In 2024, Yumi Ito, Sc’ööf and UASSYN are taking part to their last year of the three-year support programme “High priority jazz promotion”. Let’s discover them.
Yumi Ito
Yumi Ito is a Swiss vocalist, composer, producer with Japanese and Polish roots. She lives and works in Basel, regularly performs all around the world and has shared the stage with artists like Al Jarreau, Becca Stevens and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Her work fuses multiple genres including jazz, art pop and neoclassical music. The German radio station SWR2 Jazz named Ito one of its breakout stars of 2020. That same year, Jazz thing magazine crowned Stardust Crystals one of the best albums of 2020. She currently performs as part of a trio, alongside “poet-percussionist” Iago Fernández and double bassist Nadav Erlich, and as part of a duo with guitarist Szymon Mika.
Discography:
Ysla
Yumi Ito
(2023)
Ekual
Yumi Ito & Szymon Mika
(2021)
Stardust Crystals
Yumi Ito Orchestra
(2020)
Ypsilon
Yumi Ito & Yves Theiler
(2018)
Intertwined
Yumi Ito w/ Yves Theiler, Gabriel Dalvit, Yuri Goloubev
(2016)
Sc’ööf
Sc’ööf is an experimental band that has formed its own radical sonic language, which is at once refreshingly adventurous and in-your-face. A strong affection for captivatingly odd grooves and an excessive live energy makes Sc’ööf an exciting bag of surprises.
Their contemplative attitude and their joy for fundamental research is strongly audible in their music and their creative process. Extending this attitude to the questions of social resonance and cultural relevance, the members of Sc’ööf – Amadeus Fries [drums], Christian Zemp [guitar], Elio Amberg [Sax], Noah Arnold [Sax] – have acted as a driving force to form «Club Dänemark» which acts at once as a collective think tank, transdisciplinary event organizer and record label.
www.daenemark.club/scoeoef.html
Discography:
CDR003SA (2022)
Weaving Elephants (2020)
Kreidenfels (2017)
UASSYN
UASSYN has always had a strong shared identity. After lengthy discussions conducted on worn down kerbstones, over plates of pierogi in Polish service stations, during street art sessions in downtown Zurich and extensive touring around Europe, Silvan Jeger (double bass), Vincent Glanzmann (drums) and Tapiwa Svosve (saxophone) released their long-awaited debut album ZACHARYA. It was issued on Double Moon Records, as part of the label’s «Next Generation» series which it jointly curates with Jazz thing magazine.
UASSYN wants to grow together, as a group and with the people who surround the trio and cross its path. They see themselves less as a hermetically sealed group and more as a social construct. Through organic collaborations, friends and like-minded people from all walks of life become an integral part of UASSYNS’s self-image and the band encourages them to see themselves as an essential element of this construct.
Discography: ZACHARYA (2021)
Supported bands/artists
2022 – 2024
UASSYN
Yumi Ito
2021 – 2023
Sc’ööf
Hely
District Five
2020 – 2022
IKARUS
KALI Trio
Woodism
2019 – 2021
Marie Kruttli Trio
Lucia Cadotsch
2018 – 2020
Gauthier Toux Trio
Trio Heinz Herbert
Yves Theiler Trio
2017 – 2019
Florian Favre Trio
Kaos Protokoll
Luca Sisera Roofer
2016 – 2018
The Great Harry Hillman
Schnellertollermeier
2015 – 2017
Pilgrim
2014 – 2016
Yilian Canizares & Ochumare
PommelHORSE
2013 – 2015
Tobias Preisig Quartet
VEIN
2011 – 2013
Andreas Schaerer’s Hildegard lernt fliegen
Marc Perrenoud Trio
Plaistow
2010 – 2012
Elina Duni Quartet
RUSCONI
2009 – 2011
ColinVallonTrio
Leo Tardin GRAND PIANORAMAX
2008 – 2010
Christoph Stiefel Trio
Manuel Mengis Gruppe 6
Lucien Dubuis Trio
Tre
Lucas Niggli ZOOM/BIG ZOOM/ZOOM & ARTE Quartet
2007 – 2009
Nik Bärtsch’s RONIN
Lucas Niggli ZOOM/BIG ZOOM/ZOOM &’ARTE Quartet
2006 – 2008
Pago Libre
Since 2005, Pro Helvetia fosteres with its three-year support programme selected young Swiss jazz bands that have already gained transregional acclaim, have undertaken international concert tours, and whose goal it is to enhance their presence in the international scene. The programme includes financial contributions towards tours, coaching offers and assistance in publicity matters.
After evaluation, this support programme will be ended in December 2024. Applications are therefore closed.
