HIGHLIGHTS
°° New CD "Circles" OUT NOW °°
°° Lea Gasser 5tet wins ZKB Jazzpreis 2024 °°
°° Album "L'Heure Bleue" °°
by Mathilda Olmi
LEA GASSER 5TET
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Lea Gasser (acc, comp.) / Mirko Maio (p, rhodes) / Samuel Urscheler (as, ss)
Romain Ballarini (dr) / Emilio Giovanoli (db)
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Catchy and lyrical melodies meet self-confident bass lines. Muted strings breathe under melancholic sounds. Sometimes the music dances, quivering with love of life, then it slows down dreamily and leaves room for solo narratives to unfold.
The Lea Gasser 5tet was born out of the young accordionist's long-cherished desire to bring her own musical language to the stage. After completing a classical training, accordionist Lea Gasser finds her way into a jazz master's degree due to her curiosity for other worlds of sound. Embedded in the quintet sound of her small jazz orchestra, the musician creates personal compositions that describe seemingly inconspicuous everyday moments on stage. In her jazz compositions, classical influences and folk music elements merge into a rhythmic web of melodic complexity. In doing so, the young band elicits lively stories from the compositions with great curiosity each time.
In autumn 2025, the band releases the second album “Circles” in collaboration with the Neuklang label. The music tells of elves and trolls who live in the vastness of the north - Lea wrote the new compositions during a residency stay in Iceland. The group released its first album "L'Heure Bleue" in 2022 and won the prestigious ZKB Jazzpreis 2024.
"It is this quintet, which she founded five years ago, that allows her to show off her full range of talents. With it, she combines enchanting melodies and breakneck rhythms with elements of folk, jazz and new music."
- Rolf Thomas, Jazzthing 2025
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"Lea masters a suggestive simplicity and also likes to lose herself in a winding desire to experiment. All in all, a wonderful album ("Circles"), a gem of quiet tones and great poetry."
- Jörg Konrad, KultKomplott 2025
"There is no ego cultivation here, but rather an expression of respect for the music and one's own instrument. Conscious restraint, pointedly placed notes – a kind of audible humility that lends the music a special depth and fragility."
- Rudolf Amstutz, Jazz'n'more 2025
"Lea Gasser proved that she has already found her very own unique musical language, which her band knew how to support excellently. That's why they were an unbeatable team."
- Jury of the ZKB Jazz Prize 2024
"Lea Gasser has already found her language: without rejecting or leaning on anything, she creates something entirely her own."
- Christof Thurnherr, Jazz'n'more 2023