Since 2001, Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch has led his 'zen-funk-combo' RONIN. Bärtsch is also known as 'the scientist of groove' due to his almost scientific and philosophical exploration of grooves and rhythms. Bärtsch spent time in Japan studying aikido and zen meditation. From these disciplines, he developed his 'ritual groove music' where reduction, repetition, and a physical approach to rhythm come together in a group that plays as one organism. The Swiss musician works with numbered 'modules': compositions where patterns, cycles, and grooves build layer by layer into a hypnotic whole. 'In an intensely thought-out show of minimal music with repetitive rhythmic patterns, it suddenly shifts to full peaks of funk,' wrote NRC after a concert experience of this special group of musicians. Besides Bärtsch, Sha (bass clarinet, alto saxophone), drummer Kaspar Rast, and since 2020 bassist Jeremias Keller play in RONIN. The most recent album Spin (2024) features fresh modules alongside revised versions of earlier work.
