The trio Gaudenz Badrutt (electronics), Jean-Luc Guionnet (alto saxophone) and Frantz Loriot (viola) met for the first time at the Biel/Bienne-based “Joyful Noise” encounters in December 2018. Very quickly, the three agreed on a formal and sonic understanding, giving the trio a distinctive sound, combining and interweaving different sonic aesthetics, from electroacoustic to acoustic improvised music.
In February 2020, the trio continued its musical journey for a residency at Instants Chavirés in Montreuil (France). Since then, the trio has developed and asserted its sonic and musical identity through a persistent practice of improvisation linked to the question of form, while integrating concepts that guide improvisation and arranging the three historically marked instruments to create unexplored sound fields.
The Covid 19 pandemic brutally halted the trio's work. After some concerts in 2022 and 2023, the trio met 2024 for a residency and recording session lasting several days in Ticino (Switzerland). Nyctalopia is the result of this high-focused residency. Since then, the trio has been called Tetrao Tetrix. The six parts of Nyctalopia are merely an orientation for the listener - they actually consist of two seamlessly played pieces that are divided into the six movements.