Discography

Lucas Niggli Solo
Alchemia Garden

Lucas Niggli   Drums / Percussion

Alchemia Garden: the album’s wonderful title, creates an enchanting, ambiguous effect. Lucas Niggli relates the organic, biological and growing, which develops on its own and is cultivated and maintained in the form of the garden, to the metamorphosis of material, the scientific search for something unknown which historically has been seen to generate something new.
During his thirty years of playing live Lucas Niggli recorded with many musicians like Aly Keïta, Barry Guy, Sylvie Courvoisier, Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard, Andreas Schaerer, Nils Wogram, Elliott Sharp, Steamboat Switzerland, Erika Stucky. He has occasionally given solo concerts, for example a performance at the big John Cage Festival in Switzerland in the late 1980s at which Cage himself witnessed Niggli’s performance of 27’ 10.554” for a Percussionist. It is time, in the best sense, for Lucas Niggli to release a solo album. What a great way to celebrate one’s own 50th birthday – with this gift to himself and the listener.
New York critic Laurence Donohue-Greene writes in the liner notes: „as a drummer blessed with a percussionist’s intuitive sense and virtuosic capability and range, Niggli’s memorable solo performances here unquestionably add to the tradition of the great solo drummers who preceded him while keeping an eye on the horizon.“

A NOVEL OF ANOMALY ( Schaerer Biondini Kalima Niggli
A Novel Of Anomaly

Andreas Schaerer / voice
Luciano Biondini / accordion
Kalle Kalima / guitar
Lucas Niggli / drums

BEYOND (Jürg Wickihalder, Barry Guy, Lucas Niggli)
BEYOND

Jürg Wickihalder: Saxophone
Barry Guy: Bass
Lucas Niggli: Drums

Release Date : 18. April 2017

Barry Guy The Blue Shroud Band
The Blue Shroud

Barry Guy: Bass, Director
Savina Yannatou: Voice
Agustí Fernández: Piano
Ben Dwyer: Guitar
Percy Pursglove: Trumpet
Maya Homburger: Violin
Fanny Paccoud: Viola
Torben Snekkestad: Soprano, Tenor Sax
Michael Niesemann: Alto Sax, Oboe
Michel Godard: Tuba, Serpent
Per Texas Johansson: Tenor Sax, Clarinet
Julius Gabriel: Baritone, Soprano Sax
Lucas Niggli: Drums, Percussion
Ramón López: Percussion

After his great compositions for the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and the Barry Guy New Orchestra, Barry Guy has written a large scale work for a new international ensemble.
Guy's work The Blue Shroud is an hommage to the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso. It is for the people of the Spanish town, who were victims of the Nazi German air force bombardment during the Spanish Civil War. Guy also wants us to remember the occasion in 2003, when the Guernica-tapestry at the UN Security Council was obscured by a blue drape as Colin Powell made the case for invading Iraq. The strength of art against the power of the military, government and the media. Barry Guy uses the techniques of new music and jazz improvisation, as well as fragments of Baroque music and a poem by Irish writer Kerry Hardie. He has transformed the poem into moving songs for vocalist Savina Yannatou. Fragments of compositions by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber and J.S. Bach are mingled into Guy's intricate work.
"The work might just be the crowning achievement in the Englishman's long and varied career", wrote The New York City Jazz Record magazine after the premiere of the 70 minute long masterpiece.

Barry Guy The Blue Shroud Band
Tensegrity ( 4CD Box!)

Savina Yannatou – voice                     
Michel Godard – tuba and serpent
Ben Dwyer – guitar
Agusti Fernandez – piano
Torben Snekkestad – soprano & tenor saxes
Michael Niesemann – alto sax & oboe
Per Texas Johansson – tenor sax & clarinet
Peter Evans – trumpet
Julius Gabriel – baritone & soprano saxes
Maya Homburger – violin
Fanny Paccoud  – viola
Lucas Niggli – percussion
Ramon Lopez  – percussion
Barry Guy – bass
Recorded:
November 18 & 19 & 20, 2014at the Alchemia Club, Krakow

The legendary Alchemia Club in Krakow (Poland) has played and continues to play
host to musicians worldwide to present their musical ideas.

In recent years Barry Guy had the pleasure to prepare large ensemble projects there during the daylight hours, whilst the evening has given way to small formations from within the big band  that, in a way, expose the heart and soul of the group, an ontological musical debate that informed the total experience of our work together.
Tensegrity represents the summation of three evening performances, where regular but most often new alliances came together for creative evocations in an  uncharted musical landscape.  To my ears these experiences in turn informed the Première performance of  “The Blue Shroud” at the end of our residency where a unified sense of purpose provided the listener with an especially emotional focus.

Keïta - Brönnimann - Niggli
KALO YELE

Aly Keïta: Balafon, Kalimba
Jan Galega Brönnimann: Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone
Lucas Niggli: Drums

Aly Keïta is one of the grand masters of the balafon, the West African xylophone. The Ivorian musician fits the balafon in interaction with artists such as Joe Zawinul, Omar Sosa and Jan Garbarek. Together with the Swiss clarinetist Jan Galega Brönnimann and Swiss drummer Lucas Niggli Keïta mixes the traditional African repertoire with Western jazz, Improvisation and African rhythms. This "Brotherhood of vibes and grooves" takes the audience on an adventurous ride.
The first element that underlies “Kalo-Yele” (“moonlight” in Bambara) is a human and affective dimension, whose origin lies many miles from Switzerland and several decades before the three musicians entered the studio. Niggli and Jan Galega Brönnimann were actually born in Cameroon and they have been friends since they were… one year old! So, they spent their youth to the sounds and rhythms of West African music.
Thierry Quénum writes in the liner notes: "If you ever wanted to try and classify the repertoire and interaction of these three musicians, I’d just have to wish you good luck! For each of them can handle the melody as well as the rhythm, or sail close to the jazz coasts as easily as near the banks of so called ‘world music’.“

Large Ensemble, Hochschule Der Künste Bern / Michael Wertmüller / Lucas Niggli / Django Bates
Terrain!Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up!

Jonathan Maag/Michael Gilsenan, tenor saxophone
Marc Stucki, tenor saxophone (guest on z. rat #5)
Linus Amstad, alto saxophone · Alexandre Soussi, baritone saxophone
Dave Blaser/Lukas Thöni/Julian Hesse/Nicola Habegger, trumpet & flugelhorn
Michael Buchanan/Florian Weiss/Julia Rüffert, trombone
Jonas Beck, bass trombone · Daniel Brylewski, piano
Brian Archinal, vibraphone · Jeremias Keller, bass
Lucas Niggli, drums

Le Miroir Du Temps / Michel Godard
A Serpents Dream

Michel Godard: serpent, electric bass
Katharina Bäuml: shawm
Brunno Hellstroffer: theorbo
Lucas Niggli: drums, percussion
Airelle Besson: trumpet

Godard, who has earned the reputation as one of Europe's most important musicians in the border area between jazz, improvisation, folk and classical music since the late 1980s thanks to a number of exceptional releases, has included the serpent repeatedly in his concerts and on his CDs for quite some time. Now, the French exceptional artist has devoted an album exclusively to the "serpent" for the first time to emphasize its magical, mysterious and ultimately very human facets. This was a labor of love for the 54-year-old. He moves on a timeline between past and present with the serpent. In the process, he tells stories that can shine in different colors and change direction at any time. The instrument actually resembles a large snake as a result. The sounds unfold in wondrous twists and turns like dreams in the mirror of time.

Michel Godard brings together renowned musicians in his ensemble "Le miroir du temps", who want to break out of customary conventions exactly as he does. "Together they manage to raise awareness of the timeliness of old music age and resonate something of the variety of sound of earlier epochs in contemporary music at the same time," Bert Noglik wrote in the liner notes for "A Serpent’s Dream". Katharina Bäuml is one of the leading Baroque oboists today and also specializes in playing the medieval shawm with her own ensemble "Capella de la Torre", the tone quality of which combines with Michel Godard's serpent in a fascinating way. The theorbo player Bruno Helstroffer also has a lot of experience in historical performance practice, but also experiments with newer ways of playing, which he develops in different contexts. Lucas Niggli, one of the most versatile European drummers in jazz as well as improvised music, knows how to create rhythmically complex and sound-sensitive contexts. Michel Godard also uses the bass guitar; a harmonious extra totally in the spirit of flexibility of Renaissance musicians and the liberties that they took.

Lorenz Raab Quartet
Impassioned

Lorenz Raab  Trumpet
Matthias Pichler  Bass
Matthias Löscher  Guitar
Lucas Niggli Drums

The new album of the Lorenz Raab Quartet is full of energy, with a desire to collectively reach a point of frenzy.
A quartet, that is staffed with an electric guitar instead of an acoustic piano indicates already that these musicians are not searching a traditional, in the mainstream of "Modern Jazz", kind of sound. The multicolored and unconventional sounds employed by Matthias Löscher , often oblique and exciting , are essential to the sound of the Lorenz Raab quartet and the guitarist himself shines with his wild and virtuosic solo explorations.
But also the tender and more impressionistic compositions by Lorenz Raab, played in interaction with his highly emphatical band members wonderfully stand out. The warm and full tone of Lorenz Raab s trumpet, played in a highly inventive and original way, carried by the sometimes unison , sometimes staggered bass lines coming from Matthias Pichler, driven by Lukas Niggli s energetic Grooves results in the nicely spiced soup that the Lorenz Raab Quartet serves to us here.

SCHAERER NIGGLI Duo
Arcanum

Andreas Schaerer Voice, Electronics

Lucas Niggli  Drums, Percussion

Just vocals and drums – that’s the line-up of the dream team of Andreas Schaerer and Lucas Niggli. Outstanding virtuosity and enormous creativity combined with the intuition of sleepwalkers, produces an astonishing sound universe full of surprises. The imagination and ability of the two musicians to communicate and react is key to their free improvisations, which nevertheless are very precise. The album was recorded in the legendary “Loft” club in Cologne and is a mixture of live and studio recordings. The result is music played on the first instruments of mankind – voice and drum – which is opulent and impulsive, direct and delicate.

SCHAERER NIGGLI DUO
Try-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met

Andreas Schaerer   Voice
Lucas Niggli Drums

The Live Recording from Jazzwerkstatt Bern Festival. February 2013. Wonderfull Sound, Mixed and Mastered by Martin Ruch/Weltschall.

BIONDINI-GODARD-NIGGLI
MAVÌ

Luciano Biondini:  Accordeon
Michel Godard: Tuba, Serpent, E-Bass
Lucas Niggli: Drums

Mavì is the title of the Biondini-Godard-Niggli trio's second CD. It refers to a clear blue, the colour seen when looking at the earth from outer space. And it says a lot about the sounds it offers us. We hear music which seems to emanate from the spheres while remaining wholly worldly, emotional and sensual. The trio formed by Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard and Lucas Niggli is unusual in various senses.
Thanks to this highly individual and fascinating instrumental arsenal the trio has a truly spectral palette of sounds at their disposal.
The music of Biondini, Godard and Niggli thrives on its poetry, the beauty of its sounds, the depth of its ideas, and also on its tension. This is generated by the weave between composition and improvisation. Which is how they succeed in making that connection be-tween form and freedom which constitutes the core of jazz. We see the earth, clear and blue.

SHARP - GIBBS - NIGGLI
Crossing The Waters

Elliott Sharp: Guitars
Melvin Gibbs: Bass
Lucas Niggli: Drums

During the two-weeks festival by Intakt Records at John Zorn's club The Stone in New York's East Village, Sharp-Gibbs-Niggli performed for the first time. Three musicians with diverse backgrounds and biographies, but a very clear common goal: instant composing with hypertension, where Elliott Sharp’s blues, Melvin Gibb’s funk and Lucas Niggli’s drive found perfectly together to celebrate an unique music with no borders, lots of colours and massiv energy. On the very day after the three musicians went for to a brooklyn-studio and recorded the CD "Crossing the Waters". Excursions in the adventurous tonal landscapes based on blues, rock and free music.

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Zeitschrei

Dominik Blum, Hammond C3 Organ
Marino Pliakas, Ebass
Lucas Niggli, Drums

all compositions © michael wertmüller (Ex-Alboth!, Full Blast etc.]
Mixed by Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Wire, Erasure etc.)

Supposedly the big step’s been taken, the novel sphere captured and developed. The future of music is now! - as it has been for almost twenty years. Steamboat Switzerland is part of an Avant-Garde movement that, despite having aged, has remained unattainable. This particularly bears upon the musical music, the energy, virtuosity and precision, with which Dominik Blum, Marino Pliakas and Lucas Niggli go about their work. And there is of course the mastermind behind this non-pareil, erratic Rock Avant-garde, that is currently being ennobled by the establishment as the exotic alternative: Composer Michael Wertmüller.
Recently, they have been joined by someone who puts the finishing touches to this music: Gareth Jones. Wertmüller’s compositions – having been recorded live by Steamboat Switzerland in a mere two days - were given added tangibility and a grip on reality by the British studio-producer, and left his hands infused with vigour and not least some thrilling details. This is something to be savoured to appreciate the full meaning of this collaboration: Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire, Erasure, These New Puritans, Steamboat Switzerland. This is where Jones put his hand to, issuing this new musical ground with partly familiar thresholds. On «Zeitschrei» I hear Shellac, but also Emerson, Lake and Palmer and MC5.
It may be that things have come full circle and Adolf Wölfli, to whom this band owes their name, is proved right: «’Twas the Steamboat Switzerland, with over a thousand passengers on board. Our efforts were requited with never-ending hoorays and cheers, flag throwing on the part of the passengers, the Sänger=Chor Concordia of Zürich, presented us with the beautiful Lied.»
 The beautiful ‘Lied’: Yes, dear friends, this is where beauty is parleyed and rarely has it ever sounded quite so dark, so charged and iridescent. (Christian Pauli, 28. April 2013)

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND EXTENDED
Sederunt Principes

Steamboat Switzerland Extended:
Dominik Blum, Hammond organ
Marino Pliakas, bass
Lucas Niggli, drumset
PLUS
Raphael Camenisch und Phillip Stäudlin, saxophones
Donna und Ernesto Molinari, clarinets
Nenad Markovic und Matthias Spillmann, trumpets
Dirk Amrein und  Patrick Crossland, trombones
Willy Strehler, sound ingeneer

Finally the trio Steamboat Switzerland Extended, enlarged to a bigband is audible on CD!
The band has committed the Bernese composer, activist and editor Marc Kilchenmann do create an entire concert evening. He added eight wind instruments to the trio. At four shows in february 2012 there were the first performances of two works by himself (egregoros 1 und 2), a graphic score by the swiss avantgardist Hermann Meier (1906-2002), and the genious organum Sederunt Principes from 1199 by Magister Perotin. The entire concert of Chur (Switzerland)  at february 5 has found its way on this CD.

Paul Plimley - Barry Guy - Lucas Niggli
HEXENTRIO

Paul Plimley piano
Barry Guy   bass
Lucas Niggli  drums

The album contains distillations of their "live"-performances – pieces with a sharp focus often developed out of quiet sequences. "There is a remarkable sensitivity, which truly shines in the slow numbers", writes Marc Chénard in the liner notes. "On the flip side of the coin, they can push and shove with the best of them, and there are more than a handful of those moments, too. Most importantly, though, this spirited team shows us how true freedom lay not only at the outer limits but also within them."

Lucas Niggli Peter Conradin Zumthor DRUM DUO
Spiegel

Lucas Niggli  Drums, Percussion
Peter Conradin Zumthor, Percussion

With unbridled energy and artistic merit, Lucas Niggli and Peter Conradin Zumthor created a sound experience in the thermal bath that is profoundly affecting. They skilfully interpret the commissioned works that were composed specially for the Therme Vals and the Drum Duo Niggli Zumthor by Barry Guy and Fritz Hauser and complement the work with their own compositions of utter expres- siveness. The result is a moving and inebriating sound experience, first performed in September 2011 and recorded live in the Therme Vals.

Lucas Niggli BIG ZOOM
POLISATION

Anne La Berge: Flutes, Electronics
Nils Wogram: Trombone, Melodica
Philipp Schaufelberger: Guitar
Barry Guy: Bass
Lucas Niggli: Drums, Percussion

Lucas Nggli has rebuild BIG ZOOM. Two experienced improvisators of great reputation, the English bassist Barry Guy and the American flutist Anne La Berge joined the regulars Philipp Schaufelberger (electric guitar) and Nils Wogram (trombone). “I wanted to have distinct characters”, Niggli justified his choice. After extremely working on sheet music with the Arte Quartett Niggli pushed back to freedom, embracing a concept that gives more room to improvisation and tonality of the E-music avant-garde without disposing of the eloquence and refinement of the virtuoso jazz playing Schaufelberger and Wogram are so experienced in.
With his highly versed crew Niggli took off for another expedition that opens the most surprising outlooks. His thirst for adventure remains unquenched.

Lucas Niggli Drum Quartett: BEAT BAG BOHEMIA
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE DRUMS - a Film by Martin Fuchs

Rolando Lamussene - Djembe, Voice, Mbira, Percussion
Kesivan Naidoo - Drums , Percussion
Peter Conradin Zumthor - Drums Percussion
Lucas Niggli - Drums , Percussion , Composition

The Fellowship of the Drums is a unique road-movie, which follows the Lucas Niggli Drum Quartet Beat Bag Bohemia acros Africa and Europe.
The four drummers set out to explore new sounds and to give drumming a new direction. As the journey progresses the fellowship
is tested by different social and cultural views. In the end they remain bonded by their fabulous music.
At a drumpace rhythm the film shares this unique phenomenon with viewers and so captures their hearts.

Camera: Nathalie Haarhoff, Martin Fuchs
Music: Lucas Niggli Drum Quartet. Compositons: Lucas Niggli
Produced by Martin Fuchs, The Washing Line 2011
Original version: English, Portuguese, Swiss-German
Subtitles for English, German, Swiss-German. DVD PAL.16:9. 57Minutes. Colour

Biondini Godard Niggli
What is There What is Not

Luciano Biondini accordeon

Michel Godard tuba, serpent, ebass

Lucas Niggli

When Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard und Lucas Niggli play music together the borders between Early and New Music, between imaginary folk and jazz inspired improvisation blur. One can picture the virtual meeting point at the border triangle between Italy, France and Switzerland. That would be – and the image of the heights is not altogether out of place – on the peak of Mont Dolent, close to the Mont Blanc. But still this game fences off any territorial and stylistic definition. Alpine as well as Mediterranean, delicately woven yet permeated with strong melodies driven by frequently complex rhythms that are strong and sensitive at the same time, the three create great arches – across the times, the emotional states of mind, regions and continents. Learning by heart and
inventing go hand in hand, they tie together to one common breathing, they interlink to music of great airiness, turning their gathering into a feast vibrating with delight. (Bert Noglik, Liner Notes)

Lorenz Raab Quartet
Expanded

Lorenz Raab (A, trp)
Michel Godard (F, tuba)
Eirik Hegdal ( N, sax)
Lucas Niggli, drums

Viennese trumpet player Lorenz Raab continues to surprise as an artist with imaginative concepts and  an open outlook towards the future. In his unorthodox  band-projects ":xy band" and "BLEU" he proves this in remarkable continuity. His new quartet "expanded" is  a completely new formation of musical partners from all corners of Europe.
And what a line-up! All of them are extraordinary instrumentalists and well-known representatives of the improvised music scene in their home-countries and far beyond their borders.

Felix Profos FORCEMAJEUR
Lingua Mortuorum

Felix Profos, Komposition, Keyboard
Vera Kappeler, Klavier, Harmonium, Toy Piano
Raphael Camenisch, Saxophon
Sebastian Pottmeier, Saxophon
Christian Weber, Kontrabass
John Eckhardt, Kontrabass
Lucas Niggli, Schlagzeug

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Get Out Of My Room / FELIX PROFOS

Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ, Analogue Electronics, Synths, Vocals

Marino Pliakas - E-Bass

Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion

The German Radio SWR and Steamboat Switzerland commissioned the composition " Get Out Of My Room " by Swiss composer Felix Profos for the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2006, which is NOW finally available on a great recording. The 4 modules by Profos are surrounded by very intense improvs by Steamboat Switzerland.

Lucas Niggli / Peter Conradin Zumthor DRUM DUO
PROFOS

Lucas Niggli      Drums, Percussion, Gongs
Peter Conradin Zumthor   Drums, Percussion, Gongs

Felix Profos       Compositions. Producer
Willy Strehler    Sound Engineer, Producer

Alfred Zimmerlin in the Linernotes:....Music that is abrasive and hard. Unwavering. Primal. Robotic. The two percussion assemblies don't give off the standard sound of drums and cymbals; metallic sounds - in one sense "impure" - have been prepared instead. Their sound grates even though it is muffled. The sounds of the drums and bells don't ring out and it's difficult to establish their pitch, but every composition is a transparent conglomeration of precisely chosen and balanced sounds. .....They've managed to achieve more than a "snapshot" of a live performance, precisely because, with extreme sensitivity to the kinetic and cathartic character of the compositions, they have created a musical space that allows the disc to be experienced as a complete entity. The speakers send out a work composed of sound, time and space moving in equal measure the listener's mind, heart and body.

Barry Guy & London Jazz Composers Orchestra
HARMOS, Live at Schaffhausen, A Film by Jürg and Marianne Rufer

Barry Guy: Director, Bass
Evan Parker: Reeds
Mats Gustafsson: Reeds
Trevor Watts: Reeds
Simon Picard: Reeds
Pete McPhail: Reeds
Conrad Bauer: Trombone
Johannes Bauer: Trombone
Alan Tomlinson: Trombone
Henry Lowther: Trumpet
Herb Robertson: Trumpet
Rich Laughlin: Trumpet
Per Åke Holmlander: Tuba
Phil Wachsmann: Violin
Barre Phillips: Bass
Paul Lytton: Percussion
Lucas Niggli: Percussion
Howard Riley: Piano

"A great anthem. Barry Guy's "Harmos" resembles a musical manifesto – a work which sets structure and freedom in a dialectic field of tension and commits itself to one of the fundamental characteristics of music: melody. A celebration, a ceremony.”
Bert Noglik, Liner notes

Barry Guy London Jazz Composers Orchestra feat. Irene Schweizer
Radio Rondo / Schaffhausen-Concert

Barry Guy:director, bass, Irène Schweizer: piano, Evan Parker: reeds, Mats Gustafsson: reeds, Trevor Watts: reeds, Simon Picard: reeds, Pete McPhail: reeds, Conrad Bauer: tmb, Johannes Bauer: tmb, Alan Tomlinson: tmb, Henry Lowther: tpt, Herb Robertson: tpt, Rich Laughlin: tpt, Per Åke Holmlander, tuba, Phil Wachsmann: violin, Barre Philips: bass, Paul Lytton: percussion, Lucas Niggli: percussion

"After her riveting prelude-like solo, Schweizer applied her pan-stylistic approach to Guy’s challenging, playerempowering score. Though Guy retained the form’s traditional utility as a soloist’s showcase on “Radio Rondo,” he expanded the scope of the rondo’s back and forth to feature Schweizer in several subgroupings – a pummeling quintet passage with Guy, bassist Barre Phillips, and drummers Paul Lytton and Lucas Niggli – as well as encounters with the full force of the 17-piece contingent. In the later, Guy cued single-note stabs, flurried textures and a host of other events from parts of the orchestra, spiking the power of the notaded materials. For all of the piece’s intensity, Guy slipped beautiful passages – like the plaintive melody stated by tenor saxophonist Simon Picard – into the piece. A magisterial theme set up the piece’s final tutti blast.”
Downbeat, September 2008
More Infos on INTAKT records.

Xu Fengxia - Lucas Niggli
BLACK LOTOS
Xu Fengxia ( China)  Guzheng, Sanxian, Voice
Lucas Niggli ( Ch) Drums, Percussion
Intakt Records  2009
CHF 30.00      

Black Lotos is far more than a duo. Not only consists Lucas Niggli’s acoustic layout of many parts, each of which could stand alone as an instrument: Xu Fengxia keeps switching between her two string instruments Guzheng and Sanxian and in parallel she uses her unbelievable voice. Thus the range of this music goes from soloist moments to the intimate dialogue up to almost orchestral abundance, from a short monologue in an interspace to a centipede ecstatic ride over an endlessly vast steppe. Chinese opera, Mongolian throat and overtone singing, Heavy Metal, traditional Chinese folk music, noise, contemporary
Western music, African rhythms and jazz: ethnology, music history, tales, the moment of suspense, all combined in the Instant Composing of Niggli and Xu.

Recorded at Loft Cologne, December 9, 2007 and mixed at Ton-Art Studio, February 27, 2008 by Christian Heck. Mastered February 10, 2009 at Studio Klangdach by Willy Strehler. Cover art: Gerda Steiner/Jörg Lenzlinger. Cover design: Jonas Schoder. Fotos: Alberto Placido. Liner notes: Steff Rohrbach. Intakt CD 164  EAN_7640120191641 

Fred Frith & Arte Quartet
The Big Picture
Fred Frith: Guit  &  Arte Quartet: Sascha Armbruster, Beat Hofstetter, Beat Kappeler, Andrea Formenti.
with Katharina Weber: piano and Lucas Niggli: Drums, Percussion
Intakt Records  2009
CHF 30.00      

In the Composition " The Big Picture" by Fred Frith for the Arte Sax-Quartet from Basel, Katharina Weber ( piano) and Lucas Niggli ( drums) appear as Guest-Soloist.

Lucas Niggli Drum Quartet
BEAT BAG BOHEMIA

Rolando Lamussene Djembe, Mbira, Voice, Percussion
Kesivan Naidoo Drums, Percussion, Gongs
Peter Conradin Zumthor Drums, Percussion, Gongs
Lucas Niggli Drums, Percussion, Gongs

Beat Bag Bohemia is half African, half European. The ensemble consists exclusively of drummers – two Swiss and two African. At Beat Bag Bohemia each musician assumes a multitude of tasks. The parts are constantly reassigned. The members alternate in being accompanist, soloist, groove-master, noise- and melody-maker – and in each function the individual style of every musician is to shine through. The djembe player Rolando Lamussene is an intuitive musician. For this percussionist coming from an oral tradition the memory is his treasure: He is able to keep in mind huge dramaturgical processes and to memorize the most complex sequences in the shortest time possible – an ability brought to perfection during his time as a member of the National Song & Dance Company of Mozambique. Kesivan Naidoo, in  contrast, is a flawless jazz drummer, only he plays jazz the South-African way – a danceable jive style. His timing is precise, his swing marvelously vibrant and his sound impressive. Peter Conradin Zumthor comes from a family of artists and his drumming is vigorous, colourful and open-minded. He takes special interest in the new varieties of rock drumming: new metal, grindcore, noise. Niggli, who is the composer, links it all together. He makes sure the
music comes together, controls and directs. He accentuates where necessary and arranges decisive shifts in direction. In the fifties it was Art Blakey’s Afro-Drum Ensemble that established the tradition of pure percussion groups in jazz. Max Roach followed in the sixties with the M’Boom Re:Percussion group. Pierre Favre came up with a heavyweight ensemble called Singing Drums in the eighties. «Beat Bag Bohemia now opens a new chapter in the book of drumming,» writes  Christoph Wagner in the liner notes.

Lucas Niggli ZOOM MEETS ARTE QUARTETT
CRASH CRUISE

Nils Wogram - trombone, melodica, voice; Philip Schaufelberger - guitar; Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion; Beat Hofstetter - soprano- and tenorsax; Sascha Armbruster - alto-, soprano- and tenorsax; Andrea Formenti - tenor- and sopranosax; Beat Kappeler - bariton- and sopranosax.
Performing with virtuosity, an intriguing variety of sounds, a blend of composed structures and improvisation, all of this happens by combining two outstanding jazz-formations: Lucas Niggli Zoom and the Basler saxophone quartet ARTE Quartett are going on a Crash Cruise.

Performing with virtuosity, an intriguing variety of sounds, a blend of composed structures and improvisation, all of this happens by combining two outstanding jazz-formations: Lucas Niggli Zoom and the Basler saxophone quartet ARTE Quartett are going on a Crash Cruise.
A musical Joint-Venture directed by drummer Lucas Niggli.
Lucas Niggli is known for his ability to pair compositions, improvisations and different styles with his own musical ideas – and so creating complex and multifaceted music, but always keeping within his own recognisable style. The repertoire of ARTE Quartett, a formation which was founded in 1995, reaches from Arvo Pärt, Phil Glass and Steve Reich to Fred Frith and Pierre Favre. The quartet consists of four classically trained saxophone players: Beat Hofstetter, Sascha Armbruster, Andrea Formenti and Beat Kappeler. Their commitment lies with ‘Neue Musik’ and boundary-breaking stylistic cooperations and they mainly perform compositions, which were specially designed and arranged for Arte Quartett. And now they are working with Lucas Niggli and his trio.
«The sound of it moves me,» writes Tim Berne in the Liner notes of the CD Crash Cruise:

"To me, the best music -- the best art, period -- evokes or, rather, provokes ideas, not idioms. The goal is to transcend mere style -- style just being the clothes, not the man inside. This isn't easy to do, though; in fact, it's hard enough to be rare. That's why "Crash Cruise" is such a vital document. Lucas Niggli's ZOOM and the ARTE Quartett have created an artifact that is provocative and expressive, a constant flow of highly developed ideas that not only grab you but pull you in. The composition, structure and improvisation blend in a way that's seamless; there are complex written sections and radical improvisations, but the virtuosity of the players enables them to move organically from one to the other and back again, leaving the listener with the impression of something living and real.
Lucas Niggli is a composer of invention and emotion. Listen to his slow-rolling "Reflex," chamber music of depth where the counterpoint moves like dark clouds across a darker sky. He's also a drummer with his own shape-shifting sound (time becoming color in "Tornica"). And in this joint venture with his ZOOM trio and the ARTE Quartett, Lucas obviously pushed the players to their limits in the best sense, both with his material and in the wide ensemble dynamic. Philipp Schaufelberg plays guitar like a composer, every note placed to communicate -- listen to his snaking, satisfying lines in "Saft" and "Stau." Nils Wogram just kills everywhere here, sounding more than ever like a trombone player with a new view of how to make his instrument speak; he can play lyrically, too, as with his long solo on "Basa Buzz." I've worked with the ARTE of Basel on three commissions, each a pleasure, and they played on my record "The Sevens." The group is impeccable here, performing with beautiful textures (just listen to the keening, chant-like Evan Parker homage, "One for Evan") and the sort of virtuosity that makes the most challenging composition seem natural.

Throughout "Crash Cruise," the ideas, colors and energy teem, while the groove is loose. The record reflects an attitude that is serious and playful at the same time, like all the best art does. As a composer/improviser myself, I appreciate the amount of creative commitment that goes into writing, performing and recording music like this. The sound of it moves me.

Tim Berne
Brooklyn, July 2007

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Zone 2

Dominik Blum - Bösendorfer Imperial, Electronics
Marino Pliakas - Accoustic Guitar, Electronics
Lucas Niggli - Drums Percusionspan.

"Steamboat Switzerland show how avantgarde and hardcore CAN fit together. The said «hardest working band in the noisebiz» synthesize contemporary music, hardcore, 'prog' and noisy improv in awe inspiring live performances."

Zone 2 is the fifth CD of the power trio Steamboat Switzerland and the fourth that the Swiss musicians have released on GROB (2001: Budapest, GROB 315; ac/dB [Hayden], GROB 316; 2005: Wertmüller, GROB 655). Steamboat Switzerland – Dominik Blum, organ; Marino Pliakas, e-bass; Lucas Niggli, drums – are a rousing live band who have developed an absolutely individual way of playing and expressing themselves out of their examination of sludge metal, post-serialism and free jazz. Their records, however, differ greatly from their live repertoire, already classic (the band has given many hundred concerts in the ten years it has existed). Their studio albums are recorded live, and sometimes come together from concert recordings, but they follow a strict design that the band has either not tried out, or done so only temporarily. And just as the albums do not even try to mirror the live situation, neither do the live performances contain the program of the current CD. Zone 2 isn’t an exception: it is simply the first recording which is primarily played on acoustic instruments; the amplification is not foregrounded. Marion Pliakas changes to the acoustic guitar, Lucas Niggli plays a reduced drum set and Dominik Blum can be heard on piano. The music – one continuous piece – is improvised.

BIG ZOOM
Celebrate Diversity
Nils Wogram (Trombone), Claudio Puntin (Clarinets), Philipp Schaufelberger (Guitar), Peter Herbert (Acoustic Bass),
Lucas Niggli (Drums, Percussion.
Release November 2006.
Intakt Records  2006
CHF 30.00      

Demierre Guy Niggli
Brainforest
Jaques Demierre - Piano
Barry Guy - Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums

Intakt Records  2005
CHF 30.00      

Dense and sensitive, precise and passionate!» is what the press said after the trio of Jacques Demierre, Barry Guy, and Lucas Niggli performed in front of a good 3’000 listeners on the large stage at the New Jazz Festival Moers in 2003. The public was enthralled. And all this for a piano trio that in no way performs as a «classical» jazz combo.Together, Jacques Demierre (Geneva), Barry Guy (Zurich and Ireland) and Lucas Niggli (Zurich) – musicians of different generations and origins – have immense technical abilities on their instruments and a common interest: the desire to perform passionately. The three musicians move in the realms not only of free improvisation, but also in the wide field of contemporary composed music. They audibly get their inspiration from both traditions. Open rhythms as well as a rich palette of tonal colors characterize the trio’s playing.

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Wertmüller

Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ
Marino Pliakas - e-Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums
Guest: lieder vocals on 2/4/8/9/10/11

It’s been three years since Steamboat Switzerland created a sensation with the release of the CDs Budapest (GROB 315) and ac/dB [Hayden] (GROB 316). Since then the bad has played over 100 concerts and expanded it repertoire considerably. The Hammond organ post-progrock and post-death metal trio of the Swiss men Dominik Blum (organ), Marion Pliakas (electronic bass) and Lucas Niggli (drums) has included numerous compositions of other composers in its program, has worked out an acoustic set (with piano instead of organ, and an amplified acoustic guitar instead of the electronic bass), has played two-fisted rock sets, curated festivals, and has merged into larger ensembles. A new, long overdue Steamboat CD could have meant anything: a rock CD, an acoustic set, work with a larger ensemble.

Lucas Niggli Zoom Ensemble
Sweat
Phil Minton - Vocals • hilipp Schaufelberger - Guitar • Claudio Puntin - Clarinets • Nils Wogram - Trombone • Lucas Niggli - drums, composition • Ensemble Neue Musik Zürich (fl, vl, vc, p, vib, tuba
Intakt Records  2004
CHF 30.00      

»Appropriate to a collaboration with a new music ensemble, many of Niggli's pieces are suites. The lead-off track, for instance, is an anthemic anti-nationalist suite - that's perfectly designed for Minton, who is something of a specialist in Anti-Anthems, having sung wondrous versions of the anarchist anthem in the past. The drummer explains that the sweatiness of the project was both positive - sweat of a good performance ("I love intensity and energy, to create music under the biggest physical and mental presence") - and also more troubling ("writing this whole program was like having a disease, fever")«
(Extract of John Corbetts LinerNotes)

Lucas Niggli BIG ZOOM
Big Ball
Claudio Puntin - Clarinets • Nils Wogram - Trombone • Philipp Schaufelberger - Guitar • Peter Herbert - Accoustic Bass • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
Intakt Records  2003
CHF 30.00      

Niggli makes rhythms out of sequences of notes, sets them up on his drums, uses his playing to conduct behind the horns, bass, and a guitar, and steers with finesse, with pressure and fury. The music thus created peels out of itself, runs through itself, constantly transforms itself, grows out of itself, lifts off, puts up bridges across the entire twentieth century.» Peter Weber

Lucas Niggli ZOOM
Rough Ride
Nils Wogram - Trombone, Melodica • Philipp Schaufelberger - Guitar • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
Intakt Records  2003
CHF 30.00      

Everything swings and runs in high voltage in each other and results, nonetheless, in ONE meaningful organic entirety, that gives enough causefor enthusiasm.» Marcus Maida/Jazzthetik.

Lucas Niggli ZOOM
Spawn of Speed
Nils Wogram - Trombone · Philipp Schaufelberger - Guitar
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
Intakt Records  2001
CHF 30.00      

The first oevre by Lucas Niggli’s trio. An inspired studio production that breathes the energy of a live-band. The sound quality is fantastic!

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
ac/dB [hayden]

Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ, Electronics, Piano
Marino Pliakas - E-Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion

ac/dB [Hayden] is a clash of two compositions: "dB" is a work that the English composer Sam Hayden exclusively wrote for Steamboat Switzerland. On the CD, "dB" alternates with "ac," a collective composition of the band's members, Dominik Blum, Lucas Niggli and Marino Pliakas. Both pieces rub against, wash around and contrast each other as well as radically questioning each other. Thus, an uncommon tension-filled opus comes into being, that (as dumb as it may sound) is more than the sum of its parts. ac/dB [Hayden] demonstrates how powerful, explosive and, well yes, swinging new music can be. Or is it really the progressive music of the "now time" that simply blows away the entire postrock of the last few years and makes us forget it all?
Two CDs were necessary (they function autonomously) in order to give a halfway decent picture of the band. It was worth it. Deeper and deeper in the uncanny intimacy of abstraction!

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Budapest
Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ, Electronics
Marino Pliakas - E-Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
GROB  2001
CHF 30.00      

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Unkonwn Song
Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ, Korg MS 20
Marino Pliakas - E-Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
GROB  2001
CHF 12.00      

The ultimate bonus in vinyl to go with "Budapest” and "ac/dB”!

Pierre Favre's European Chamber Ensemble

Pierre Favre - Percussion • Lucas Niggli - Percussion • Roberto Ottaviano - Saxophon • Michel Godard - Tuba, Serpent • Philipp Schaufelberger - Guitar • Karel Boeschoten - Violine • Marius Ungureaunu - Viola • Pierre-François Massy - Bass

Intakt Records  2000
CHF 30.00      

The orchestral answer to "Singing Drums”. Pierre Favre’s unmistakable hand.

Lucas Niggli & Anna Grichting
Border Meetings
Anna Grichting - Vocals, Tuning Box • Jean-Jancques Pedretti - Trombone, Shell, Alphorn • Martin Schütz - Electric Cello, Sampler • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
Altri Suoni  2000
CHF 30.00      

A very delicate and carefully crafted piece of work by the Genevan Anna Grichting about the parted cities Berlin, Belfast and Beirut.

Lucas Niggli & Sylvie Courvoisier
Lavin
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion · Sylvie Courvoisier - Piano
Intakt Records  1999
CHF 30.00      

Chambermusic at its most intense! Live-cut from a freely improvised concert. Again, with exceptional digital sound quality

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Live
Dominik Blum - Hammond Organ, Korg MS 20
Marino Pliakas - E-Bass
Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
UNIT Records  1998
CHF 30.00      

100'000 Lucas Niggli-fans can’t be wrong: this is the CD many of them call their favourite. The sound quality (Stephan Wittwer) as well as the cover design are extraordinary and may have a lot to do with the CD’s popularity.

Roots Of Communication
Al Valico dei Secoli
Robert Morgenthaler - Trombone, Digeridoo • Esther Flückiger - Piano • Marianne Schuppe - Vocals • Jean-Jacques Pedretti - Trombone, Dung, Vocals • Jacques Siron - Double Bass • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
Esperia  1998
CHF 30.00      

This musical project-group in search of the roots of the people living in the Swiss mountain valley "Vals”. Music that is many-layered and far-reaching. Including a piece by Lucas Niggli.

Michel Wintsch
& Road Movie feat. Gerry Hemingway
Franziska Baumann - Flute, Vocals • Nathalie Saudan - Violin • Daniela Beltramineli - Violin • Peter Schärli - Trumpet
Jean-Jacques Pedretti - Trombone • Michel Wintsch - Piano
Jean-Philippe Zwahlen - Guitar • Martin Schütz - Violoncello • Gerry Hemingway - Drums • Lucas Niggli - Drums • Jean Kéraudren - Sound

Deutsche Structured Finance  1998
CHF 30.00      

A live-cut from Frankfurt which captures the finest moments of a very intense project. This large group takes you on a journey from rock to more subtle sounds and back to noise.

Pierre Favre's Singing Drums
Souffles
Pierre Favre - Percussion • Lucas Niggli - Percussion
Roberto Ottaviano - Saxophon • Michel Godard - Tuba, Serpent

Intakt Records  1997
CHF 30.00      

The first CD of this band whose work is constantly in progress. Recorded after their third tour. A mature production sparkling with poetry.

Rahel Hadorn's Acoustic Stories
Live At Moods
Rahel Hadorn - Vocals • Mathias Kielholz - Guitar • Thomas Schenkel - Double Bass • Lucas Niggli - Percussion

Red Note  1997
CHF 30.00      

Lucas Niggli here figures as the percussion-sideman, in a light quartet with a very beautiful female voice.

Scholl / Erismann / Niggli & Frith / Koch / Kowald
NIL
Katrin Scholl - Violin • Daniel Erismann - Trumpet, Fluegelhorn • Hans Koch - Saxophon, Bassclarinet • Fred Frith - Guitar • Peter Kowald - Bass • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion

UNIT Records  1996
CHF 30.00      

A number of very disciplined group improvisations. Available here in a beautiful edition. However, the whole thing is better to be savoured live on stage.

Roots Of Communication
Pro Helvetia
Robert Morgenthaler - Alphorn, Trombone, Digeridoo, Shell • Jean-Jacques Pedretti - Alphorn, Trombone, Shell, Flute • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion
UNIT Records  1996
CHF 30.00      

This CD has caused quite a stir: a clear statement about the situation of the Swiss nation.

The Field Recordings
The Thunderclaps CD
Stephan Wittwer - Guitar • Marino Pliakas - Bass • Lucas Niggli - Drums
X-OR  1996
CHF 30.00      

A wonderful sampler containing the crazy cut of a crazy evening.

Kieloor Entartet
The Red Light Fugue
Mathias Gloor - Piano, Keyboardsv • Mathias Kielholz - Guitar • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion • Emanuel Schnyder - Bass u.a.

UNIT Records  1995
CHF 00.00      

The glorious final opus by Kieloor Entartet. Postmodernism in its purest form and extremely entertaining. Unfortunately out of print.

Hofmann / Niggli
Mute Songs & Drumscapes
Georg Hofmann - Percussion • Lucas Niggli - Percussion
Creative Works  1993
CHF 30.00      

A world of percussion to sink into.

Michael Gassmann Quartett
Live
Michael Gassmann - Trumpet • Mathias Gloor - Piano • Thomas Schenkel - Double Bass • Lucas Niggli - Drums
UNIT Records  1993
CHF 30.00      

A live recording without cuts, from the Jazz festival, Schaffhausen (Switzerland). JAZZ!

Sainkho Namchylak
Letters
Sainkho Namchylak - Vocals • Mathias Kielholz - Guitar • Mats Gustafsson - Sax • Sten Sandell - Piano • Mathias Gloor - Synth • Joelle Leandre - Bass • Lucas Niggli - Percussion
Leo Records  1993
CHF 30.00      

A non-authorised release with three Kieloor tunes. A musical adventure, experienced together with Sainkho.

Kieloor Entartet
A good dog has one day, a bad one just might have two
Mathias Gloor - Piano • Mathias Kielholz - Guitar • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion

UNIT Records  1992
CHF 30.00      

The more complex follow-up. This time it’s more poetic and dignified.

Kieloor Entartet
No more beer
Mathias Gloor - Piano, Voice • Mathias Kielholz - Guitar, Voice • Lucas Niggli - Drums, Percussion, Voice
Ex Libris  1990
CHF 30.00      

A wonderfully crazy debut. Be prepared to get a whole lotta weird music!

Susanne Abbuehl
Compass
Susanne Abbuehl, vocals
Christof May, cl, bcl
Wolfert Brederode, piano
Lucas Niggli, drums

ECM  2006
CHF 30.00      

Erika Stucky
Suicidal Yodles
Handsome Hank
The Young Gods
with: Lucas Niggli
Sebastian Fuchsberger
Produced by Knut Jensen
Traumton Records  2007
CHF 30.00      

Roots of Communication & Erika Stucky
Wunderland
Erika Stucky vocal , accordeon
Robert Morgenthaler , trombone, alphorn, shells
Jean Jacques Pedretti, trombone, alphorn, shells
Lucas Niggli, Percussion

Ethnomics  2005
CHF 30.00      

Fieldrecordings between 1998 and 2002. Release 2005.