Yuval Amihai - I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

Troisième livraison de ce virtuose qui n’a de cesse de nous surprendre! Il y avait eu “Yuval Amihai Ensemble”, en 2012, suivi de “Longing” trois ans plus tard, en 2015, et voilà aujourd’hui, trois ans plus tard également, son “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues” (“Je n’ai rien d’autre que le Blues”) qui vient faire vibrer notre corde sensible teintée de bleu. Surtout qu’avec “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues”, c’est une véritable autobiographie musicale que nous propose le guitariste virtuose, car chaque morceau évoque un pan de sa propre histoire. Comme si Yuval AMIHAI avait eu un intense besoin bluesy intérieur de se dévoiler, se mettre à nu, musicalement…

Un certain nombre de reprises sont interprétées par Yuval AMIHAI et ses deux acolytes: Michel Legrand & Jacques Demy, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, William Henry, Keith Jarrett… et j’en passe. Trois compositions signées Yuval AMIHAI viennent s’ajouter à l’ensemble ainsi créé: “Old New Song”, “Eviatar” et “Yula”, entremêlant habilement émois d’hier et émotions d’aujourd’hui. Le tout constitue un album à l’atmosphère jazzy et bluesy particulièrement riche et variée. Le genre d’album dont on devient accro, plus on l’écoute. 

Car plus on l’écoute et plus on l’apprécie. Et plus on l’apprécie et plus on l’écoute… Le genre d’album qui finit par devenir un incontournable de votre CD-thèque et que vous aurez plaisir à faire découvrir à vos amis. Les deux compères et énormes complices musicaux de Yuval AMIHAI sont ici Damien Varaillon à la basse et Gautier Garrigue à la batterie, tandis que deux ‘special guests’, deux invités de marque, Hermon Mehari à la tompette et Amit Friedman au saxophone ténor, viennent enrichir trois des titres qui constituent une partie de ce bien bel opus, “Love For Sale” de Porter, “Eviatar” et “So Tender” de Keith Jarrett. Et encore une fois, les instruments à vent sont présents de manière subtile et discrète, pour mieux faire fusionner encore le passé et le présent.

Dominique Boulay
Paris-Move & Blues Magazine (Fr)

01. De Delphine a Lancien (Legrand-Demy) 4:45

From ther movie "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort"

02. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues (Ellington-George) 4:36

03. Love for Sale (Cole Porter) 4:02

04. Old New Song (Yuval Amihai) 6:37

05. Pizmon La Yakinton (Gvili-Goldberg) 3:59

06. Eviatar (Yuval Amihai) 5:07 *

07. Abide with Me (William Henry Monk) 5:42

08. Stolen Moments (Oliver Nelson) 5:44

09. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Burke-Van Heusen) 6:05

10. So Tender (Keith Jarrett) 4:46

11. Yuli (Yuval Amihai) 6:29

12. You Are Too Beautiful (Rodgers-Hart) 2:19

Yuval Amihai (guitar)

Damien Varaillon (bass)

Gautier Garrigue (drums)

Special Guests on #3, 6 & 11: Hermon Mehari (trumpet), Amit Friedman (tenor sax)

Recorded at Recall Studios. Pompignan, France, May 1,2 & 3, 2017

Engineered, mixed & mastered by Philippe Gaillot

Photos: Paul Robion

Produced by Bruno Calvo

Executive producer: Jordi Pujol

Ari Hoenig - NY Standard (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

For his latest album NY Standard, Ari Hoenig pays tribute to the movement and tradition of

playing jazz standards in New York City. Once you learn a song there are so many different

directions and conversations you can have using that song as a starting point. It’s kind of like a

private conversation you can have with other people who know the song. If you don’t know the

song however there will be a lot you will miss.

New York city has brought together people from all over the world. People that would normally

never have the chance to even meet but can speak to each other on a deep level using jazz

standards as the basis for the conversation.

In addition to his work a bandleader, Hoenig is one of the most sought-after sidemen of his

generation. He has appeared on over a hundred recordings and worked with a diverse

spectrum of artists, including guitarists Mike Stern, Pat Martino, Wayne Krantz and Kurt

Rosenwinkel, saxophonists Joshua Redman and Chris Potter, harpist Edmar Castaneda,

bassist / vocalist Richard Bona and many more. He’s developed deep musical relationships

with pianists representing three generations of boundless jazz creativity: Billy Childs, Kenny

Werner, Jean-Michel Pilc and Monk competition winner, Tigran Hamasyan.

01. Boplicity (Davis-Evans) 4:29

02. Bessie's Blues (John Coltrane) 8:31

03. Stablemates (Benny Golson) 6:19

04. Someday My Prince Will Come (Churchill-Morey) 6:21

05. Pent Up House(Sonny Rollins) 5:52

06. In Walked Bud (Thelonious Monk) 7:30

07. Fee Fi Fo Fum (Wayne Shorter) 4:30

Ari Hoenig (drums)

Tivon Pennicott (tenor sax on #5-7)

Gilad Hekselman (guitar on #1-3,5,6)

Tigran Hamasyan (piano on #2)

Shai Maestro (piano on #4,6)

Eden Ladin (piano on #3,5)

Orlando Le Fleming (bass)

Recorded at Peter Karl Studios in Brooklyn, New York, September 2015, except track #2 recorded on January 21, 2010

Recorded, mixed & mastered by Michael Perez-Cisneros

Cover photo by Ilkka Rantamaki

Produced by Ari Hoenig

Executive Producer: Jordi Pujol

Aaron Irwin Trio - Wobegon (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

You can enjoy jazz full of lyrical beauty by a unusual organization of sax, guitar and drum. Leader Aaron Erwin is one of the regular musicians of Fresh Sound New Talent, which is the fourth label of the same label. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he earned a music degree in Chicago and Miami. It is attracting remarkable attention as performers and educators. Somewhere forked melody line, blowing which suppressed vibrato character of him. There is also a taste like the modern version of Paul Mochien Trio which gained popularity in the 80s and 90s.

01. Wobegon 6:14

02. Birthday Song 8:35

03. Say Hello 4:49

04. Strange Pastoral 7:07

05. Norman 7:48

06. Sunday and All (After Willian Carlos Williams) 6:56

07. High Hat 5:44

08. The Forgiveness of Donald Rusk Curey 3:41

09. And Love’s the Burning Boy (After Elizabeth Bishop) 5:10

10. Brown Dog 5:19

Aaron Irwin (alto sax)

Mike Baggetta (guitar)

Jeff Hirshfield (drums)

Recorded at Sear Sound Recording, New York City, January 14 & 15, 2017

Engineered, mixed & mastered by Chris Allen

Photography & design: Bryan Murray

Produced by Bruno Calvo

Executive producer: Jordi Pujol

Bruno Calvo Quartet - Outlines (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

Bruno Calvo Quartet es un proyecto creado recientemente en la ciudad de Ámsterdam, Holanda. Consta de cuatro de los músicos jóvenes con mas talento de la escena de la música improvisada europea; procedentes de países como Italia, España y Holanda. En los últimos meses esta formación ha actuado en importantes escenarios y festivales de entre los cuales destacan el Bimhuis (Amsterdam) o el Festival InJazz en Lantaren Venster (Rotterdam).

Esta original formación no tiene instrumento própiamente armónico y combina los elementos fundamentales del jazz como son el blues, la improvisación y el fuerte sentido del
ritmo.

La inusual combinación de estos instrumentos fuerza a los músicos a cambiar el enfoque
interpretativo que tendrían en una banda que incluyese un piano o guitarra. Resulta interesante la forma en la cual los vientos están conectados formando contrapuntos en el que líneas melódicas se entrelazan, creando así un sonido homogéneo del que emergen modernas armonías. Todo ello acompañado de una enérgica sección rítmica que a la vez cuenta con infnidad de sutiles colores.

El repertorio contiene en su mayoría, composiciones originales escritas específcamente para esta formación. Es frecuente tambien la interpretación de arreglos de estándars de jazz así como tambien canciones infuenciadas por la música pop u otros estilos musicales.

El trompetista andaluz Bruno Calvo se ha convertido en unas de las principales voces emergentes de la música improvisada internacional. Sus raíces musicales se basan principalmente en la música afroamericana. No obstante, su sonido personal tiene claros tintes de otros estilos como son la música clásica y el famenco. En los últimos años ha tocado en muchas formaciones distintas y proyecto personales que lo han llevado a conocer grandes escenarios y a estar en contacto con músicos de renombre. Colabora frecuentemente con la Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. Recientemente ha obtenido el segundo puesto en la competición de trompeta de jazz más importante; la Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, que tuvo lugar el pasado septiembre en Moscow (Idaho, EEUU). Un concurso de jazz en el que por primera vez en su historia, ha tenido la presencia de un músico europeo en la final.

01. Introduction (Erytheia) 2:09

02. Dolores 5:59

03. Contrast 4:17

04. Luna Bass Intro 1:06

05. Luna 6:46

06. Con Alma 7:12

07. Interlude #2 (Kotinoussa) 2:12

08. The Elephant's Revenge 6:37

09. Candle 4:10

All compositions by Bruno Calvo, except #6 'Con Alma' written by Dizzy Gillespie

Bruno Calvo (trumpet)

Ben van Gelder (alto sax)

Giuseppe Romagnoli (bass)

Iago Fernández (drums)

Recorded at CVA Studio, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 20 & 21, 2017

Sound engineers: Attie Bauw & Ido Zilberman

Mixed by Joeri Saal at Studio 150

Mastered by Quim 'Kato' Puigtió

Design & artwork: Travassos

Picture by Tamara Conde

Produced by Bruno Calvo

Executive producer: Jordi Pujol

Gabriel Amargant Trio - Aire (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

El saxofonista y clarinetista Gabriel Amargant presenta nuevo proyecto, Aire (FS, 2018). Tras el éxito de First Station (Fresh Sound, 2009) y And Now for Something Completely Different (FS, 2015), Amargant presenta una recopilación de nuevas composiciones originales que beben de diversas influencias musicales. Inspiradas en vivencias, lecturas y viajes, se exponen a través de la conversación que se establece entre los miembros de la formación, un trío que completan dos de los músicos más versátiles y prolíficos del panorama actual, Martín Leiton al contrabajo y Ramon Prats a la batería.

01. Hey Little Maurels 6:24

02. Yo sueño 6:20

03. Zarabanda 6:43

04. L'oiseau 4:28

05. Sonatina 6:59

06. Céret 4:58

07. Ojizarca 6:09

08. Goodbye My Love 5:03

All songs composed by Gabriel Amargant

Gabriel Amargant (tenor & soprano sax, clarinet)

Martín Leiton (bass)

Ramón Prats (drums)

Recorded at Mas Franch, Girona, on August 29, 2017

Engineered, mixed & mastered by Jordi Matas

Photography: Núria Aguadé

Art design by Joan Alcoy

Cover painting: Eduard Alcoy

Produced by Jordi Pujol & Gabriel Amargant

Executive Producer: Jordi Pujol

Sébastien Joulie Group - Resilience (FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT RECORDS 2018)

Enregistré par Sébastien Joulie (guitare), Stéphane Moutot (saxophones tenor & soprano), Pierre de Bethmann (piano), François-Régis Gallix (contrebasse) et Charles Clayette (batterie), l’album est essentiellement constitué de compositions et d’arrangements du leader. Souvent exposés à l’unisson guitare/saxophone, les thèmes complexes laissent émerger leur richesse au fil des échanges.Sebastien Joulie Group au Voiron Jazz Festival

On est saisi par l »atmosphère flottante de la composition de Stéphane Moutot, Time Tabloïd, qui ouvre l’album et par les arrangements du titre de Brooks Bowman, East of the sun, devenu East, où le saxophone soprano et le guitariste perdent le nord pour s’évader à l’est et retrouver le piano qui vient de l’ouest pour les retrouver.

Dans un climat étrange instauré par les accords du piano, le saxophone ténor gorgé de tendresse pleure sur Old Matters alors que la guitare lumineuse développe des phrases bluesy soutenues par une section rythmique fusionnelle.

Sur Resilience, en très grande proximité, les musiciens suscitent des perturbations mélodiques et des ruptures rythmiques, puis réorganisent la structure et redonnent une forme symbiotique à leur univers musical. L’énergie et la lumière circulent entre les artistes et la musique rayonne. Les interprètes projettent la résilience sur les portées et dans leurs improvisations.

Massive boozer revendique son appartenance au hard-bop. La solide section rythmique exaspère les accents shorteriens du saxophone et poussent la guitare dans une improvisation dont la fluidité ravit. Sur les savantes Shells et Abel’s dilemna éclate la virtuosité des solistes toujours attentifs à laisser respirer la musique.  

Les arrangements singuliers de Green Chimneys de Thelonious Monk impressionnent. Totalement libérés la guitare et le piano improvisent avec bonheur. Les ruptures rythmiques de la batterie et le soutien sans faille de la contrebasse autorisent le solo incandescent du saxophone. Le bluesy B’ n’ C déborde en même temps d’énergie et de précision.

01. Time tabloid 5:15

02. Old matters 7:15

03. Resilience 7:28

04. Massive boozer 5:25

05. Green Chimneys 7:26

06. Shells 8:12

07. Abel's dilemma 7:21

08. B 'n' C 6:42

09. East of the Sun 7:44

Sébastien Joulie (guitar)

Stéphane Moutot (tenor & soprano saxes)

Pierre de Bethmann (piano)

François-Régis Gallix (bass)

Charles Clayette (drums)

All compositions by Sébastien Joulie expect #01 by Stéphane Moutot, #05 by Thelonious Monk arranged by Sébastien Joulie and Charles Clayette, and #09 by Brooks Bowman arranged by Sébastien Joulie

Sound engineer: Pierre Baudinat

Mixed by Nicholas Charlier

Mastered by Pieter De Wagter at Equus Studio, Bruxelles, Belgium

Photography by Geo

Design: Delphine de la Morinerie

Produced by Sébastien Joulie

Executive Producer: Jordi Pujol

John Tilbury / Keith Rowe / Kjell Bjørgeengen - Sissel (SOFA MUSIC May 25, 2018)

John Tilbury and Keith Rowe have performed together within the legendary improvising ensemble AMM, as well as in numerous other contexts over the years. Duos for Doris (2003) was their first meeting as a duo, E.E. Tension and Circumstance (2010) was the second before the 4CD box on SOFA, enough still not to know, was released in 2015. enough still not to know also introduces the norwegian video artist Kjell Bjørgeengen as a collaborator, in this case as the producer of the album. Bjørgeengen, being a long time collaborator with both Tilbury and Rowe, is an integral part of the group with Sissel.

SOFA is proud to continue to present the work of Tilbury and Rowe's long time collaboration, but also equally proud to hear Kjell Bjørgeenges as a performer on this deeply moving album captured by Espen Reinertsen at the concert series Moving Sound in Stavanger 2016. The album is dedicated to the memory of Kjell's wife Sissel, who passed away some weeks before the performance.

Keith Rowe writes the following about Sissel:

When Kjell suggested a painting by Nicolas Poussin "The gathering of the ashes of Phocion by his widow |» (1648) as a possible focal point for our performance in Stavanger, his suggestion immediately resonated. At the National Gallery London we have stood in front of this very painting, I got a sense on how we might share a reading of this painting largely based on TJ Clark’s book "The Sight of Death".

In "The gathering of the ashes of Phocion by his widow", we find in the foreground the central figure of Phocion’s widow on her hands and knees surreptitiously gathering the ashes of the executed Phocion, who had become a victim of political manoeuvring, while her maid standing behind keeps watch. Phocion has been denied a proper burial, his body burned on open ground, by necessity his widow must collect his remains secretively.

In the middle ground are the local people going about their daily tasks. Overseeing all of this are two large trees, bearing witness to the comings and goings of human life, they watch, observe, track, without words, they are mute, and it’s this muteness that interest me. It’s where my music has been heading for during the past decade, a mute scratching in the foreground, and the chatter and clatter of human life somewhere vaguely behind. During the performance in Stavanger a recording of JS Bach’s Chaconne BWV1004-5 (Tayiana Nikolayeva) is played, but you cannot hear it, it is silent, it is mute.

I ask myself, why for such a distressing event as the death of a dear precious friend Sissel finds its expression in muteness, why muteness? I think it relates to another Poussin painting Landscape with a Calm (1650-51).

In this painting we see, in the exact same spot as the widow, a curly haired shepherd gazing out over a lake. But there is something strange here, the sky is full of turbulent stormy clouds, but the reflection on the lake is completely calm. Maybe it’s here where the disruptive turbulent shocking distressing news of the death of a dear friend who we loved locates its muteness.

Again the trees are watching.

1 Sissel 48:25

John Tilbury - piano

Keith Rowe - guitar and electronics

Kjell Bjørgeengen - live video

Oker - Husene våre er museer (SOFA MUSIC 2018)

Oker is an acoustic improvising quartet based in Oslo, consisting of Adrian Fiskum Myhr on bass, Jan Martin Gismervik on drums, Torstein Lavik Larsen on trumpet and Fredrik Rasten on guitar. The music combines material from expanded instrumental techniques with open tonalities and deconstructed grooves. It can be described as rich textures in gradual change, but also as responsive and spontaneous. The ensemble balances between airy gestures and dense collective blocks of sound.

Oker is making their debut on SOFA with the release "Husene våre er museer". The album consists of seven tracks where the band works with different approaches for collective music making - some of the tracks are fully composed, others are improvisations with clear frameworks for both form and sounding material, while some of the music is improvised.

The album has a consistent sound palette and a collective musical drive that Oker has developed over three years with several European tours and dedicated rehearsal periods. Since the beginning of 2014, the band has been working on completely acoustic music, but has lately included electronic audio sources in the music. "Husene våre er museer" shows the band in its very acoustic edition and is, in a way, a document in the last three years of work within these frameworks. SOFA is proud to release this beautiful document of collective music making.

1. DRIVVED (08:46)

2. FURER (02:33)

3. KORTBØLGE (06:08)

4. NESTLER (03:06)

5. UTSYN (07:14)

6. SOLDUGG (02:06)

7. EKVATOR

Adrian Fiskum Myhr - bass

Jan Martin Gismervik - drums

Torstein Lavik Larsen - trumpet

Fredrik Rasten - guitar

Playlist for Tom Ossana – The Thin Edge – May 23, 2018 MST 7:00 to 9:00p.m.

http://www.kzmu.org/listen.m3u ~ Use this link to access the show online.