Thrive Fabienne Ambuehl

• 1 New Ones 03:45
• 2 Immaculate Rain 05:53
• 3 My River 04:08
• 4 Binocular 04:22
• 5 Timeline 05:06
• 6 Soft Days 04:47
• 7 Nihil 06:20
• 8 Thrive 04:51
• Total Runtime 39:12

Info zu Thrive

Thrive is an invitation to contemplate the natural world. The title track, ending with words by D.H. Lawrence, feels like an antidote to the pace of modern life. This is lyrical jazz with varied textures, propulsive rhythms and enticing melodies.


Swiss pianist, composer and singer based in London.

From the calm of mountain landscapes deep into the buzz of city life this is rhythmically compelling, lyrical and evocative jazz that captures strong emotions. With Matt Ridley on bass and Jon Scott on drums she explores varied colours and textures with alert interplay.

Tom Ollendorff and Ant Law on guitar complement the trio perfectly.

Fabienne shares her thoughts about her latest venture: “One summer during the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, I got to know Yuri Goloubev (bassist) and Asaf Sirkis (percussionist), as we were all playing in the band of Swiss guitarist Marco Cortesi. The piano trio had been the instrumentation of my choice since my final recitals at Hochschule Lucerne Switzerland. The new line-up with Yuri on bass and Asaf on drums toured and recorded ‘Glitterwoods’, which was released on Traumton Records Berlin in 2015 and highly rated by the jazz press. Playing trio feels right for my slightly dense compositional language, which projects clearly through the transparency of this format.

“After having moved to London, which was as a huge change for me, I formed a new band. With Matt Ridley on bass and Jon Scott on drums, I am thrilled to have two of my favourite musicians on the UK scene in my band. I am really looking forward to playing the music live in the UK, after mainly having performed with them in Switzerland, so far.”

Fabienne continues, concerning the new album: “’Thrive’ is the result of introspection, questions of belonging, moving country just before lockdown was announced, and sometimes not knowing what place to call home. Many songs are inspired by nature, which I believe is a healing power. ‘New Ones’ features Ant Law on guitar, whose strong solo captures the thought of the song perfectly: alien life arriving on earth and supplanting humanity. ‘Thrive’, the title track, with words by D.H. Lawrence, describes ‘a small bird who will drop frozen dead from a bough, without ever having felt sorry for itself.’ Tom Ollendorff’s expressive guitar sound is such a luminous addition to the trio as, for example, on ‘Immaculate Rain’, where I am singing about feeling renewed after venturing into pouring rain.

“One of the great lessons I learned while writing this album, is to multitask less, in general. ‘Thrive’ is an invitation to be more present within the little moments in life, undistracted. Although the music is rooted in jazz, influenced by folk, and plays with the lyrical aspects of Romantic music, I hope that it can speak for itself.”

Fabienne Ambuehl, piano, vocals
Matt Ridley, double bass
Jon Scott, drums
Tom Ollendorff, guitar
Ant Law, guitar ('New Ones')

Fabienne Ambuehl
is a pianist, singer and composer born in Switzerland and based in London.

Her music is inspired by her surroundings, from the sounds and silence of the forest, where she finds a deep connection with nature, to the rhythms and soundscapes of the big city.

Her melodic ideas and detailed arrangements are rooted in jazz and showcase her dancing piano while always leaving space for her band to shine.

Fabienne studied classical piano as a child, switching her attention to jazz after hearing a neighbour playing the blues, and at fourteen she recorded her first CD with a big band. She completed a Master of Arts in Music at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, further developing her singing at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen.

Her first album, ‘Glitterwoods’ (Traumton Records 2015), with Yuri Goloubev on bass and Asaf Sirkis on drums, was well received in the European jazz press and listed by ukvibe.com as an album of the year.

As well as performing with her trio and solo, Fabienne has worked with the Noga Ritter band and toured Senegal in a residency supported by Arts Council England. With Neele & the Soundvoyage she released an EP and the album ‘Visions’ (QFTF Berlin 2018), touring in Switzerland and Germany. She was the soloist for Jazz Choir Freiburg at the Eurovision Song Contest for Choirs in Riga, Latvia (201?), and she toured Germany and Austria with them.

Her new album, ‘Thrive’, is released on 17 January 2025 on the progressive label Ubuntu Music. It features a dynamic ensemble of musicians – Matt Ridley on bass (The Antidote, The Darius Brubeck Quartet, Leon Foster Thomas, Tal Cohen) and Tom Scott on drums (Mulatu Astatke, GoGo Penguin, Kairos 4Tet, Sons of Kemet XL), with special guest guitarists Tom Ollendorff and Ant Law – all of whom are key players on the international jazz scene.

Fabienne is a winner of Friedl Wald Stiftung Price and Förderpreis of Kanton Zug.

“Stripped-back minimalism and emotional depth, playfulness and maturity, and a profound jazz sensibility combined with a powerful romantic imagination, forge her unmistakable style.” - Norbert Krampf

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet