Dynamite Rotraut Jäger & Sonambique

• 1 Southern Spice 04:41
• 2 Balade 07:49
• 3 Alma Roja 07:03
• 4 Cloud Seven 06:41
• 5 Dynamite 05:58
• 6 After Dark 07:44
• 7 Batida de Verão 05:57
• 8 High Spirits 07:27
• 9 Bounce 07:04
• 10 Fancy Haze 07:31
• Total Runtime 01:07:55

Info for Dynamite

On her second album, "Dynamite," she achieves the remarkable feat of calibrating herself entirely to the flute without recording a flute album. The focus of her music, refreshing in every respect, is always the respective song – the melody, the groove, the mood, and the conceptual context in which the song was created. With a relaxed attitude rarely heard in jazz, she simply plays. And playing, in this case, is to be taken quite literally. She plays her instruments with complete ease.

Rotraut Jäger isn't recording her album solo, but with her band, Sonambique, which includes drummer Omar Diadji Seydi, bassist Abdourakhmane Fall, and pianist Christian Pabst. All three bring very different qualities to the table. The bassist and drummer are from Senegal and also function as a rhythm unit outside of Sonambique. They are not only well-versed in jazz, but also have experience with African music, as well as reggae, flamenco, and pop. Pianist Christian Pabst lends his powerful musical voice to a select group. All three share a great passion for odd-time rhythms, making them ideal for the flautist's compositions.

"Dynamite" is nothing less than an explosive outburst of unadulterated joie de vivre, depicting life in its interplay of banal everydayness and complexity.

Rotraut Jäger, flute
Sonambique

Rotraut Jäger
is a flautist, composer, and educator living in Zurich, trained in classical and jazz music.

She studied flute at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz (state-certified music teacher in 2000, performance in 2002), at the Zurich University of the Arts (diploma in 2006 with Philippe Racine, jazz studies 2003-2006 with Günter Wehinger and Christoph Grab), and at the Manhattan School of Music (jazz studies 2006-2007 with Dick Oatts and Steve Wilson). During her studies, Rotraut Jäger participated in workshops and masterclasses with Peter Lukas Graf, Robert Dick, Michel Debost, and Moshe Epstein, among others. She also participated in a Música Popular Brasileira workshop in Brazil and received private lessons from, among others, She has studied with Ali Ryerson, Frank Wess, and Dave Liebman in New York.

As a freelance musician, she works with her own projects and as a guest musician both in Switzerland and abroad.

She has performed with Miles Griffith (vocals, USA), Earle Davis (trumpet, USA), Roland Gebhard (guitar, Germany), Vicente Cortes (guitar, Switzerland/Spain), Karime Amaya (flamenco dance, Spain), and The Skatalites (JAM), among others.

She also works as a private flute teacher and leads various ensembles and workshops.

In March 2020, she released her first album, Sonafari, with her band project Rotraut Jäger SONAMBIQUE. Her second album, Dynamite, was released in October 2023, in co-production with the Swiss radio station SRF2 Kultur.

"... she spreads her telepathic songs far beyond jazz." (Citizen Jazz)

"... coaxes passages from the flute that could point the way to a new direction in the instrument's role in jazz." (Jazzpodium)

"... lively rhythms and joyful chants..." (Latins de Jazz)

This album contains no booklet.