christoph grab's CRYPTIC BLUES

The Members of the Band Concerts Pressmaterial mp3: listen on "sounds" page

The “Christoph Grab Quartet” plays a swinging, vibrating kind of jazz, rebellious and fresh, dynamic and interactive, with lots of open space left for the soloists’ different personalities. The band leader’s simple, song-like compositions allow them to go off at a tangent into profound, narrative improvisations. They are accompanied by a highly flexible rhythm section, the interaction between them and the soloists appears to be outright telepathy. Christoph Grab’s grand, warm kind of tone combined with the deep sound of Flo Stoffner’s guitar amalgamate with Christoph Sprenger’s swinging bass and Dieter Ulrich’s energetic drums to build a whole: music with character and personality.

Their latest release: the CD “personal” (UNIT REC, UTR4156) came out in October 2004.


Beat Blaser, musician, journalist and editor at DRS2 (Swiss radio) writes about “personal”:

For a long time now the 37 year-old Zurich sax player Christoph Grab has counted among the most independent and most interesting instrumentalists on the musical scene. What is so striking about him is his broad array of interests: He is into electronics, works with classical musicians, plays tenor sax in the Zurich Jazz Orchestra; and with all these different activities he manages to remain true to himself. Proof for that can be found on his latest CD, the first one released under his own name since long. You can virtually hear it: this is not some kind of short-lived throw-away product, it is rather something that has taken time to come to maturity, like a Sauternes (dessert wine from Bordeaux), it is sweet, but not sickly sweet, it has fruit, it has a certain acidity, and lots of taste, and last but not least, it has a long shelf life. Grab’s sound is a particularly rich and warm one; his improvisations show his vivid imagination and his thirst for adventure. His music is full of surprises, at the same time not without stringency. His co-musicians support him in a congenial manner: young guitarist Flo Schaffner has a remarkable spectrum of expression, drummer Dieter Ulrich swings like we haven’t heard it for a while, all of this is built solidly on the foundations of Christoph Sprenger’s bass. The title of this album is “personal”, it is a statement of strength of a musician at the height of his art.
JAZZTIPP AARGAUER ZEITUNG, October 2004

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The Members of the Band:

Christoph Grab (ts, as)
These are names given to Christoph Grab, and terms used to describe his music as found in the press:
‘ the soft Coltrane’ (M. Hennessey)
‘ the improviser with the innovative vocabulary’ (T. Gsteiger)
‘ a radical melodizer’
‘ blows his soul right through his horn’ (P. Bürli)
‘ realizes his vision of jazz improvisation without any licks or clichés’

Flo Stoffner (git)
A soloist with a will of his own; almost closer to rock music than to jazz. In his improvisations, he roams with long strides through the most remote corners of the composition.

Christoph Sprenger (b)
A highly sensitive accompanist with very attentive ears; he will follow the soloists wherever it takes, at the same time remains their swinging home base.

Dieter Ulrich (dr)
A most resourceful drummer, permanently present, with inexhaustible energy. A great instant composer and musical architect.

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Concerts

The CD Release Tour

Christoph Grab’s latest album ‘personal’ was released on the 1st of October 2004 (UTR4156).
This is the sax player who 'seems to blow his soul right through his horn' (jazz critic P. Bürli about Christoph Grab). He and his crew make an excellent team improvising in such a dynamic way on these eight compositions of his.

On their Tour the “Christoph Grab Quartet” will present their new album and some of their latest compositions:

12.8.04 BeJazz Festival Bern
2.10. Sunnehof Uznach
7.10. Spinnihalle Baar
14.10. Jazzclub Moods Zürich (Plattentaufe) mit Mathieu Michel(tp) als Gast
28.10. Hotel Jakob Rapperswil
29.10. Jazzfestival Richterswil
30.10. Schlosshof Altikon
17.12. Kulak Baden
28.1.05 Jazzfestival im Roessli Staefa
31.1. Elite Jazz Langnau

5.5. Bird's Eye Basel
11.5. Morillon, Bern
12.5. VarioBar, Olten
14.5. Dejavu Jazzlounge, Biel
19.5. Rest. Lido, Sarnen
20.5. Gambrinus, Kastanienhof, St.Gallen
21.5. JAZZFESTIVAL SCHAFFHAUSEN
24.6. Tangente, Eschen (LI)
5.11. Jazzessenz Festival, Aarau
14.12. Theater am Gleis, Winterthur
12.1.06 MOODS, Zürich CD-Taufe CRYPTIC BLUES(mit Adrian Mears tb)
22.1. BeJazz Festival, Bern (mit Adrian Mears tb)
26.1. CargoBar, Basel (mit Adrian Mears tb)
21.2. KUGL, St.Gallen
25.2. KKG, Kulturraum Kunsthaus Glarus
4.3. "Repfergasse26", Schaffhausen

SerbienTournee 2006
25.10. 2006 jazzclub, indjija
26.10. 2006 club "zeleno zvono", Zrenjanin
27.10. 2006 jazzfestival sabac
28.10. 2006 jazzfestival pancevo
29.10. 2006 jazzfestival belgrad
30.10. 2006 jazzclub, nis

28.12. 2006 MaagFestival06, Zürich

Deutschlandtournee 2007
09. Jan. 2007 Berlin, A-Train
10. Jan. 2007 Dresden, Blue Note
11. Jan. 2007 Berlin, B-Flat
12. Jan. 2007 Lüebeck, liveCV
14. Jan. 2007 Hamburg, Stellwerk
15. Jan. 2007 Aachen, Klangbrücke
16. Jan. 2007 Köln, Loft
19. Jan. 2007 Saarbrücken, Jazz-Syndikat
21. Jan. 2007 Stuttgart, Bix

5.3. isebähnli, baden
24.3. mehrspur, zürich

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mp3

listen to all tracks (iTunes / WinAmp)

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