Release April 11, 2005
Erika Stucky Princess Traumton Records / INDIGO CD 5756-2 file under: jazz/vocal/Stucky
Erika Stucky: vocals, accordeon, elektronicas Bertl Mütter: trombone, euphonium Jon Sass: tuba Knut Jensen: elektronicas Mnozil Brass (Gansch-Rother-Rindberger-Paul-Füssl-Partyka-Brandsötter): brass septett, choirs Thomas Gansch: trumpet Franz Treichler (younggods.com): vocals, guitar, sounds Lucas Niggli: drums
Princess
Hippie picnics in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to a flowery soundtrack of the Monkees, Donovan and Nancy Sinatra. Then suddenly the scene changes abruptly to mountain valleys, yodelling choruses and polka folk in traditional Swiss costume with the Valais Alps looming on the horizon. How a child can handle such a disparate wealth of idyll, how a woman can finally create her own unique vocal universe from it, this we have been able to experience and enjoy in the past few years when the Alpine-American Erica Stucky blesses us with her stage and CD presence. Now she invites us to a third audience with “Princess“- and we hear a nutty, playful, royally profound soundwork with blue and hot-blooded prominence en masse. A big and robust rival to the frail princess of the pea.
Much has been written about this crazy transatlantic biography that whisks a young maiden away from the S.F. Bay Area to “Valais in Wonderland”. How Erika Stucky not only therapied her childhood culture shock at the C.I.M. Jazz School in Paris with voice training, but actually transformed it, making a powerful entrance onto the jazz floor with George Gruntz and Ray Anderson. And how she finally did a neat job of performing the full intercontinental splits with her very own project “Bubbles & Bones”. Amorphously to metamorphic. The amazed press described it like this at times: “Schimmering between alpine girly and jazz lady – more heart-rending than seriously avant-garde. “Serious fun“ (Rolling Stone). „Vocal action art between Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk and Tom Waits“, discovered Stereoplay. And FAZ states soberly: „There aren´t many vocalists of Erika Stucky’s kind.” What a noble understatement.
In light of the fact that this creative Kraut is sprouting rampantly with unlimited originality in her solo program. A full but elaborately filigree horn section of tuba, trombones and trumpets makes up an extraordinarily clever setting for her onomatopoeic, cineaste-inspired mini-dramas, sometimes her own “Stucky pieces”, sometimes picked from the richly covered fields of popular music from Sting to Hendrix, or even Nazareth.
Vertriebe: Deutschland: INDIGO TRAUMTON RECORDS Schweiz: Musikvertrieb AG Österreich: Hoanzl Grunewaldstraße 9, D - 13597 Berlin, Germany Benelux: Lavial phone ++49 (0) 30 331 93 50 fax ++49 (0) 30 331 93 70 Digital: www.finetunes.de e-mail: [email protected] Erika Stucky Princess
This is the sound philosophy the Swiss (not by choice!) Miss continues to spin on the third leg of her solo journey. Mischievously slipping into all those princess gowns tailored just for her, showing us how things sound “at the King’s”. The people she plays with.
If the ranks of horn-blowing combatants were built up on the second album “Lovebites”, with Ray Anderson and Lew Soloff among others, this time there are, believe it or not, nine horns on board. The Boston Viennese Jon Sass, tuba player and euphonium-master (Hans Theessink, Henry Threadgill, Vienna Art Orchestra) has been part of the crew since the last album, as well as trombone player Bertl Mütter (Camerata Obscura, Haslinger-Mütter-Puntigam) – they are the chanteuse’s constant companions. With Mnozil Brass however, another seven wild giants from Tu Felix Austria deliver horn-blowing vocals, among them Thomas Gantsch distinguishing himself with solo intermezzi. Knut Jensen congenially attends to the electronic ornamentation with Ms. Stucky herself, percussive improviser Lucas Niggli (Pierre Favre, Fred Frith, Butch Morris...) sets thrilling accents. And with Franz Treichler, a living “Young God” from the number 1 Swiss cult band of the same name joins in with a most unusual part in the script. And these are only the players IN FRONT OF the scenes of the palace.
If one wanted to get all the heads behind the songs together for the royal family photo there would be a real collection of the curios. The little prince from Minneapolis would be sitting there with his playmates Wendy & Lisa on the throne. Leaning on his side, the uncrowned king of grunge, Kurt Cobain. The “(killer) Queen” in person in the form of Freddie Mercury miming an androgynous diva. Her spouse, King Elvis doing a jailhouse rock across the tiles of the palace hall. And to counterbalance the evil Cobain, bad boy Michael from Neverland Ranch would drop by. Aristocratic composure would seldom be maintained, but certainly no one would want to play the picky pea princess.
In spite of being embedded in all that royalty, the „Stuckian“ women’s roles usually remain earthy and deep-rooted. In „Fearless“, the striking fanfare opener, an Amazon princess presents herself wearing golden bracelets and carrying a shield of “trust” to the sound of a droning alphorn-like metal dodrun. Similarly self-confident is the heroine in her own composition “Untouchable”, laughing danger in the face and howling with the wolves, making chills run right down your spine. In “You know You’re Right”, a Cobain song published posthumously, with the Mnozils providing a droll backing, it no longer seems to be Kurt, but his wife Courtney lolling lasciviously around the microphone. Jackson’s “Bad” is sprinkled with Muhammad Ali’s battle cries, setting vocal multi-tracking highlights. In “Jailhouse Rock”, rock’n roll machismo is unmasked by screaming background furies. And there are a couple of tearjerkers in between: A princess waiting unwaveringly and befitting her rank that one day her prince will come, with a heavenly hymn of deliverance at the end. And then Young God Franz Teichler goes off on a duet excursion into Linda Ronstadt’s repertoire: „El Sol Que Tu Eres“ – How splendidly can confederate souls and romantic Chicano myths be united! As a central highlight however, the “dominatrix” thrones in the middle of Stucky’s compositions, a more than worthy successor to the “Roxanne” of her debut album. With a rap-like foreplay the strict temptress entices to a hot strip that the seven boys from Mnozil Brass – pulling out all the New Orleans stops – fire on. To the happy-like ending a last question : Isn’t there a Queen Mother in every mom, who wants to spoil her little boy?
Resolute Amazon, devouring S/M-lady, choleric Rock’n Roll queen and mothering Queen Mom of hearts – Erika Stucky convincingly masters all of her very special royalty-roles.
Download photo: http://www.traumton.de/princess_d.html Homepage: erikastucky.com Booking: Ralph Gluch Jazzproductions, [email protected] Back-Catalog: CD Bubbles & Bones (2001) , CD Lovebites (2003)
TRAUMTON RECORDS Grunewaldstraße 9 , D - 13597 Berlin, Germany phone ++49 (0) 30 331 93 50 fax ++49 (0) 30 331 93 70 online info & shop: http://www.traumton.de e-mail: [email protected] Erika Stucky Presscuts
CD Bubbles & Bones
* "American-Swiss vocalist Erika Stucky is being celebrated as one of the most original new voices on the international jazz scene. Her Swiss roots join hand with big city spontaneity to span a bewildering but tremendously enthralling bridge between down-home alpine and urban nightmare." Frankfurter Allgemeine
* "The biggest surprise on opening night of the Berlin Jazzfest was the debut of vocalist Erika Stucky, whose territory encompasses that of Sheila Jordan, Bobby McFerrin and Bruce Hampton. " America's Jazz Magazine - Jazztimes, USA
* "Erika Stucky is singing her way through world history" Jazzthetik 10/2001
* Fabulous The only place she is not enjoying the worldwide reputation she deserves is in her own home country: Erika Stucky, who grew up in both Mörel, Switzerland and in San Francisco. Wallis, Switzerland gave her her roots, the USA her brazenness: Stucky entertains passionately, easily, lovingly, mixing the mountains' magic with their own worst nightmares, and finally reflects humorously on her double role as housewife and jazz star. Comedy without slapstick, art without conceit, jazz songs that don't have a gram of fat to spare. Magnificent - musicians Ray Anderson, Art Baron, José Davila, Dino Saluzzi, George Gruntz - and Knut Jensen from the famous Basler duo Knut & Silvy. www.facts.ch, November 2001
* "....Erika Stucky is an original. In the funworld of music she whisks up concoctions of Ellington and the Police, Aerosmith with the Beatles or Randy Newman. Scatting and yodelling, yearning like crazy and swinging like mad, she is at times groovy, wistful, nostalgic. Pop, jazz and folk flow together into a lusty and amusing avant-garde entertainment mix. It excites because with all that fun there's just no place for cynicism. And none at all for triteness. " Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 3.11.2001
* "Stucky has found her "thing" - between two cultures, at home in both of them, juggling both with virtuosity, making hers one of the shrillest performances on the current European scene." Coolibri, November 2001
* This American-Swiss vocalist, surrounded by brass (the "Bones"), relishes her stroll through an adventurously diversified repertoire. Jazz, entertainment, cabaret? Bubbles & Bones." Jazzzeitung 11/2001, Critics Choice - Bert Noglik, MDR
* MUSIC-CHECK * * * * * HIFI-CHECK * * * * * "Original and strange" Stereo 12/2001
* "...vocal performance art between Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk and Tom Waits." Stereoplay 12/2001
TRAUMTON RECORDS Grunewaldstraße 9 , D - 13597 Berlin, Germany phone ++49 (0) 30 331 93 50 fax ++49 (0) 30 331 93 70 online info: http://www.traumton.de e-mail: [email protected] Erika Stucky Pressestimmen
* "....Bubbles & Bones is definitely some of the funniest stuff vibrating loudspeakers today." Klassik Heute 12/2001
* INTERPRETATION * * * * * KLANG * * * * * Star of the Month Fono Forum 12/2001
* "Erika Stucky? Never heard of her? You're missing something big ... A great album by an extraordinary artist." Westzeit 12/2001, Klaus Hübner
* * * * * "Switching back and forth between little girl from the Alps and jazz lady....more heart-rending than seriously avant-garde: serious fun." Rolling Stone 1/2002
CD Lovebites
* "Outstanding" ***** Interpretation ***** Soundquality Fono Forum 11/2003, Star of the month
* "A masterpiece" Jazzpodium 1/2004
* "I have no bloody idea what is going on in "Lovebites" but I like it all the same. Erica Stucky doesn't provide any ral liner notes so just what this weird cavernous set is - besides some kind of meditation on love - is a mystery. it uses orchestrations that are drunken forms of tango and waltzes all done in a spooky ominous fashion with electronics and taped voices in the background. Stucky sings well and the atmoshere - with big low horns like sousaphone and tuba out front - is genuinly spooky. It's a genuine blast hearing those horns boom put the familiar themes of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 was 9". Ray Anderson comes by to contribute some crusty New Orleans trombone and cracking, jivey vocals on "I'll se you in mey dreams". Stucky's own material is best summed up by "The Manson Look", a flash of orchestral brightness leading into a theatrical song about people with serial killer gazes, decorated with tuba, tympani and anonymous growling sounds. Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones have worked similar boho junkshop vibes, but neither of them had ever had quite the scary, European flavour Stucky creates here. If this were on a major American label, critics would probably hail it as a masterpiece. As it is, it will probably remain a close secret, but at least you know about it now. Cadence Magazine 3/2004
TRAUMTON RECORDS Grunewaldstraße 9 , D - 13597 Berlin, Germany phone ++49 (0) 30 331 93 50 fax ++49 (0) 30 331 93 70 online info: http://www.traumton.de e-mail: [email protected]