Next Up

This year, the Match&Fuse team dig into their archive of live recordings to support musicians and the Vortex Jazz Club during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their plan: release two compilations of music recorded at their festival and tours, featuring acclaimed artists from across Europe. All digital on Bandcamp Fridays. While the majority of the profits are distributed to the artists, a share of 15% will be donated to the Vortex Jazz Club, where M&F was born. After the release of Volume 1 in August, which was warmly received by M&F fans, it is now time for Live Selections Vol. 2 which will be released on Friday 4 September.

Match&Fuse is a trailblazing network championing daring, original and underground music. We promote the widest sense of jazz, electronic, experimental and singer-songwriter music, mostly with a progressive zest. If it’s interesting and creative (and a bit weird), we like it. Featured across the two albums are musicians from France, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Norway and Germany. Part of our ethos is to ‘match’ then ‘fuse’ artists from different countries in order to encourage networking and extend opportunities for gigs abroad, so they can fully flourish. Volume 2 especially will highlight and celebrate collaborations of UK artists with their international counterparts.

Alongside tracks by bands such as Snorkel and Brass Mask, there will be fuses of Alice Zawadzki with Alex Roth and Kalevi Louhivuori, Leafcutter John with Isabel Sörling, Rachel Musson with The Jist and Troyka with Pulcinella amongst others. Also featured are tracks from our long-time friends Pixel, Match&Fuse founders Dave Morecroft (WorldService Project) and Matthew Jacobson (ReDiviDeR) and their close counterparts from Toulouse, Alfie Ryner. Genre-wise… if you can find a word for it, let us know. Expect piano trio sounds next to raw free improv, sung poetry, experimental electronics and ambient soundscapes.

These compilations are prompted by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on musicians, sound engineers, promoters and the many creative souls involved in live music. Venues like the Vortex Jazz Club needing help was another spur. It means so much to us at Match&Fuse – we had most of our UK events there (and our after-parties).

Carlos Boix, one of Match&Fuse’s treasured sound engineers, suggested releasing live recordings taken from our previous UK festivals as a way of drawing attention to the impact. “I thought there were some really good recordings that I felt we could distill and use,” says Carlos, “Lockdown meant I had the time to go through them.” Match&Fuse producer Daniela Gerstmann and founder Dave Morecroft set about contacting musicians and making it all happen.

The artists featured played a vital role by carefully selecting their own tracks from recordings of their gigs. Without these musicians, the music they create and the risks they take, our events would not exist. As Bandcamp showed its support for artists by waiving their fees on the first Friday of each month since the pandemic started, we decided to release the albums on Bandcamp Fridays in August and September.

released September 4, 2020

Match&Fuse Live Selections 2012–2016 Vol. 1 Artwork.
Match&Fuse Live Selections 2012–2016 Vol. 2 Artwork.

MATCH&FUSE FESTIVAL 2020

It is on. All you need to know:

24 January, Neubad in Lucerne 
Hilde Marie Holsen (NO)
Tanche (CH)

29 January, Jazz Baragge in Zürich
Jazz Baragge jam band: Pio Schürmann, Marco Nenniger, Samuel Dühsler
with special guests:
Hilde Marie Holsen (NO)
Robin Jerner (DE)

31 January, Moods in Zürich
Hilde Marie Holsen (NO)
District Five (CH)
Ark Noir (DE/JP)
plus after-party with Baumon Favre Jukebox

1 February, Moods in Zürich
Sun-Mi Hong Quintet (NL/KR/UK/IT)
Gauthier Toux For a Word (CH/FR)
Alarmist (IE)

Full details

YouTube channel

See you there…

 

Radio
Match&Fuse on Worldwide FM plays tracks from a selection of the artists who are performing at this festival, including exclusive music from District Five.

The January edition of Jazz X on Basel’s Radio X is on Sunday 26 January and will also feature a preview of the festival. You can listen back to the May show on Mixcloud that includes an interview with District Five.

Match&Fuse in Japan 2018

Look back to Match&Fuse Tokyo with the solo night featuring
Colin Vallon (CH) Tobias Preisig (CH) and Eiko Ishibashi (JP)

and experimental rock night with Guru Host and Afrirampo (JP) and Schnellertollermeier (CH).

Match&Fuse Picks

Check the We Jazz label based in Helsinki. New album from saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson out in January, called Imagine Giving Up. Details of all releases on Bandcamp.

For A Word (FR/CH)

Gauthier Toux’s project For A Word – new single is out, called Prinzess. Album is out on 31 January.