Swiss "zen-funk" group Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin plays the BlueShore at CapU, February 25
Instrumental quartet fuses prog-rock, jazz, funk, new classical music, and elements of Japanese ritual music in a style entirely its own

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin. Photo by Christian Senti
From Zurich, Switzerland, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin combines prog-rock, jazz, funk, new classical music, and elements of Japanese ritual music, which audiences will get a taste of when the group plays at BlueShore at CapU on February 25 at 7:30 pm.
The instrumental outfit’s insistent rhythms suggest the minimalism of Steve Reich, while bandleader, pianist, composer, and producer Nik Bärtsch has called the group’s style “zen-funk”. When the band played in Vancouver at the Fox Cabaret earlier this year, it left a highly appreciative audience. The show occurred just after Ronin played at the prestigious Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, to critical acclaim; it was SPIN magazine’s “favourite set of the entire four-day event”.
Alongside Bärtsch, the musicians of Ronin include alto-saxophonist, bass-clarinetist, and contrabass-clarinetist Sha; drummer Kaspar Rast; and bassist Jeremias Keller.
Tickets for this show at the BlueShore, a co-presentation with the Rickshaw Theatre, are available both at the door and online in advance for a discounted price here.
Post sponsored by BlueShore at CapU.
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