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John Wolf Brennan (born 13 February 1954) is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based in Weggis, Switzerland.

Career

Brennan was born in Dublin, Ireland. His family moved to Switzerland when he was seven years old. He began taking piano lessons at age eleven, played bass guitar in a rock band in 1970, then played keyboards in a jazz-rock band. He studied at the University of Fribourg (late 1970s), Swiss Jazz School in Bern (1975–79), the conservatory in Lucerne (1979–84), and the Academy of Church and School Music (1985–87). His brother Peter Wolf, a singer, saxophonist, flautist, and oboist, founded the progressive rock band Flame Dream in 1977. During the same year Brennan founded the free jazz group Freemprovisations, which included Peter Schärli. Two years later he formed the band Impetus.

From 1980 to 1984, he played in Impetus and the Mohrenkopf Afro-jazz band from 1980 to 1982 in Triumbajo with Ushma Agnes Baumeler and Barni Palm. During the 1980s he also worked with Corin Curschellas, Christy Doran, and Urs Leimgruber. In 1988, he worked in New York City for six months, then founded the quartet Pago Libre the following year.

Early in the 1990s he worked with Lindsay Cooper, Daniele Patumi, and Tscho Theissing and established the SinFONietta ensemble in 1991. In 1993, he worked with American drummer Alex Cline in the quintet Shooting Stars & Traffic Lights. Russian hornist Arkady Shilkloper joined Pago Libre and recorded the albums Pago Libre (1996), Stepping Out (2006), PlatzDADA! (2008) and Fake Folk (2009).

In 1997, he lived in London and worked with Julie Tippetts, Evan Parker, and Chris Cutler in HeXtet, which set to music poems by Seamus Heaney, Edgar Allan Poe, and Theo Dorgan. In 1999 he toured in Finland with Ivo Perelman and worked with Gianluigi Trovesi, Gianni Coscia, and Daniele Patumi in the quartet Euradici.

Brennan worked with clarinetist Gene Coleman for the Momentum albums and with Christy Doran and Patrice Heral in the group Triangulation, where he developed "comprovisation", a term he coined in 1989. He released the solo albums The Beauty of Fractals (1989), Pictures in a Gallery (2006), and The Speed of Dark (2009). Following his album The Well-Prepared Clavier (1998), he developed prepared piano techniques, creating non-electronic sounds such as "arcopiano", "pizzicatopiano", "tamburopiano", and "sordinopiano".

In 2010, he created the sound installation "Inner & Outer Spaces" with video artist Susanne Hofer for the Lucerne Art Museum, performing with Gerry Hemingway and Thomas K. J. Mejer. He was in the trio Melos Montis with Hanspeter Wigger and yodel singer Franziska Wigger and in the duo Twinkeys with Esther Flückiger. He formed the band Sonic Roots with Christy Doran, Andreas Gabriel, Marc Halbheer, Heiri Kaenzig, and Marcel Oetiker.

In 2012, he collaborated with overtone singer Christian Zehnder and Arkady Shilkloper. During the same year he recorded Pilgrims with guitarist Marco Jencarelli and percussionist Tony Majdalani. In 2018, he founded the trio SOOON with Majdalani and yodel singer Sonja Morgenegg.

Brennan has composed film music, chamber music, and the operas Güdelmäntig (2004) and Night.Shift (2007, based on the poem "The Age of Anxiety" by W. H. Auden). The first volume of his Sonic Roots series of books (for piano, inspired by Celtic Country Dances) was premiered at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2010 and published by Pan-Verlag. The second and third (for violin) were published in 2011, the fourth (for clarinet) in 2013, the fifth (for alto saxophone) in 2014.

The Percussion Art Ensemble Berne premiered his composition "Oscillating Orbits" in 2013 for marimba, vibraphone, timpani, and percussion featuring violinist Misa Stefanovic. In 2015, the Neues Orchester Basel commissioned "Traumpfade", a piece for orchestra and overtone soloist Christian Zehnder. For the 30-year anniversary of the Zurich James Joyce Foundation he wrote "Winds of May" for soprano and piano based on Joyce's Chamber Music IX. He wrote a hymn for his Swiss hometown, Weggis, called "s'Wäggiser Lied". For the Alpentöne Festival 2017, he composed "Got hard", an alpine jazz suite for wind orchestra, Pago Libre & Friends (released by Leo Records in 2018). In August 2018, the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich performed his work Traumpfade with soloists Arkady Shilkloper (alphorn) and Christian Zehnder (overtone voice, global yodeling) at the Festival Stubete am See.

In 2019, he wrote most of the choir arrangements for the program Inland by the Zurich female choir "die vogelfreien". He composed music for the play Fluctus and released the albums Nevergreens, Cinémagique 2.0, and Youchz.

Discography

Solo Piano

1989: The Beauty of Fractals (Creative Works Records)
1991: Iritations (Creative Works Records)
1994: Text, Context, Co-Text & Co-Co-Text (Creative Works Records)
1998: The Well-Prepared Clavier (Creative Works Records) with Marianne Schroeder
2002: Flügel (Creative Works Records)
2006: Pictures in a Gallery (Leo Records)
2009: The Speed of Dark (Leo Records)
2012: Solopiano (iTunes Essentials)
2017: Silly Blooze. In: Twenty Years of New Blues for Piano. Marcel Worms, Piano (Zefir Records)
2019: Nevergreens (Leo Records)
2021: Nitty Gritty Ditties (Leo Records) with Anna Murphy
2024: Wish you were Hear (t.b.a.) (Leo Records)

Pago Libre

1990: Extempora (Splash Records) with Lars Lindvall, Steve Goodman & Daniele Patumi
1993: Shooting Stars and Traffic Lights (Leo Records) with John Voirol, Tscho Theissing, Daniele Patumi & Alex Cline
1995: Moskau-Petuschki / Felix-Szenen (Leo Records) with Lars Lindvall, Martin Mayes, Marion Namestnik, Tscho Theissing, Daniele Patumi, Oscar Bingisser & Liana Schwanja
1996: Pago Libre. (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing & Daniele Patumi
1997: Pago Libre: Wake Up Call: Live In Italy (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing & Daniele Patumi
2001: Pago Libre: Cinémagique. (TCB Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing & Daniele Patumi
2003: Pago Libre: Phoenix: Live in Salzburg & Zurich (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing & Daniele Patumi
2005: Pago Libre: Stepping Out (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing, Georg Breinschmid
2008: Pago Libre Sextett: platzDADA! (Christoph Merian Verlag) with Agnes Heginger, Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing, Georg Breinschmid & Patrice Héral
2009: Pago Libre: Fake Folk (Zappel Music) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing, Georg Breinschmid & Patrice Héral
2018: Pago Libre & Friends: got hard (Leo Records) with Florian Mayer, Arkady Shilkloper, Tom Götze, Patrice Héral, Christy Doran, Christian Zehnder & dem Alpentöne Blasorchester, Leitung: Michel Truniger
2019: Pago Libre: Cinémagique 2.0 (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing, Daniele Patumi & Georg Breinschmid
2020: Pago Libre Sextet: platzDADA!! (remastered). (Leo Records) with Agnes Heginger, Arkady Shilkloper, Tscho Theissing, Georg Breinschmid & Patrice Héral
2020: Pago Libre: Mountain Songlines (Leo Records) with Florian Mayer, Arkady Shilkloper, Tom Götze & Sonja Morgenegg
2021: Pago Libre & Sooon: FriendShip (Leo Records) with Sonja Morgenegg, Tony Majdalani, Arkady Shilkloper, Florian Mayer & Rätus Flisch
2022: Extempora (Leo Records) with Lars Lindvall, Steve Goodman & Daniele Patumi
2024: Pago Libre & Sooon: FriendShip - Riffs ahead! (Leo Records) with Sonja Morgenegg, Tony Majdalani, Arkady Shilkloper, Florian Mayer & Rätus Flisch
2025: Pago Libre: Wild Card. Songs from a Farm (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Florian Mayer & Rätus Flisch

Christy Doran & Triangulation

1988: Henceforward (Core Records) with Christy Doran
1995: Henceforward (Leo Records) with Christy Doran
2004: Triangulation (Leo Records) with Christy Doran & Patrice Héral
2010: Whirligigs (Leo Records) with Bruno Amstad, Christy Doran & Patrice Héral
2018: Pago Libre & Friends: got hard (Leo Records) with Florian Mayer, Arkady Shilkloper, Tom Götze, Patrice Héral, Christy Doran, Christian Zehnder & dem Alpentöne Blasorchester, Leitung: Michel Truniger

Pilgrims, SOOON

2013: Pilgrims (Leo Records) with Tony Majdalani & Marco Jencarelli
2017: Pilgrims: Oriental Orbit (Leo Records) with Tony Majdalani & Marco Jencarelli
2019: SOOON: YouCHz Now (Narrenschiff) with Sonja Morgenegg & Tony Majdalani
2024: Pilgrims in Trance it (Narrenschiff) with Tony Majdalani & Marco Jencarelli

Momentum

1999: Momentum (Leo Records) with Gene Coleman & Christian Wolfarth
2000: Momentum 2 – The Law of Refraction (Leo Records) with Gene Coleman, Alfred Zimmerlin & Christian Wolfarth
2002: Momentum 3 (Leo Records) with Bertrand Denzler, Christian Weber & Christian Wolfarth
2005: Momentum 4 – Rising Fall (Leo Records) with Gene Coleman, Thomas Mejer & Marc Unternährer

Urs Leimgruber

1986: Mountain Hymn (Bellaphon Records) with Urs Leimgruber
1988: An Chara (Bellaphon Records) with Urs Leimgruber
1989: Polyphyllum (Bellaphon Records) with Urs Leimgruber
1990: M.A.P. (Music for Another Planet) (Bellaphon Records) with Norma Winstone und Urs Leimgruber
1991: Live at Montreux ’89 (B&W Music) with Urs Leimgruber
1992: Blue Jazz – Live at Montreux (B&W Music) with Urs Leimgruber

Daniele Patumi

1993: TEN ZENtences (Bellaphon Records) with Daniele Patumi
1997: Aurealis (Les Disques Victo) with Robert Dick & Daniele Patumi
2002: Time Jumps – Space cracks (Leo Records) with Daniele Patumi

Various

1979: Opening Seed (Zytglogge) with Agnes Ushma Baumeler, Mark Zingg, Bianca Medici & Fausto Medici
1980: Celtic Country Dances (Bimbo Records) with Agnes Ushma Baumeler
1981: Triumbajo (Bimbo Records) with Agnes Ushma Baumeler & Barni Palm
1983: Down to Earth (Plainisphare) with Marco Käppeli, Ushma Agnes Baumeler, Thomas Dürst & Jürg Burkhard
1988: Entupadas (Creative Works Records) with Corin Curschellas
1993: Willisau live and more (Creative Works Records) with Creative Works Orchestra (Lindsay Cooper e.a.)
1994: OrganIC VoICes (Leo Records) with Gabriele Hasler, Peter Schärli & Christian Muthspiel
1998: HeXtet: Through the Ear of a Raindrop (Leo Records) with Julie Driscoll, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Chris Cutler & Peter Whyman
1999: Minute Age (For4ears Records) with Margrit Rieben & Reto Senn
1999: Nisajo (FMR Records) with Nicky Heinen & Alexander Alexandrov
2000: Pipelines (Leo Records) with Hans Kennel
2000: Entropology – The Science of Sonic Poetry (For4Ears Records) with Eddie Prévost & Simon Picard
2002: Broken Dreams live (Creative Works Records) with Alexandra Prusa, Hans Kennel & Marc Unternährer
2003: klanggang (Creative Works Records)
2003: Glockenspiel (Altrisuoni Records)
2003: Zero Heroes (Leo Records) with Peggy Lee & Dylan van der Schyff
2004: Pipelines – Live at Lucerne Festival (Creative Works Records) with Hans Kennel & Marc Unternährer
2004: I.N.I.T.I.A.L.S. (Creative Works Records) with Urs Blöchlinger, Peter Schärli, Lindsay Cooper, Steve Argüelles, Christy Doran, Urs Leimgruber, Marco Käppeli e.a.
2004: Sculpted Sound (Altrisuoni Records) with Magda Vogel, Charlotte Hug, Shirley Anne Hofmann, Eugen Gomringer & Christian Wolfarth
2007: Broken Dreams: Hommage an Sophie Taeuber-Arp (Narrenschiff) with Alexandra Prusa & Peter Gossweiler
2007: Mein liebstes Krokodil: after Anton Chekhov The Lady with the little Dog and letters to and from Olga Knipper (Christoph Merian Verlag) with Thomas Hürlimann & Arkady Shilkloper
2008: Jodel Vol. 1 (Mülirad Verlag Altdorf) with Nadja Räss & Franziska Wigger
2009: Klick, klick, ihr Sätzlinge (Christoph Merian Verlag) with Eveline Hasler
2012: POYA (edition therme vals) with Daniel Mezger
2012: Tarkus & Other Love Stories (Leo Records) Piano-Duo TwinKeys (Esther Flückiger & John Wolf Brennan)
2014: Dehei nöd dehei (Trio Zehnder/Brennan/Shilkloper) with Christian Zehnder & Arkady Shilkloper
2016: MODE (Naturton 1986–2016) with Gérard Widmer, Fujara & Willi Grimm, Didjeridu
2016: Echo. Von der Suche nach Widerhall. Feature by Bettina Mittelstrass, with Christian Zehnder & John Wolf Brennan. Featureprice 2016 (Christoph Merian Verlag)
2023: Klanglabor feat. John Wolf Brennan (Vinyl; Little Big Beat) with Arno Oehri, Denise Kronabitter & Marco Sele
2024: Percussion Art Ensemble Bern & Misa Stefanovic: Grenzgänger Works by Fred Frith, John Wolf Brennan & Siegfried Kutterer
2025: Night in Gale (Leo Records) with Arkady Shilkloper, Christian Zehnder & Marcello Wick

Groupe Lacroix

1997: The Composer Group (Creative Works Records) with Moscow Rachmaninov Trio
1999: Arpiade (edition edex) with Barbara Sutter, Béatrice Wolf & Michael Wolf
2003: 8 Pieces on Paul Klee (Creative Works Records) with Ensemble Sortisatio Leipzig

References

John Wolf Brennan at Allmusic
Simon Adams, "John Wolf Brennan". Grove Jazz online.
Richard Cook & Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th edition). London 2006