Lotus Crash recordings

Lotus Crash
First Visit
ezz-thetics 108, 2024

This album was studio-recorded in February 2023 by a Swiss quartet comprising Marco von Orelli on trumpet, Tommy Meier on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Luca Sisera on double bass and Sheldon Suter on drums, all of whom have relatively small and recent discographies, predominantly on the Swiss label ezz-thetics. Entitled Lotus Crash, the quartet’s only previous album was released in 2019 on ezz-thetics and featured four compositions by von Orelli and three by Meier as well as Adam Lane’s “Spin with the EARth” and Co Streiff’s “Five Dark Days.” Apart from the personnel, that album did not have much in common with this First Visit album, so admirers of the quartet can safely acquire both. Between its two albums, the quartet became named after its first album—a common phenomenon as illustrated by John Butcher’s trio The Contest of Pleasures.

The 2024 album features four compositions by Orelli and four by Meier plus a version of “Fate” by Andrew Cyrille. Throughout the album, as well as tight ensemble playing, Orelli and Meier both demonstrate that they are first-rate soloists, with Sisera and Suter providing excellent support as well as occasional solos of their own. Unsurprisingly, the quartet’s instrumentation and absence of a piano have attracted comparisons with Ornette Coleman’s quartet with Don Cherry. While that is not 100% true, one feels that tracks from this album might one day trip someone up in a blindfold test. Until then, this album seems destined to provide countless hours of pleasure to a broad range of jazz lovers young and old.