Gina Schwarz – Ahnt Kai

Ahnt Kai

Musicians: Swantje Lampert (saxophone), Katarina Kochetova (piano, keyboards), Elena Holzer (guitar), Gina Schwarz (bass, accordion, composition), Judith Schwarz (drums, composition)

Lyrics by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (#2), Frida Kahlo (#4), Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (#6), Christina Rossetti (#8), Sappho (#10), Emily Dickinson (#12, #16), Alfonsina Storni (#14).

Guests: Chanda Rule – vocals, spoken word (#2, #3, #6, #12, #16); Muriel Grossmann – spoken word (#4); Lea Helm – vocals (#5, #9, #17); Sharon Anegg – vocals (#8); Isabel Moore – spoken word (#8); Loukia Agapiou – spoken word (#10); Iris Camaa – spoken word, percussion (#14, #17), Daniela Lang – trumpet (#17) 

It all began with a four-week artist residency by Gina Schwarz in Buenos Aires. A visit to an exhibition about Frida Kahlo provided the decisive inspiration: to make the strength, independence, and emancipation of women audible and tangible in a musical concept album.

This evolved into a musical journey spanning more than two millennia of extraordinary voices and perspectives—from Sappho and Kyniska in antiquity, through female writers such as Emily Dickinson and Alfonsina Storni, to female artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Valie Export. The films “Die Dohnal” and “Monk in Pieces” also served as sources of inspiration.

The album is named after Ahnt Kai, the goddess of an indigenous people of Mexico and a symbol of freedom, joie de vivre, and the protection of women and children.

Drawing on the “Porteño spirit” of Buenos Aires, the music blends urban melancholy, intimacy, and South American lightness. An atmospheric musical language combines narrative melodies with rhythmic diversity, creating a sound that is earthy, emotional, and immediate.

Short interludes between the compositions open up additional spaces for the thoughts and messages of the women who have shaped the album. Here, modern jazz meets spoken-word poetry—a symbiosis that fuses into a powerful statement.