Nik Bartsch's Ronin Plots US Tour, Plays NYC's Le Poisson Rouge

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Nik Bartsch Official Website) After three ECM studio albums - Stoa (2005), Holon (2007) and Llyrìa (2010) - Nik Bärtsch's Ronin releases a live double album, recorded around the world - the Enjoy Jazz Festival, the Leipziger Jazztage, and Jazz Baltica, as well as club and concert recordings from Amsterdam's Bimhuis, The Sage in Gateshead, the Vienna Radiokulturhausand Lörrach's Burghof. Bartsch is bringing the intensity and beauty of this new live album to New York for a special one-night-only performance at Le Poisson Rouge.

As leader and composer Bärtsch runs a disciplined band, but certain parameters of his music are open to interpretation and improvisation. "Most of the pieces heard [on the live album] have had three or four years of development in the live situation so there are obvious differences in sound from the original studio versions. There is a different flow. Beyond that, in the pieces that we've selected, the momentum of the interlockings and interventions is generally much bigger. One of the aspectsthat can change, for instance, is the duration of parts of the music in a live context." He points to the extended introduction to 'Modul 17," a piece recorded in Tokyo, where the band has been very positively received. "It's difficult to generalize about audiences since every audience is made up of individuals who respond differently, but what I can say is that the Japanese people have a culture of waiting. This is a positive aspect in their traditional music and ritual theatre and it heightens anticipation. I like that idea very much, and it connects to our own ideas."

Bartsch will bring these ideas and his ensemble to LPR on Monday, October 22nd for their second appearance at the club. The live experience of Bartsch and his ensemble is not to be missed for any lover of jazz and improvised music, contemporary classical, and the more experimental leanings of indie rock.