Marco Santilli’s CheRoba & il Fiato delle Alpi

Where legends meet jazz

With Sujazzstiva, clarinetist-composer Marco Santilli continues his musical journey into the heart of Swiss storytelling. Inspired by sagas, myths, and folk tales from Italian-speaking Switzerland, the compositions draw from a palette of jazz, classical, world, and minimal music — blending written score and improvisation into a seamless narrative.

The unique instrumentation of the ensemble — combining a jazz quartet with a classical wind quintet — creates rich, colorful textures that shift between intimate chamber moments and cinematic soundscapes. The result is a distinctive and poetic sound world where lyrical themes and bold rhythmic ideas breathe together.

The title Sujazzstiva fuses “suggestive,” “jazz,” and stüa (a cozy Alpine parlor), suggesting both an emotional atmosphere and a nod to the project’s predecessor La Stüa, commissioned by the Alpentöne Festival.

Each piece is a musical retelling of a specific tale — from dragons and witches to dwarves, saints, and forgotten chapels — keeping alive a cultural heritage that’s as mysterious as it is moving.

Recorded in co-production with SRF 2 Kultur at Hardstudios Winterthur.

Marco Santilli clarinet • bass clarinet • choir • compositions
Isabell Weymann flute • alto flute • piccolo
Davide Jäger English horn • oboe
François Rieu French horn
Alessandro Damele bassoon
Azra Ramic contrabass clarinet • choir
Julio Azcano classical guitar • Portuguese guitar
Marina Vasilyeva piano • choir
Fulvio Maras percussion • drums

Special guests: Florian Wetter • narration in ‚Zu Erich‘
Urs Wiesendanger and Thierry Condor • Stadium crowd in ‚Zu Erich‘