Nik Bärtsch

Born 1971 in Zurich. Pianist, composer, producer and author. Lives in Zurich. Instruction in piano and percussion from the age 8. 1997 Graduation from the 'Musikhochschule Zürich'. 1998-2001 studies in philosophy, linguistics and musicology at the University of Zurich. 2003/04 stay in japan for half a year. Ongoing work on his RITUAL GROOVE MUSIC as pianist and composer. Leader of MOBILE (since 1997; with Sha & Nicolas Stocker) and the zen-funk quartet RONIN (since 2001; with Kaspar Rast, Jeremias Keller and Sha). Founder of the label Ronin Rhythm Records, a platform for creative groove music (since 2006). ECM artist since 2005. Co-founder of the Music club EXIL in Zurich (2009). Co-founder of the Indie-Classcial Festival Zurich Currents (since 2014). “RITUAL GROOVE MUSIC, the title of my first CD, also points to the fundamental concept of my musical thinking. The music shows a close affinity to architecturally organized space and is governed by the principles of repetition and reduction as well as by interlocking rhythms. A piece of music can be entered, inhabited like a room. It moves forward and transforms through obsessive circular movements, superimposition of different meters and micro-interplay. The listeners attention is directed toward minimal variations and phrasing. The band becomes an integral organism - like an animal, a habitat, an urban space. One must think with ears and hands.”