With his quartet Ronin, Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch continues the work on his RITUAL GROOVE MUSIC series. He consistently follows the same aesthetic vision under various instrumental guises: creating maximum effect by minimal means.

Despite the multiplicity of the band’s influences, Ronin’s music always possesses a strong individuality. They incorporate elements of disparate musical worlds, such as funk, new classical music or sounds from Japanese ritual music. However, these forms are never merely juxtaposed in a post-modernist fashion but instead amalgamated into a coherent new style.

“This music draws its energy from the tension between compositional precision and the self-circumvention of improvisation. From self-implied restriction stems freedom. Ecstasy through asceticism.”

The concert opens with the Iranian/British quartet Phemo.

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin + Phemo Quartet, Kings Place, London N1 9AG, 26 March 2023, 7pm. More information.

Photography by Claude Hofer