Marena Whitcher Composition, lyrics, vocals, guitar, glass harp
Nils Fischer bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
Lisa Hasler vocals, toys
Isabelle Ritter vocals, toys
Luzius Schuler piano
Maximilian Grossenbacher double bass
Nicolas Stocker drums, glockenspiel
Carving her niche in the young Swiss jazz scene, 25 year-old Marena Whitcher from Zurich, is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Her excursions into every imaginable und inconceivable vocal dimension are eccentric and theatrical, counter-pointed by her exploration of sinister and melancholy realms. This year's recipient of the prestigious art-prize granted by the Berlin Academy of Arts, Marena Whitcher has arranged a mosaic of facets in her elaborate Shady Midnight Orchestra, issuing her first album, entitled Ghostology.
Ghosts and spirits have haunted all different ages, cultures and fields of art. Marena Whitcher is also fascinated with these timeless creatures. Always restless, they shift be-tween life and death, sadness and euphoria, torment and intrigue.
This clash of opposites drives and informs Marena's personal investigation of ghostly escapades. Composing in a poetic jazz/avant-garde pop style that consistently departs from conventions, her inquisitive spirit arranges a unique ensemble of three voices, bass clarinet, piano, double bass, and drums, seasoned with curiosities discovered in a trove filled with such treasures as a glass harp, a music box or a broken dictaphone.
The most prominent feature of Marena's ghost-jazz are the stories she tells with her transforming voice; stories of dancing skeletons, soldiers frozen in time, and a strange ocean child captures her listeners.
In Ghostology Marena Whitcher with her Shady Midnight Orchestra not only expands every piece to the breaking point, it also weaves improvisational moments, storytelling, and bizarre spectacles into a Gesamtkunstwerk, a cohesive artistic statement that con-jures spirits to guide us on a risky journey into the unknown.
