liner notes:

… The musicians shy away from neither confrontation nor integration, yet these attributes do not define their music. It is rather that the musicians open up a broad field of dynamic sounds and impulses within which compositional and improvised elements amalgamate so seamlessly that we can distinguish neither. What we hear is elemental music making – a music that is by turns flowing and unwieldy, music that develops and consolidates, music that is full of both lively interactions and atmospheric pockets of silence. Anything is possible with this music and yet it complies with an intrinsic intelligence that knows no boundaries but is rooted. It is the bright light of transformation ….
Pirmin Bossart

cd reviews / comments:

…Areas is the Gabriela Friedli Trio’s second album. And, what a powerful album it is. …It is at once abstract and straightforward, thoroughly contemporary but rooted in earlier traditions. One hears echoes of ECM-styled jazz, deconstructed blues, and contemporary classical spaciousness.
Absolutely recommended.
Nick Ostrum, Freejazzblog, 2018

…With such compositional accord displayed throughout, elation comes in noting how the trio moulds turbulent dissonance into unexpected narrative sequences while maintaining flowing concordance.…
Perfectly capable of composing a prototypical contemporary jazz piece with a walking bass line, a shuffling drum beat and a bouncing and sinewy exposition as on “Miedra”, the pianist’s most exciting work, and that of the trio, confirms Friedli’s response to the challenge of Studer’s playing and writing.
Ken Waxman, Jazzword, 2019

…Manchmal ist kaum erkennbar, wo die Nahtstellen zwischen Komponiertem und Improvisiertem verlaufen. Der "aufgeladene" Zeitfluss des Free Jazz, vom Tröpfeln und Stottern bis zum reissenden Fluss, verbindet sich mit dem Flair der Neuen Musik zu kammermusikalischem Klang. Darum hat auch spärliche tempolose Klangerforschung Platz. Grosse Soli gibt es nicht. Für die drei heisst Improvi­sation gemeinsam formen…. Sie kennen und spüren sich gut und entsprechend greifen die individuellen Inputs eng ineinander. Das Geschehen bleibt oft verhalten und lebt von nuancierten kleinen Wechseln des Tempos und der Dichte. Aber es hat immer innere Energie…
Jürg Solothurnmann, Jazz'n'More 2019

…E' come se i tre non si sentissero, chiusi nella loro espressione, con la pianista svizzera che snocciola una serie di soluzioni non complete: quasi come sentire Monk o Taylor in una stanza di deframmentazione. Ma i risultati sono eccellenti. Ne deriva, dunque, che Areas è un cd di altissimo livello in tutte le sue parti, perché sa suscitare l'astrattismo del pensiero in maniera perfetta, tramite lo stratagemma della segmentazione e dell'impulso creativo del momento.
Ettore Garzia, percorsi musicali, 2019 (ettoregarzia.blogspot.com)

…the Friedli trio is devoted to its materials in a true, contemporary fashion. Nine original pieces form the date’s basic architecture. But the roots in shape and line only run so deep: often, they melt away and the elements naturally cohere, splinter, and subdivide. Rhythmically, there’s a reluctance to open up, turn, and drive forward: skittering, off-kilter, asymmetrical line and motion prevail. … There is great instrumental know-how. Each piece finds its own areas of interplay; the record’s title is apt.
Greg Buium, point of departure, 2019

…Pianiste vive et sensible, a l'articulation claire, eile distille un jeu tres conternporain nourri de jazz, Jaissant beaucoup d'espace et d'initiative a ses deux acolytes, tout en rnaintenant une grande densite au trio. Du beau travail.
Culturejazz, 2019

il convient de reconnaître que l’implication n’est plus en question : le trio s’engage dans la mêlée et mord la poussière si necessaire… La recette n’a pourtant pas totalement changé. Batteur et contrebassiste sont toujours l’axe inflexible d’une formation où le piano est libre… Dans Areas, le trio est plus égalitaire que jamais ; chacun trouve sa place, son propre espace vital. … Une belle plongée dans la vivacité de la scène zurichoise.
Franpi Barriaux, citizenjazz, 2018

„…Das Trio testet die Spannung der Stille, will in ihr und durch sie den Zauber der Sounds erspüren. Heraus kommen nicht Geräuschsammlungen oder andere Impro-Klischees. Jeder See, dessen Tiefe man erforscht, bietet ja auch andere Welten unter der Oberfläche. Mit diesem Gestus nähern sich Friedli und ihr Trio den Kompositionen und formen daraus ein farbensprühendes Klangerlebnis.
Thorsten Meyer, Jazz Podium, 2018

die stücke/konzepte ergänzen sich hervorragend und führen jeweils sehr organisch in die improvisationen (bzw daraus heraus).
es herrscht viel klarheit und trotz sehr prägnanter strukturierung wirkt die musik nie didaktisch.
super platte!
Christian Weber, 2018

Gabriela Friedli leads a conversant and intuitive trio with Daniel Studer/b and Dieter Ulrich/dr. Ulrich adds a bugle to a couple of pieces such as the dark and ruminating “Largo” and rumbling “Um Su.” Friedli’s piano gets kinetic with edgy bas bowing on “Fil da Ramosa” while she plucks along with Studer on “Miedra.” Spacey moods are created on “Hul Hound” while the fingers scramble around on “Bova Blaua.” Long and dark shadows.
George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly, 2018

…un équilibre où chaque improvisateur a une voix à égalité dans le champ sonore de manière cohérente, relativement ludique et excellemment coordonnée. Le plaisir d’écouter et de suivre leurs diverses architectures élaborées pour chaque morceau … Donc, il ne s’agit pas d’un trio de pianiste accompagné par un contrebassiste et un batteur, mais surtout une construction évolutive où l’activité instrumentale est équipotente et équidistante autour d’un centre rotatif imaginaire dans le sens de la plus grande démocratie « symbolique » possible en contradiction flagrante avec les rapports de force hiérarchiques qui ont cours au sein de trop nombreuses expressions musicales, même lorsqu’elles se revendiquent du free-jazz, de l’expérimentalisme etc… Exemplaire et (pour moi-même) à réécouter.
Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, Orynx, 2018

È un progetto in cui l’ascoltatore è messo davanti ad una musica in divenire, al processo creativo degli artisti, in cui le strade fra composizione ed improvvisazione totale si intersecano rendendo difficile scoprire quale delle due sia quella seguita all’istante dagli esecutori. Tuttavia ciò è secondario davanti alla bellezza della musica in sé in esecuzioni dalla forte carica emotiva. C’è tutto quello che il trio per pianoforte ha espresso nell’ambito della musica moderna, dal free jazz in poi, in un continuo movimento alla ricerca del nuovo. Fra atmosfere in cui il contrabbasso suonato con l’archetto dà un’impronta misteriosa, ed altre in cui la propulsione, suonato con la tecnica del pizzicato, diventa irrefrenabile, il disco lascia una traccia indelebile nell’ambito del trio per pianoforte moderno.
Musiczoom, Vittorio, Juli 2018

… That suggests to me that there is always the intention to go further than the normal confines between conformation and invention. This is improvisation in progress, in which each musician may be heard in their creative process, and in a balanced, sharing dialogue. The routes between structure and ad lib do so thoroughly interconnect that it is a matter of some confusion, trying to resolve who is following which. Areas is a very authoritative album, one which will leave its clear traces among newer piano trios.
Ken Cheetham, jazzviews.net, 2019

↑ top