Jon Irabagon - Bird with Streams (July 2021)

The sounds of birds, deer, hikers, roaring rivers, slackliners, helicopters, motorcycles and semi-trucks.

The atmosphere morphing form the calmest, most picturesque day to torrential wind and hailstorms.

The peaceful meditation found from the utter chaos that led to this album.

My family escaped COVID-stricken New York City in March 2020, retreating to the in-laws' place in South Dakota. I started looking for a practice space away from Zoom conference calls and neighbors accustomed to a quiet life. I discovered Falling Rock-- a secluded canyon on the outskirts of town that offered peace, solitude, fresh air and an opportunity to work on innumerable musical ideas-- all with varying kinds of reverb as a backdrop, depending on where I chose to open the saxophone case that day. Our weeklong stay extended into a month, then eight. Thankfully, this ravine became my home away from home away from home, with unbound inspiration for composition, exploration, study and introspection to be-- in hindsight-- thankful for.

You have in your hands just one of the outcomes from these isolated experiments-- a work that would not have been made otherwise. Charlie Parker's centennial birthday came and went during my time at Falling Rock; his music, ideas and meaning were consistently bubbling up to the surface of my thoughts and practice. This album represents a fight against nature, both viral and atmospheric. Recording this album was my attempt to grow and learn while the world went haywire and lost its damn mind. Thank you for taking this journey with me, six feet away.

Jon Irabagon

1. Anthropology 01:32

2. Sippin' at Bells 03:27

3. Bebop 05:11

4. Ornithology 03:56

5. Now's the Time 04:03

6. Donna Lee 02:45

7. Hot House 04:23

8. B. Schwifty 05:29

9. Mohawk 03:11

10. KC Blues 03:10

11. Get Schwifty 01:36

12. Segment 03:22

13. Moose the Mooche 02:25

14. Blues for Alice 03:31

15. Quasimodo 05:42

Recorded in different locations in Falling Rock, South Dakota, at the edge of the Black Hills National Forest, over the late summer/early fall of 2020.

Produced, recorded and edited by Jon Irabagon

Mixed by Ben Rubin at House of Cha Cha, Brooklyn

All tracks by Charlie Parker (Atlantic Music Corp) except

Sippin' at Bells by Miles Davis (Screen Gems-- EMI Music Inc.),

Bebop by Dizzy Gillespie (Universal-- MCA Music Publishing),

Anthropology by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie (Atlantic Music Corp/Music Sales Corp),

Ornithology by Charlie Parker and Benny Harris (Atlantic Music Corp),

Hot House by Tadd Dameron (WB Music Corp) and

B. Schwifty and Get Schwifty by Jon Irabagon (F Magellan Music, ASCAP)

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The Zone - The Zone (July 3, 2021 STUDIO III RECORDINGS)

The Zone is a concept album written by Italian composer Daniele Del Monaco for a band of performers fom New York City who are usually affiliated with avant-jazz and free improvisation.

Through the interaction of the five musicians, guided by Del Monaco’s experimental sensibility on keys and sound generators, this recording turns out a unique and ambitious combination of Fay Victor’s urban jazz vocals, Marco Cappelli’s guitar, combining elements of classical music and free improvisation, the at times extreme dynamics of Satoshi Takeishi’s performance on the drums, and the virtuosity of bassist Ken Filiano.

Del Monaco’s radical approach to creating music is rooted in a slow process of working through a score with classical musicians and free improvisers, balancing meticulous compositions with the setting of parameters for free improvisation.

In his lyrics, Del Monaco appropriates the words of Persian poet and mystic Farid al-Din‘Attar’s epic ‘The Conference of the Birds’ and Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’ to create a narrative in which the ideas and imagery of poets and philosophers interact. Byron, Keats, Diogenes, Thoreau and Buddha all meet within the framework of ‘Attar’s journey in search of truth and the Stalker’s journey through ‘The Zone’. The search for the mythical room within is capable of granting a person their innermost desires. The result is a set of seven songs filled with allusive and symbolic imagery, exploring the relationship between beauty and possession.

The majority of the album was recorded between 2018 and 2019 by Alessandro Benedetti in Rome, Italy. Benedetti tragically passed away before the sessions were finished, at which point Martin Bisi in Brooklyn, NY took over the recording work. The album’s journey then continued on to Sheffield UK, where it was completed and mixed by producer Thomas Lebioda for Studio III Recordings in 2020.

Throughout its development, a number of guest musicians have accompanied Del Monaco for live performances of The Zone: Blixa Bargeld, Theodosii Spassov and Marco Ariano joined the LCP Percussion Quintet in October 2014 for a first performance at Centro Campania in Caserta, IT. In November 2018, Marc Ribot joined the Band for a rendition at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, IT, organised and produced by RomaEuropa festival. 

1. A Loud Noise 11:05

2. Look At The Stalker 07:16

3. Into The Zone 05:28

4. We Are Lost 05:01

5. Seven Valleys 12:08

6. What Am I Doing Here 06:55

7. The Room 09:35

recorded by Alessandro Benedetti at Loadistrict, Rome, Italy

and by Martin Bisi at BC Studio, Brooklyn, NY

mixed by Thomas Lebioda at The Laundry Rooms, Sheffield, UK

mastered by Karsten Deutschmann at Gentle Art, Hamburg, Germany

lacquers cut by Noel Summerville, London UK

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The Changes Sessions Vol.2 - La Gran Trompetada (July 3, 2021 The Changes Music)

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice:

- “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

Revelation 8:1-13 

1. El Corn de l'Abundància 03:50

2. In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee

3. Barry Harris

4. Propietat Intel·lectual

5. Pay Day

6. Warm Valley

7. Jeannine

8. The Last One

Side 1

EL CORN DE L’ABUNDÀNCIA (Oriol Vallès)

IN THE LAND OF OO-BLA-DEE (Mary Lou Williams)

BARRY HARRIS (Oriol Vallès)

PROPIETAT INTEL·LECTUAL (Oriol Vallès)

Side 2

PAY DAY (Pol Omedes)

WARM VALLEY (Duke Ellington)

JEANNINE (Duke Pearson)

THAT LAST ONE (Joan Casares)

Pol Omedes, Joan Mar Sauqué, Oriol Vallès - trumpet

Xavi Torres - piano

Giuseppe Campisi - upright bass

Joan Casares - drums

Recorded at Vertigo Studios el 12 de gener de 2021

Sound Engineer - Ferran Donatelli

Mix & Mastering - Quim ‘Kato’ Puigtió

Cover art - Joan Casares

Photography - Joel Codina

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Riopy - Bliss (July 3, 2021 Warner Classics)

Riopy

Nouvel album Bliss

Sortie le 02/07/2021 chez Warner Classics

Dans la même lignée que Max Richter, Nils Frahm, ou Olafur Arnalds, Riopy impose ses mélodies inspirées et captivantes grâce à son jeu de piano hors norme.

Son univers musical lui a permis de toucher une très large audience à l’international à travers le cinéma, la télévision ou la publicité. Sa musique a des vertus physiques autant que mentale. La méditation et composer à cet effet est d'ailleurs un des moteur artistique de Riopy.

"Jouer du piano est un besoin physique et mental pour moi. Je crée toujours de la musique, et quand j'entends quelque chose dans ma tête, je dois le sortir et mon piano m'aide à le faire, combinant les notes jusqu'à ce que je trouve la mélodie parfaite."

A chaque clip, Riopy nous entraîne dans un nouveau voyage. Après Sky Opus Fire, Epiphany, et La Vernatelle, le pianiste nous mène avec Sweet Dream, nouvel extrait de l'album Bliss, dans un nouvel éveil aux frontières de l'inconscience.

Rejetant les artifices d’une musique sur-produite, leur préférant la pureté et la puissance d’un extraordinaire piano Fazioli, Riopy s’est inspiré pour cet album des héros discrets de la vie quotidienne. Il leur rend hommage avec une collection de miniatures qui laissent dans la mémoire de l’auditeur de profondes traces d’un calme et d’un bonheur sereins : le Bliss.

200 Millions… 200 millions de fois un être humain a pris le temps d’écouter un morceau de piano composé et joué par le pianiste français Riopy sur une plate-forme de streaming. Cette audience lui permet de se maintenir au top des meilleures ventes classiques aux Etats-Unis, comme en atteste Billboard depuis plusieurs mois, audience qui s’étend au monde entier et en particulier en Chine, où il s’est produit plusieurs fois.

Incarnation de la maxime selon laquelle nul n’est prophète en son pays ? Peut-être car s’il a signé des musiques pour des marques aussi prestigieuses qu’Armani, Samsung ou Peugeot, Riopy suit sa voie en dehors des sentiers battus, de toutes les écoles, et en marge du mouvement néo-classique dont il ne fait pas vraiment partie. Jaillie du cœur, forgée par sa pratique de la méditation, sa musique immédiatement visuelle et cinématique est reçue de par le monde comme une force réparatrice bienvenue dans la période que nous vivons, comme en atteste son titre Méditation 66 déployé avec un immense succès sur l’application Calm.

C’est l’histoire inouïe d’un artiste que le monde entier écoute mais que son propre pays connaît très peu que son nouvel album, Bliss, invite à découvrir.

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