For nearly ten years, Gina Schwarz, has embarked on an exceptional musical journey. Her journey has been an adventure along an unrestrained path, highlighted by both her imaginative and inventive compositions and the exquisitely unique style of her jazz perfomances. It is simultaneously eclectic, articulate, authentic and refreshingly accessible. With a warm, sensuous, soothing tone and an agile and expressive technique, Gina Schwarz impresses the listener with her elastic walking lines and the sense of drama-induced tension in her soloing. Her virtuosity is delicately nuanced in the collective and yet at the same time, imaginative, hopeful and melodious.

Pannonica - arguably one of Monk’s most known works - is also the namesake of this fascinating project by the "Baroness of the low notes and deep sounds", Gina Schwarz. Gina pays tribute to the patronage of Kathleen Rothschild and at the same time opens up a conscious female "sight for listening". Gina Schwarz’s new excellently cast formation pannonica started as a stage band at Porgy & Bess Jazz club in Vienna during the 2017/18 Season. A profile of this work is captured on this double CD: CD 1 “Musicbox“, and the newly arranged material on CD 2 “Free Landscape”. 

Gina Schwarz acts as a prudent but sovereign bandleader, and is known to be a gifted and fascinating bass player, as well as a composer and an arranger. Her music leaves a lot of room for interpretation, which creates a fascinating interplay, exciting solos, as well as an ever-surprising flow of ideas for co-musicians and listeners alike.

The project invited international female composers and musicians as special guests, who performed their task exceptionally on eight highly variable and exciting evenings.

Gina Schwarz has been a bandleader of formations like “Schwarzmarkt” or “Jazzista”, as well as coordinating projects like “Union”, featuring Jim Black. Over time she has become a highly productive catalyst of the present Austrian jazz scene. This recording is a sustainable proof thereof. The Baroness de Koenigswarter died in1988. A book titled “The Jazz Musician and her three wishes” was published posthumously. I highly recommend it! To quote Duke Ellington: “My wishes are very modest - I want nothing but the best”. With pannonica, Gina Schwarz comes very close to Ellington’s paradigm. Chapeau! 

 [...] “Gina Schwarz has formed a democratically functioning collective of handpicked exceptional musicians; each with a unique and unmistakable voice. Particularly fascinating is the experience of hearing how unconventional art can sound so free-spirited and yet pleasing to the common listening.” (Hannes Schweiger)