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Vienna Art Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Vienna Art Orchestra was a European jazz group from Vienna, organised alternately as a big band and as a smaller combo. The group was regarded as one of the most important jazz ensembles in Europe and was an official cultural ambassador of Austria. It was founded in 1977 by Mathias Rüegg, who was its leader and composer. At first the orchestra played its postmodern compositions on stages across Europe. The founders included singer Lauren Newton, saxophonists Wolfgang Puschnig and Harry Sokal, trombonist Christian Radovan, tuba player Jon Sass and drummer Woody Schabata.

Music and breakthrough

In 1980 the group signed to the Swiss label hatART, and in 1984 it toured the United States for the first time. At the end of the 1980s the orchestra paused for a while. In 1992 a new period began with fewer musicians. The group then played less of Rüegg's work and concentrated on arrangements of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and other American jazz composers, alongside music inspired by Verdi, Wagner, Schubert and Erik Satie. In 1997 the line-up changed again, with more and younger musicians and new compositions by Rüegg, often in concerts with images and staging.

Influence

The orchestra gave more than eight hundred concerts and released more than thirty-five recordings. In 1998 the film An Echo from Europe: Vienna Art Orchestra on Tour was released. For All That Strauss (2001) and Art and Fun (2003) it was nominated for an Amadeus Austrian Music Award. In 2010 Rüegg disbanded the orchestra for financial reasons.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording by the Vienna Art Orchestra of music by Duke Ellington and notice what the band adds that you do not hear in the original.

Discography

Studio albums

See also

Categories: Artists