The Biel-Bienne Jazz & ImproOrchestra's performances are always great fun. Sometimes swirling, sometimes poetic, a dance which captivates the public from the first beat. This is particularly true of the current programme by the ensemble of eleven. It's called the "Dervish-Suite" and was composed by the founder of BBJIO, Daniel Erismann. The versatile jazz-trumpeter from Biel calls his work a Slavic-folkloric jazz-suite and has been, inter alia, also inspired by Balkan music. The "Dervish-Suite" carries musicians and the public off on a journey between yearning east European melodies and propulsive playful rhythms. Incidentally this orchestra's music has nothing to do with the turbo-pop of the Balkans. This already becomes apparent with the instrumentation: you haveacoustic instruments like the accordion next to the E-guitar and the drums, and there's singing without words. The wind section is made up of bass clarinet, flute and trumpet, and the variety of percussion instruments play about the filigree wind and string arrangements.Kaspar Meuli, journalist