Swiss composer Alf Jetzer has spent more than four decades cultivating a body of work that resists easy categorization. His latest independent release, UNFOLDING (out September 1, 2025), continues a creative path he describes as “world music with spirit,” blending meditation music, progressive rock, jazz, classical textures, and global instrumentation into expansive, contemplative soundscapes.
Jetzer’s music moves at its own deliberate pace. Each composition reportedly takes close to two months to complete, and that patience is evident in the intricate layering and immersive arrangements that define his sonic signature. The pieces unfold gradually, inviting sustained listening rather than instant gratification. There is a notable stillness at the heart of the work, balanced by atmospheric detail and subtle shifts in tone.
Having begun his musical journey at age eight on the clarinet, Jetzer later expanded to guitar and a wide range of instruments including flutes, Armenian duduk, percussion, and sanzaharp. He often describes his compositional approach as “musical painting,” using instruments as colors to render the image he holds in his mind. This philosophy shapes UNFOLDING, which he characterizes as a culmination of 40 years of recording experience and over two years of dedicated work on this particular project.
In his own reflections, Jetzer emphasizes devotion to craft over career accolades, noting that his decades-long focus on composing and recording left little room for building a conventional résumé. Instead, he positions UNFOLDING as a matured artistic statement, the product of sustained attention, and an unhurried creative process. That longevity lends the album a sense of perspective; it feels less like a bid for contemporary relevance and more like the distillation of a lifelong practice.
While its atypical structures and meditative pacing may not align with mainstream trends, UNFOLDING stands as a testament to artistic endurance. Jetzer’s commitment to refining his sound across four decades is woven into the album’s fabric, offering listeners a work shaped not only by genre fusion, but by time, patience, and a deeply personal creative philosophy.
https://alfjetzer.bandcamp.com/album/unfolding
Nadia Elkharadly
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