan Parker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0RKzY8HLNpYPo0haH86CrN">Ikue Mori</a> teamed up for 2016's Miller Tale (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>). Meanwhile, that year's In Cohoots featured Courvoisier, <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a>, and woodwindist <a href="spotify:artist:3iPiojms0LEjBg8RqKuChh">Ned Rothenberg</a>, while Salt Task (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relative+Pitch%22">Relative Pitch</a>) paired her with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6eozRDXAMzUv0aXz74fE50">Chris Corsano</a> and trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:151kdGxCPmdZZqaYsd79F5">Nate Wooley</a>. The pianist then backed <a href="spotify:artist:151kdGxCPmdZZqaYsd79F5">Wooley</a> on 2017's Battle Pieces 2, and a duo release with guitarist/composer <a href="spotify:artist:5tCfZ8dYbzaq6auQeSAsRl">Mary Halvorson</a>, Crop Circles, was issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relative+Pitch%22">Relative Pitch</a>. Back with her trio with <a href="spotify:artist:4HMyzDtVu6uNLYQZqYeOXK">Gress</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6Zn84vmI9vs51dH9UK52bV">Wollesen</a>, D'Agala (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>) saw release in 2018. She appeared alongside <a href="spotify:artist:151kdGxCPmdZZqaYsd79F5">Wooley</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3GLpFMa3feEODjzWx0XSIO">Tom Rainey</a>, and saxophonist/clarinetist <a href="spotify:artist:55Wpgt1Y1RISpita5RLxGm">Ken Vandermark</a> (aka the quartet VWCR) on Noise of Our Time in 2018. That year, Courvoisier was the recipient of the Swiss Music Prize for Outstanding Jazz Musician.

Not slowing down, she offered a piano duo album with <a href="spotify:artist:2dClEco8R0GNt4xWdQYZbg">Jacques Demierre</a>, HOODOOS, as well as Time Gone Out with <a href="spotify:artist:4SOKSspBiacwf4ovOGG2iA">Feldman</a> and Pulse with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:0Jslr1qHw4vAAfNTXMUq8T">Alfred Vogel</a> midway through 2019. The third LP by the <a href="spotify:artist:3Ql7Yt5yMHHIrMQBAM1v86">Sylvie Courvoisier Trio</a>, Free Hoops, followed in 2020. She then rejoined <a href="spotify:artist:5tCfZ8dYbzaq6auQeSAsRl">Halvorson</a> for Searching for the Disappeared Hour (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pyroclastic+Records%22">Pyroclastic Records</a>) and teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:3iPiojms0LEjBg8RqKuChh">Rothenberg</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6uZnp5qm39fcS98jofdiHz">Julian Sartorius</a> for Lockdown (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clean+Feed%22">Clean Feed</a>), both issued in late 2021. Lockdown was recorded in Bern, Switzerland, in October 2020. She also contributed to the 2021 <a href="spotify:artist:151kdGxCPmdZZqaYsd79F5">Nate Wooley</a> release Mutual Aid Music. An award launched in 2021 to recognize diversity and creativity, Courvoisier won the German Jazz Prize for piano (international) in 2022.

The year 2023 brought the release of no fewer than three Courvoisier projects: the duo album The Rite of Spring, Spectre d'un songe (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pyroclastic%22">Pyroclastic</a>) with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5UageRpKPwCqXQLs79kXO3">Cory Smythe</a>; the quartet outing Crossing Four (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clean+Feed%22">Clean Feed</a>), featuring Courvoisier, <a href="spotify:artist:5tCfZ8dYbzaq6auQeSAsRl">Halvorson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3iPiojms0LEjBg8RqKuChh">Rothenberg</a>, and percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:5dCBz1YSzBI2WiXnCRqtCs">Tomas Fujiwara</a>; and Chimaera (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a>), where she was backed by <a href="spotify:artist:1eE9oB7Z69NzfALiUJYKUm">Wadada Leo Smith</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:151kdGxCPmdZZqaYsd79F5">Nate Wooley</a> on trumpet, Christian Fennesz on guitar and electronics, <a href="spotify:artist:4HMyzDtVu6uNLYQZqYeOXK">Gress</a> on bass, and <a href="spotify:artist:6Zn84vmI9vs51dH9UK52bV">Wollesen</a> on drums and vibraphone. Released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Intakt%22">Intakt</a> in 2024, To Be Other-Wise was a set of solo piano dedications, with tributees ranging from influences to colleagues and her cats. ~ Marcy Donelson & Charlotte Dillon, Rovi