portrait

«The Brazilian singer Koorax is “the new Elis Regina,” Antonio Carlos Jobim once said, and in the “Down Beats Critics Polls” you always find her at the top of the best singers... This CD has nothing at all with the relevant bossa -Nova Lounge CDs, but “that’s the real thing”. ... This is perfect craftsmanship that gets under your skin. Music as purest poetry.  JAZZ’N’MORE, 04/2011, Gino Ferlin 
(Rating of the CD “O Grande Amor”: 5 out of 5 points → “unmistakably great”)

«The “Peter Schärli Trio featuring Ithamara Koorax” received great praise from the jazz magazine “Down Beat”. “Down Beat” gives the album the best rating in the entire issue with four and a half stars. “O Grande Amor” is therefore the jazz album of the month.»
Sunday, April 24, 2011, Stefan Künzli

The tours by the "Peter Schärli Trio" featuring Ithamara Koorax in November 2006, April 2008, March 2009, February 2010 and April/May 2012 were extremely successful. Almost all concerts were sold out and in some places not everyone could be admitted. It was not uncommon for standing ovations to be received.

It was Dom Um Romão who introduced the Brazilian singer Ithamara Koorax to Peter Schärli in 2004. Ithamara Koorax was impressed by Peter Schärli's trumpet playing and immediately agreed with it"Peter Schärli Trio featuring Ithamara Koorax and Dom Um Romão" to tour Europe in November 2006. Unfortunately, Dom Um Romão died during the preparations for these concerts. The tour still took place. Without a drummer? That's not strange but logical, because no one could have really replaced Dom Um Romão. 

Peter Schärli, who met Dom Um Romão in the early days of his Swiss "exile", became a close friend of Romão. They starred together in various projects. Schärli developed into one of the best trumpeters on the Swiss scene, and even in Europe. He is now also known in Brazil, where he was voted the best trumpeter of 2006 by one of the largest Brazilian daily newspapers, "Tribuna da Imprensa", ahead of stars like Lew Soloff and Randy Brecker. He has recorded various CDs under his name, including with his band "Peter Schärli Special Sextet featuring Glenn Ferris", which has existed for more than 25 years.

Ithamara Koorax started working with Dom Um Romão in 1999 and a deep friendship developed. "Whenever possible, I had Dom Um on drums for my CDs because I was very inspired by his playing style when singing and because he had become an irreplaceable friend over all these years, supporting me with advice and support. " Ithamara Koorax, a "Carioca" from Rio, has recorded several CDs under her name to date. "I love trumpeters like Lew Soloff and Chet Baker. Peter Schärli absolutely belongs in this league. The way he phrases with his trumpet is unique. Hans-Peter Pfammatter and Thomas Dürst are just perfect. It was almost uncanny how we all fell in love immediately understood." It's clear what she means by that: Peter Schärli, Hans-Peter Pfammatter and Thomas Dürst have understood the essence of Brazilian music and internalized it as if they themselves had been born in the "Sugarloaf City". -Gino Ferlin