SHA
Swiss multi-reedist and composer Sha was born in 1983 in Bern/Switzerland and lives where the music takes him. Since 2004 he has been playing worldwide tours with Nik Bärtschs’ Ronin and Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile – from Elbphilharmonie Hamburg to Berghain Berlin, from Montreux Jazz to SXSW Austin and Houghton Music Festival, from House on Fire in Swaziland to Mokka in Thun. He composed for his own groups Sha’s Banryu and Sha’s Feckel and collaborated with dance and theater projects at Opernhaus Zürich, Gessnerallee and VorOrt. He plays in bands like The Legendary Lightness, Shake Me and Lea Gasser’s Low Drift and recently released albums of his two new duos with the Australian musician James Gilligan (BRUCE) and the American clarinetist Stuart Bogie.
For the influential Jazz and Classic label ECM-Music he recorded six records up to now with Nik Bärtsch. Sha’s composition “A” is the most-streamed song by Ronin on Spotify, with 440,000 streams.In 2026, Ronin was named Group of the Year in the DownBeat Critics Poll.
Among others he has collaborated with artists like Colin Vallon, Tim Berne, Julian Sartorius, Lionel Friedli, Eivind Aarset, Bugge Wesseltoft, Björn Meyer, Park Stickney, Piet Klocke, Kristina Brunner, Anna Trauffer, Fai Baba, Delia Mayer, Sarah Zaugg and many more.
In 2021 he released his first solo record Monbijou, recorded in the vast hollow interior of the box girder bridge Monbijou in Bern. The record consists of several distinct vignettes, composed throughout the years and woven into a 30-minute suite. While the very idea of a solo performance might evoke images of an internal monologue, Monbijou reaches outwards and is essentially a work about the hidden space around us, as defined by the sounds we make. Echolocation for emotion, if you will! Sha played at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2021 with his solo-program. In 2025 he recorded his live set at Houghton Music Festival and released it as a collaboration with sound engineer Tobias Stritt in 2026.
DISCOGRAPHY
2027
BRUCE, tba / tbd
Lea Gasser’s Low Drift, tba / tbd
2026
The Legendary Lightness, Nüt isch zum Glück für immer / tbd
BRUCE, The Language of Love / Ronin Rhythm Records
Sha x Stritt, Live in Houghton / Ronin Rhythm Records
Sha & Stuart Bogie, Moraines / Ronin Rhythm Records
Fai Baba, Nobody but You / A Tree in a Field Records
2025
Shake Me, Cloud Dancer / Ronin Rhythm Records
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Spin / Ronin Rhythm Records
2024
Ronin Rhythm Clan, Moonday / Ronin Rhythm Records
2023
Sha & Delia Meshlir, Lunghin / Ronin Rhythm Records
Delia Meshlir, Bring Back The Light / Irascible Records
2021
Sha Solo, Monbijou / Ronin Rhythm Records
The Legendary Lightness, Bis doch froh / Sailing for Peace
Fai Baba, Veränderet / A Tree in a Field Records
2018
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Awase / ECM Records
2017
The Legendary Lightness, April Hearts / Ronin Rhythm Records
2016
Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile, Continuum / ECM Records
2015
Sha’s Feckel, Feckel For Lovers / Ronin Rhythm Records
2012
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Live / ECM Records
Sha’s Feckel, Greatest Hits / Ronin Rhythm Records
2011
Mik Keusen’s Blau, Nalu / Tonus Music Records
Markus Reuter feat. Sha, 0000 / Unsung Production
2010
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Llyria / ECM Records
2008
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Holon / ECM Records
Sha’s Banryu, Chessboxing Volume One / Ronin Rhythm Records
2006
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Stoa / ECM Records
2005
Mik Keusen’s Blau, Blau / Tonus Music Records
2004
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Rea / Ronin Rhythm Records
Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile, Aer / Ronin Rhythm Records
FESTIVAL APPEARANCES 2007-…
BigEars (USA), Winter Jazz New York (USA), San Francisco Jazzfestival (USA), Portland Jazzfestival (USA), SXSW (USA) / Vancouver Jazzfestival (CAN), Montreal Jazzfestival (CAN) / North-Sea Cape Town (ZA) / Musicfestival Bath (UK), Jazzfestival London (UK), Houghton Music Festival (UK), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK) / Jazzfestival Kopenhagen (DK) / Jazzfestival Tampere (FIN) / Nattjazz (NOR), Oslo Jazzfestival (NOR), Stavanger Jazzfestival (NOR) / Jazzfestival Vilnius (LT) / Motives Festival Genk (BE) / Jazzfestival Saalfelden (AUT) / Northseajazz (NL), Nijmegen Jazz (NL), Rockit (NL), Make it Jazz (NL) / Jazzfestival Patras (GR) / Jazzfestival Garana (ROM), Jazzfestival Sibiu (ROM) / Jazz em Agosto (POR) / Festival d’ile Paris (F) / Novara Jazzfestival (I) / JazzMi (I) / Jazzfestival Warschau (POL) / Jazzfestival Leipzig (D), Jazzfest Berlin (D), Elbjazz Hamburg (D), Jazzbaltica (D), Traumzeitfestival (D), Jazz and Joy (D), Jazzfestival Stuttgart (DE), Enjoyjazz (D) / Electron Festival Genf (CH), Cully Jazzfestival (CH), Jazznojazz (CH), Theaterspektakel Zürich (CH), Stanser Musiktage (CH), Jazzfestival Schaffhausen (CH), Jazzfestival Willisau (CH), Montreux Jazzfestival (CH), B-Sides (CH) and many more…
Dance and theatre works
2010 KOKUU – almost perfect visibility, with Hideto Heshiki, Gessneralle Zürich
2013 Bruder Tod, with VORORT, Bern
2015/2016 Restless, with Opernhaus Ballett Zürich, Opernhaus Zürich