Gabriel Zufferey

Gabriel Zufferey has a delicate and powerful touch, melodic and meditative,spontaneous and generous, and a permanent groove. He has an uncanny confidence and maturity, a vast musical intelligence, an unexpected harmonic scope.
« Even solo, his sense of the harmonic economy turns him away from any overload, from any narcissism. He plays only what makes sense. » – Franck Bergerot, Le Monde de la Musique
Born in Swizerland in 1984, Gabriel Zufferey grew up in a family of musicians and music lovers. Only two years after his first jazz lessons, he won the “most promising” award at the Piano Jazz Martial Solal competition, organized by the Sacem and the city of Paris. One year later, he got the special award from the jury at the Montreux Jazz festival Piano Solo contest.
In 2003, Gabriel Zufferey released his debut album with Daniel Humair whom he met at the Martial Solal contest. They recorded a trio with Sébastien Boisseau, a bassist invited by Daniel. In less than two days, they released Après l’orage which includes eight compositions from Zufferey, three collective improv’s and two standards. The album received a positive review and got several distinctions: “the Must” from TSF and “4 stars” in the Jazzman and Le Monde de la Musique.
He recorded in 2010 his second album which is a live album, with the drummer and percussionist Ramon Lopez, the trombone player Samuel Blaser and the bass player Patrice Moret. With Hear and Know, Gabriel added an electric keyboard to the piano - « which he uses with a rare happiness and with which he succeeds in giving a oneiric dimension to the music. » (Pierre de Chocqueuse)
In New York, where he went to confront himself to the dynamic scene, he discovered musicians such as Dave Liebman, Ravi Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Mike Stern, just to name a few. He met the drummer Ari Hoenig who was eager to take part in Gabriel Zufferey’s next album.
Back in Switzerland, he took the opportunity to record his first solo album. It resulted a refined testimony, a narrative full of poetry, in harmony with the place where he recorded it – up in the mountains and under the stars – Contemplation.
« Free and spontaneous, his music “in progress” possesses a lot of charm. » – Pierre de Chocqueuse, Blog de choc