| J.C. Schütz | |
|---|---|
J.C. Schütz in 2004 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Johan Christher Schütz |
| Also known as | Peacebird |
| Born | May 12, 1976 Sweden |
| Origin | Mjölby, Sweden |
| Genres | Pop, Blue-eyed soul, Folk jazz, Folk rock, Bossa nova, Jazz, World music |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, Musician, Artist |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Cavaquinho |
| Years active | 2004-present |
| Labels | Motel Bleu, Peacebird Music, Terrinha Records |
| Website | www.jcschutz.com |
Johan Christher Schütz is a Swedish singer, musician and songwriter. Since 2010 he uses the pseudonym Peacebird, thus advocating pacifism, direct democracy, social equality and human rights.[1]
Schütz has released three albums under his full name and one album as Peacebird. He is now composing songs for a crosscultural musical,[2] and he has also written music for two Swedish short films and one from Czech Republic.
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Raised outside the small town of Mjölby, Östergötland, he found a guitar in a trash container at the age of seven, an experience that he says changed his life. Schütz has a documented interest in different cultures and he is fluent in Swedish, English and Portuguese and has visited Japan annually. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Portuguese from the Stockholm University and wrote his degree paper about the political content in the song lyrics of Brazilian songwriter Chico Buarque.[3]
Brazilian singer Aline de Lima has recorded a version of Schütz' song "Som om ingenting har hänt" for her 2008 album Açai, and Japanese singer Toki Asako has recorded his song "Let the sunlight in" for her 2009 album Touch, which made the website Amazon Japan dub him a "genius singer/songwriter".[4] Also in 2008, the almost 100-year-old Japanese musical theatre company Takarazuka Revue used his song Passion in a Japanese version in one of their shows, also released on CD and DVD.
Schütz' debut CD Passion was released in May 2004, with jazz and bossanova influenced pop with reflecting lyrics in English, containing 13 songs all written by Schütz.
In a review, Swedish daily newspaper DN called it "romantic bossa nova",[5] while the Swedish world music magazine Lira called it a "summery bossa nova cocktail", also stating that the guitar playing of Schütz is "closer to Nick Drake than Jobim", and the reviewer was impressed by the album's "creative instrumentation".[6]
His second full-length CD Blissa Nova from November 2007 has a more contemporary and authentic Brazilian sound, with lyrics still in English and some small parts in Portuguese and Swedish. Blissa Nova also sees Schütz as a translator, as five of the album's 13 tracks are English translations of Brazilian and Swedish standards/classics: Eu Vim da Bahia by Gilberto Gil, Pra Que Chorar by Baden Powell/Vinicius de Moraes, Tristeza (a duet with Brazilian singer Aline de Lima) by Luiz Bonfá, and Underbart Är Kort by Povel Ramel and Den Lilla Bäcken by Allan Edwall.
In their review, Swedish music magazine Groove called it "almost flawless" and stated that the first song "Plunge Into the Miracle goes from 0-100 in less than a second, and if all the songs had been in a similar style then this could well have challenged the title of the best Swedish album of the year in the genre".[7]
Daily newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten said that the album is "alleviating life with sweet sun and bossa grooves", made possible by the "beautiful melodies" and the "hive of rhythms".[8]
During the winter/spring of 2008 he started recording his third album C'est La Vie, for the first time in Swedish. As a project, he decided to make the process of recording an album available on his blog,[9] and his record company published a 20-minute documentary on the internet, previously also available on youtube, showing his work and also presents him performing acoustic live versions of some songs from the album.
C'est La Vie was released in Japan in December 2008 when Schütz also did his second Japan tour, and worldwide in May 2009. The Scandinavian release has all songs in Swedish, while the worldwide edition includes 5 songs in English.
Östgöta Correspondenten called it "well written" and "well played",[10] while the magazine Lira put more attention to detail, noticing that "J.C. Schütz has got a lot on his mind, a kind of nicely laid-back observations of life, where a smile never is far away". They continued, "Here we see an artist more down-to-earth, even if the world music influences are still evident".[11]
In 2010 Schütz started writing songs for a fourth album, and announced it would be released under the pseudonym Peacebird. On February 5, 2011, Peacebird released a free download single to support the protests for democracy in Egypt and other countries in northern Africa. The song called Peace! (Give the People the Power Back), was made available through youtube and the Peacebird website. Schütz plays all instruments on the recording.[12]
Following the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami, he released a second download single as Peacebird of the song Hold On Now on March 28 from his official Bandcamp site. The song was written and released for the single purpose of donating all revenues to Red Cross Japan to support their work in the afflicted areas.[13]
A full-length album with 9 songs, Peacebird, was released on iTunes on September 21, accompanied by a music video for the song Pickin' Up The Pieces. All songs are written by Schütz, and he also recorded Let The Sunlight In, previously released by Toki Asako. Peacebird, released by Japanese label Motel Bleu, has guest appearances by Swedish singer Lovisa Lindkvist, Japanese singer Chihiro Fujita, Japanese bass player Okii Reiji, Brazilian drummer Di Stéffano, and a number of Swedish jazz and funk musicians. The songs show a more groovy and soulful side of Schütz with a majority of the songs being uptempo, and the sound more contemporary as Schütz was experimenting with drum loops for the first time.[14] During every day of the first week of the release, the album's first track Slow Down was one of the three most played songs on Japanese FM radio stations in Tokyo and Kansai metropolitan regions, and two days the most played song of all.[15]