Thomas Rohrer – Tamangur

thomas-rohrer-tamangur

LP + booklet – Domizil

Between 2010 and 2018, Thomas Rohrer, a musician accustomed to working with unconventional field recordings, embarked on a series of trips through Brazil and Switzerland – two geographical regions that are anything but homogeneous. Rohrer knows both countries well and Tamangur allows us to discover hidden connections between the two while highlighting their contrasting sounds. This process is not dissimilar to combining the conceptual extremism of European free jazz with the softer and tropical sounds of the Brazilian tradition, a range of styles that have influenced Rohrer’s musical direction. The recordings from Brazil originate from a visit to Aldeia Nova, a village of the indigenous Krahô community in 2010, while most of the Swiss recordings are the result of a research trip across different alpine regions. Rohrer is an accomplished musician – he first studied the violin before moving on to the saxophone in the jazz department at Lucerne University, allowing him to develop his improvisation skills. He also plays the rabeca (Brazilian fiddle) and the bowed fence, and improvises in the field, however, all tracks Tamangur are unprocessed with no overdubs. Every track on the album has its own history – we can see this with the notes Rohrer has meticulously transcribed and which come printed on an attached insert. It’s easy to get lost in the sounds of birds chirping, cowbells ringing, rain falling and many other natural elements captured in this project. Tamangur is an eclectic and enjoyable recording that brings the listener on a journey that spans two different continents and many different sounds.

 

Thomas Rohrer – Tamangur