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Lucas Niggli - drums/percussion

Bands/Projekte


11 current Bands/Projects
Lucas Niggli BIG ZOOM
francesca pfeffer

Lucas Niggli BIG ZOOM

Anne La Berge            fl, electr
Nils Wogram               tb
Philipp Schaufelberger   guit
Barry Guy                cb
Lucas Niggli             dr, perc, comp

Also in this promising line-up BIG ZOOM remains jazz combo, chamber music ensemble and rock band in one.  Accordingly the music races through the peaks and valleys of today’s music, does a bow to tradition here, a jump into the unknown there.
Niggli’s compositions have a entirely particular style that is tailor-made for “interpreters,” or that allows them many liberties.  Anything we listeners take for granted is taken by surprise via unexpected interventions and made dynamic; forms are broken up; risk is played.  Vehemence is found next to elegy, density is paired with rest, essence empties into exuberance, and complexity combines with intensive interplay ....  ZOOM has become one of the most exciting bands in the current jazz scene.

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Lucas Niggli BIG ZOOM
STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
© Simone Vollenweider

STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND

Dominik Blum - hammond organ, korg ms 20 and piano ( on Zone2)
Marino Pliakas - bass, and guitar ( on Zone 2)
Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion

Steamboat Switzerland comprises the force of a fully cranked-up Hammond organ, an E-bass distorted beyond recognition and drums as hard as nails. Driven by the highly explosive mixture of metal-riffs, contemporary sound material and free improvisation, the steamboat resolves its interfering noises into strangely moving harmonies. Watch out for the engine room which crashes, bangs and chirps quite cunningly.

A Short Extract from the Performance in Los Angeles, Steve Allen Theater on June 19th 2008


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STEAMBOAT SWITZERLAND
Xu Fengxia - Lucas Niggli Duo

Xu Fengxia - Lucas Niggli Duo

Xu Fengxia (China) guzheng, sanxian, voice
Lucas Niggli (CH)    drums

What Xu Fengxia and Lucas Niggli, both highly authentic just being the personalities they are, draw on their respective musical world eludes every categorisation. They open their hearts and advance into uncharted territory of the unheard – their very own music. Black Lotos as a „pure crossbreed“ of world music, as a perfect but completely untypical crossover of musical globalisation. The real and medial possibilities give us songs from different times, from all continents and make music of almost every provenience available. This is great. People from the most distant places meet. The amalgamation and overlapping of different cultures in music fascinates us and lead us to ever new levels.


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Xu Fengxia - Lucas Niggli Duo
Lucas Nigglis ZOOM
© Dave Johnson

Lucas Nigglis ZOOM

Nils Wogram - trombone
Philipp Schaufelberger - guitar
Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion

Lucas Niggli’s ZOOM is the union of the improvisational core of Jazz with the esthetical sound-culture of contemporary music. This small and agile group with two tenor instruments and drums speeds through the highs and lows of today’s music. The group makes a bow to tradition here and jumps into the unknown there. The compositions are very delicately crafted, especially with regard to sound. A wide range of dramaturgies and energies come into play as their compositions are both relaxed and simultaneously highly powerful.

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Lucas Nigglis ZOOM
Lucas Niggli - Peter Conradin Zumthor Drum Duo
francesca pfeffer

Lucas Niggli - Peter Conradin Zumthor Drum Duo

Lucas Niggli drums, gongs, percussion

Peter Conradin Zumthor, drums, gongs, percussion

A short Film: Live in Lodz
Alfred Zimmerlin in his Linernotes: "Lucas Niggli and Peter Conradin Zumthor are not classically-trained percussionists; they come from rock music, free jazz, improvised music. The physical and rhythmic character of both of Profos' "Dances", extraordinarily difficult to perform, suit them and give them pleasure. At the same time the compositional clarity and power of these compositions, as well as their lack of formal narrative structure stand in apposition to the extensive, sensuous, emotional and profoundly expressive improvisations that we can hear at other concerts by the Niggli-Zumthor duet (and in other performances by these musicians). It was essential to take an innovative, very disciplined approach to measure up to these two Profos compositions, so precisely worked out. .....This impression is also imparted in an astonishing way by the album itself, whose central element is Niggli and Zumthor's performance of Felix Profos' ERSTER TANZ and ZWEITER TANZ. They've managed to achieve more than a "snapshot" of a live performance, precisely because, with extreme sensitivity to the kinetic and cathartic character of the compositions, they have created a musical space that allows the disc to be experienced as a complete entity. The speakers send out a work composed of sound, time and space moving in equal measure the listener's mind, heart and body. ......The course of time will lose its meaning. It's worth spending time with this album by the Niggli-Zumthor duet, so carefully thought out in every respect.

some pics from the Loft Cologne by Bernd Wendt

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Lucas Niggli - Peter Conradin Zumthor Drum Duo
BEAT BAG BOHEMIA (SA, MZ,CH), Int. Drum Quartet

BEAT BAG BOHEMIA (SA, MZ,CH), Int. Drum Quartet

Kesivan Naidoo drums
Rolando Lamussene djembe, mbira
Peter Conradin Zumthor drums
Lucas Niggli drums, composition

This international Drum-Quartet plays energetic-explosive, intelligent actual percussion music.
After a first meeting in Southafrica in the summer of 2006, the collaboration goes on. And in 2008 the first CD will be released on Intakt records.


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BEAT BAG BOHEMIA (SA, MZ,CH), Int. Drum Quartet
Lucas Niggli ZOOM and ARTE Quartett
F. Pfeffer

Lucas Niggli ZOOM and ARTE Quartett

Lucas Niggli             drums, composition
Nils Wogram             trombone
Philipp Schaufelberger     guitar
Beat Hofstetter             saxophone
Sascha Armbruster         saxophone
Andrea Formenti         saxophone
Beat Kappeler             saxophone

Performing with virtuosity, an intriguing variety of sounds, a blend of composed structures and improvisation, all of this happens by combining two outstanding jazz-formations: Lucas Niggli Zoom and the Basler saxophone quartet ARTE Quartett are going on a «Crash Cruise». A musical Joint-Venture directed by drummer Lucas Niggli.

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Lucas Niggli ZOOM and ARTE Quartett
Demierre-Guy-Niggli
© F. Pfeffer

Demierre-Guy-Niggli

Jacques Demierre - piano
Barry Guy - double-bass
Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion

A highly energetic improvisational trio featuring three composers playing the instruments. You can expect a frighteningly new approach to the traditional jazz format of the piano trio.

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Demierre-Guy-Niggli
Lucas Niggli Solo
Francesca Pfeffer

Lucas Niggli Solo

Lucas Niggli drums/percussion

 

A short Film: Lucas Solo @ Theaterspektakel Zürich 2007 


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Lucas Niggli Solo
Lucas Nigglis BIG ZOOM
© Annette Meier

Lucas Nigglis BIG ZOOM

Claudio Puntin - clarinet, bass clarinet
Nils Wogram - trombone
Philipp Schaufelberger - guitar
Peter Herbert - bass
Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion

"BIG ZOOM" remains a jazz-combo, a chamber music-ensemble, and a rock-band even as a quintet. True to this the music races along the heights and pitfalls of contemporary music. The group makes a bow to tradition here and jumps into the unknown there. .
"Ein Höhepunkt am Jazzfestival Willisau 2002" (LNN)

A Short Film: Live@Moods,ZH, Dance for Hermeto


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Lucas Nigglis BIG ZOOM
WU WEI - Lucas Niggli Duo

WU WEI - Lucas Niggli Duo

Wu Wei (sheng, voc)
Lucas Niggli (drums, perc)

Wu Wei and Lucas Niggli form a dynamic, highly powered duo whose music stands for intensive hearing events. Sort of a "Contemporary World Music"

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WU WEI - Lucas Niggli Duo