Blend of classic and modern tunes

The ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) from Zürich is a young 20-member group, which was down in the City to regale music lovers with their special brand of big band sound and jazz at the Indian Institute of Science.

The group consisting of young university students mainly as well as professional musicians was founded in 1993 by Christoph Eck. On a tour of major Indian cities, they were in Bangalore along with a delegation from Switzerland. “I heard them yesterday at a performing arts restaurant in the City and I really like their brand of jazz, swing and different arrangements so when I heard they were appearing again today I rounded up my friends, who had missed the earlier show, so that we could catch them,” said Susheel Matthan, a student jazz musician himself.

Big band sound is funky and full of energy and the young group took the crowd by storm playing a series of numbers ranging from funky to modern. There were strong influences of Sammy Nestico, the well-known big band musician whose arranging style is a combination of simplicity and economy. His arrangements are always fun to listen to and the group took off on his blend of melody and harmony.

While most of the music was not familiar, it sounded really good with the talented trumpets and trombone players, who were excellent. The percussionists too were superb and the whole effect was one of great sound, energy and music coming together in a musical extravaganza. Christoph Eck, the founder and leader of the group kept the tempo up with his skilled conducting and the whole programme, a well put together blend of jazz and big band sound was thoroughly enjoyed by the enthusiastic crowd present that evening.

The ETH Big Band performs regularly at international jazz concerts around the world and has recorded four CDs of their music.