Max Lässer
Max Lässer — Between Continents and Generations
Swiss guitarist and composer Max Lässer has long stood at the crossroads of Europe and Africa — a musician whose finely tuned acoustic sound found new meaning through his collaborations with South Africa’s most gifted artists during the 1990s.
Before his encounters with the MELT 2000 circle, Lässer had already established himself as one of Switzerland’s most respected instrumentalists. In the early 1980s he toured internationally as part of Andreas Vollenweider’s band, contributing guitar textures and arrangements to the distinctive, harp-driven sound that earned Vollenweider global acclaim. The experience sharpened Lässer’s ear for space, tone, and cross-genre composition — qualities that later became central to his African collaborations.
In 1995, Robert Trunz of B&W Music (later MELT 2000) invited Lässer to Johannesburg to participate in the Outernational Meltdown sessions — a groundbreaking series that brought together musicians from Africa, Europe, and the Americas to explore new musical conversations in post-apartheid South Africa.
The Johannesburg recordings featured a remarkable circle of artists who would soon define the MELT 2000 sound: Busi Mhlongo, Lungiswa Plaatjies, Madala Kunene, Pops Mohamed, and members of Amampondo.
From those sessions came the album Between (B&W Music / MELT 2000, 1997) — a project that quite literally lived up to its title. Recorded between Switzerland’s Starboat Studio and Johannesburg’s Downtown Recording Studios, Between merged European acoustic textures with African rhythm and spirit.
Tracks such as “Kumnandi,” “Lua Lua,” “Uhambo (Let’s Journey),” and “Home” feature Mhlongo, Plaatjies, Kunene, and Pops Mohamed, supported by Emmanuel Séjourné (vibes), Steve Argüelles (percussion), Philippe Küng (bass), and Walter Keiser (drums).
In the liner notes, Lässer reflected:
“Through the invitation of Robert Trunz of MELT 2000 to join a session in Johannesburg, I became friends with some very talented musicians with whom I spent three weeks working and recording. The voices of Busi Mhlongo and Lungiswa Plaatjies opened new horizons to me.”
The Outernational Meltdown sessions — which also spawned collaborations with Changuito, Airto Moreira, Amampondo, and others — marked the start of a lasting relationship between Switzerland and Southern Africa, both musically and personally.
That connection deepened with Madala Kunene, the “King of the Zulu Guitar.” Together they recorded Madamax (1995), a lyrical dialogue between two acoustic traditions — Zulu folk-blues and Swiss fingerstyle guitar — produced under the guidance of Robert Trunz. A decade later, Lässer revisited that collaboration with Bafo (2005, Phonag Records / SA issue MZA 044), credited to Max Lässer’s Madamax. The album reunited Kunene, Lässer, Lungiswa Plaatjies, Christoph Stiefel, Walter Keiser, and Bernard Mndaweni, extending their shared language of warmth, rhythm, and subtle virtuosity.
Lässer’s partnership with Madala and other MELT 2000 artists evolved further through the Forest Jam initiatives, linking Swiss, South African, and Malagasy musicians — including the Sa Roy Trio — in an ongoing cultural exchange.
From the ambient sound worlds of Andreas Vollenweider to the cross-cultural explorations of MELT 2000, Max Lässer’s career forms a continuous thread — a bridge between continents, generations, and musical philosophies. His work remains proof that when guitars, voices, and drums meet with mutual respect and curiosity, the result is truly Musical Energy and Loud Truth beyond 2000.