Gina Schwarz

"Schwarz's compositions are thoughtful and clever, making good use of stylistic range by highlighting the timbral strengths of different sections of the ensemble."
(DownBeat Magazine)

"Her bass playing has a delightfully large, pleasingly round tone and her impeccable articulation and intonation are enough to scare many a fledgling bassist into another line of work."
(Jazzwise, UK)

"Lots of brilliance and sophistication, joy of playing and charm."
(Die Zeit, Die besten Jazzalben 2020)

"The trio’s slow-burning dynamics stress a tight rhythmic sensibility and leave enough space for individual improvisations and are open forjoyful surprises."
(Salt-Peanuts)

"Women can do anything, even in jazz. Austrian bassist Gina Schwarz, who is one of the most interesting exponents of the Alpine jazz scene, is excellent proof of this."
(Fono Forum, DE)

As a "true power woman" (Concerto magazine) Gina Schwarz, born in 1968, is considered one of the most exciting and versatile European bassists. Musically, she sets herself no limits in her compositions. Neither in form nor in style does the native of Lower Austria follow traditional rules. Her sound is characterised by a great openness to a wide variety of influences. The musical expression of what she offers is correspondingly broad, ranging from all varieties of jazz, rocking interjections and sound experiments, melodies and improvisation, straightforward grooves and more complex rhythms, and from reduced to expansive in varying intensities.

The ELMO NERO trio brings together three outstanding personalities from the Austrian jazz scene: the exceptional bassist, composer and Hans Koller Award winner Gina Schwarz, the virtuoso guitarist Christoph Helm, who oscillates between various styles of popular music, and the subtle and experimental drummer Max Plattner, who is currently driving numerous innovative projects in the up-and-coming young jazz scene. The three skilfully translate their different musical influences into dynamic and energetic moods. In doing so, they create a sound that skilfully combines the multi-faceted spectrum and their improvisational skills and knows how to entertain the audience throughout.

The starting point for the nonet "GINA SCHWARZ & MULTIPHONICS 8" was the exceptional bassist's privilege of being invited to be composer in residence at the Multiphonics Festival Cologne, which specialises in clarinet music, in 2020 and 2021. This resulted in the 18-part composition "Way to Blue", for which the Viennese was musically inspired by the music of British singer-songwriter Nick Drake and, in terms of content, by her own childhood stories from the 1970s. Schwarz is not copying the music of Drake, this great melancholic who was only 26 years old, but is adopting the atmosphere of his songs and transposing their intense atmosphere into modern times. The four clarinets in the line-up of Multiphonics 8 symbolise the deeply felt connection to melancholy, while the flute, bass and piano bring nostalgic memories to the surface and pair them with the poetic and tender side of Drake's universe. The sensuality of this music is counteracted by intermezzi of electric guitar, which takes on the role of Advocatus Diaboli in this otherwise mostly graceful narrative.

The album "Way to Blue" shows once again the meticulousness and care with which Gina Schwarz orchestrates and arranges her perfectly thought-out compositions.

In 2007 Gina Schwarz won the Hans Koller Prize, and in 2022 and 2023 she was nominated for the AmadeusAustrianMusicAward and the German Record Critics' Awards.

Gina Schwarz has played with jazz greats such as Sylvie Courvosier, Jim Black, Gerry Hemingway, Dave Taylor, Marilyn Mazur, George Garzone, Ingrid Jensen and Julia Hülsmann. She is at home on the major international festival stages and has performed at the London Jazz Festival, the European Jazz Festival Doha, the International Jazz Festival Bonn, the Winterjazz and the Multiphonics Festival in Cologne, the Jazz Week Hannover, the festivals in Chur and Liestal in Switzerland, the Neubrandenburger Jazzfrühling, the Jazzwoche Hannover, the Bremen Jazzahead, the jazz festivals in Leipnitz, Klagenfurt and St. Pölten, Snow Jazz Gastein, the jazz festivals in Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza, the WeJazz Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, and GLivelab in Helsinki.

She has also performed with her projects at the Budapest State Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, the Smetana Hall Prague, the Finlandia Hall Helsinki, the Konzerthaus Vienna, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Nuremberg State Theatre and Budapest State Opera.

ELMO NERO
Gina Schwarz - double bass, e-bass & composition
Christoph Helm - guitar & composition
Max Plattner - drums & composition

GINA SCHWARZ & MULTIPHONICS 8
Gina Schwarz - bass, composition, arrangement
Annette Maye - Bb-clarinet
Daniel Manrique-Smith - flute, alto flute, bass flute
Dirk-Peter Kölsch - drums
Lucas Leidinger- piano
Mahan Mirarab- guitar
Mona Matbou-Riahi - Bb-clarinet
Steffen Schorn - contra-alto clarinet, saxophone
Thomas Savy - bass clarinet