“Pannonica” is the namesake of this fascinating project by the “Baroness of the low notes and deep sounds,” Gina Schwarz. Gina pays tribute to the patronage of Kathleen Rothschild and at the same time opens up a conscious female “sight for listening.“

Gina Schwarz is known to be a gifted and fascinating bass player, as well as a composer and an arranger. Her music leaves a lot of room for interpretation, which creates a fascinating interplay, exciting solos, as well as an ever surprising flow of ideas for co-musicians and listeners alike.

Schwarz has been a bandleader of formations like “Schwarzmarkt” or “Jazzista”, as well as coordinating projects like “Unit”, featuring Jim Black. Over time she has become a highly productive catalyst of the present Austrian jazz scene. This recording is a sustainable proof thereof.

Pannonica started as a stage band at Porgy & Bess Jazz club in Vienna during the 2017/18 Season. The project invited international female composers and musicians as special guests, who performed their task exceptionally on eight highly variable and exciting evenings.

A profile of this work performed by Gina Schwarz’s new excellently cast formation Pannonica is captured on this double CD: CD 1 “Musicbox“ , and the newly arranged material on CD 2 “Free Landscape”.

The Baroness de Koenigswarter died in1988. A book titled “The Jazz Musician and her three wishes” was published posthumously I highly recommend it! To quote Duke Ellington: “My wishes are very modest…I want nothing but the best”. With pannonica, Gina Schwarz comes very close to Ellington’s paradigm. Chapeau! (Christoph Huber, Porgy & Bess, Vienna, November 2019)

Pannonica performed eight concerts at the famous Viennese Jazzclub Porgy&Bess in 2017/18. Billed as the Porgy&Bess Stageband“, pannonica collaborated with many international guests including: Karin Hammar (SWE), Julia Hülsmann (D), Camila Meza (CL/USA), Sylvie Courvoisier (CH/USA), Angelika Niescier (POL/D), Ingrid Jensen (CAN/USA) und Marilyn Mazur (DNK) – followed by collaborations with Mino Cinelu (perc) and Dave Taylor (trb).

Inspiration for developing the gender-idea of this project is an outstanding woman: Eponym Baroness Pannonica de Köenigswarter. She was a warrior, a patron, a muse, and an intimate friend of many musicians. For the Baroness, jazz is the embodiment of modernism, tolerance, and plurality – an urgent and most neccesary “antidote” to racism, sexism and gender-bias.

In the current program, the musicians shall impress the listener with strong solos, colourful sounds and collectiv-improvisations. The conceptual idea and the melodic shape represent the music of the composer. Creative horn arrangements and melodic string parts are played with passion, virtuosity and purity of expression. In combination with an exciting rhythm section they establish a homogeneous bandsound with unconventional colouring.

“Gina and pannonica provide a landscape of beautiful and intricate listening adventures. They take our ears on a luscious adventure through open, pastoral moments, morphing organically into wonderful solo moments, all orchestrated and supported by Gina’s wonderful writing. An album that will inspire hours of listening and enjoyment for sure!” Ingrid Jensen (Trumpet CA / US)

Concert Dates:

Feb 28th, 20, 8.30 pm Jazzit, Salzburg Mar 6th, 20, 8.30 pm STEP, Völkermarkt Mar 9th, 20, 8.30 pm Porgy & Bess, Wien Oct 21st, tba Villach Dec 10th, 20, 8.00 pm Opus, Budapest (HU)

Tracklisting:

CD 1 – Musicbox

1) Gm’s Musicbox 06:07 2) Toronto 05:53 3) Dark Glasses 06:10 4) Off the Records 00:40 5) Flip Trip 05:51 6) Via Terra 06:02 7) Windmills 01:05 8) Four Steps 07:20 9) Lily of the Nile 06:15 10) Passing 00:57 11) New Year’s Eve 06:21

CD 2 – Free Landscape

01) Free Landscape 01:25 02) Cut I: Bienenschwarm 01:04 03) Chai Waltz 02:56 04) Cut II: Quadratlichter 01:07 05) Road Trip A22 04:15 06) Cut III: Zirkel 01:04 07) Cut IV: Schneefall 01:09 08) Baharat 06:47 09) Abibliophobia 06:26 10) Cut V: Quantenmechanik 01:11 11) Cut VI: Drei Tage bei Oma 01:20 12) Free Landscape Reprise 04:45