Swiss vocal acrobat Andreas Schaerer and Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima have some things in common. As artists, each is essentially in a category completely of his own. Both are musicians who can always conjure something special from their chosen instruments. Both are known on the international jazz scene for the completely distinctive and original ways their music constantly crosses genres. However, for this evolution (as the album title has it), they have also involved a musician whom they both admire, Tim Lefebvre. The American bassist has worked with many pop and jazz stars, notably Sting, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Mark Guiliana, Wayne Krantz... Schaerer is describing a way of working much more familiar to the world of pop. And with its concentration on songs and lyrics, one might call Evolution a singer/songwriter project. In fact, Schaerer is more of the 'singer' here than we are used to. His typical vocal escapades are still there - clicking and popping sounds, beatboxing, polyphonically layered vocalise, and even the imitation of wind instruments... - but by his own standards he has been particularly frugal in his use of them here. And then there is also Tim Lefebvre, whose playing, sometimes on electric bass, sometimes on double bass (with a beautiful solo intro on Piercing Love) has been such an inspiration for both Schaerer and Kalima. Schaerer remembers. It was then really impressive how quickly he could connect emotionally with the music. It's crazy how he grooves on a track like 'SloMo', and how we were able to play ourselves into a frenzy over Kalle's guitar track. In Evolution, Schaerer, Kalima and Lefebvre have re-drawn the roadmap for the production of a jazz album. New avenues are constantly opening up in these complex but also catchy songs which are just made for repeated listening...and, of course, listening to the album is also a reminder that it will all sound completely different again when heard live.
