Thursday, September 16, 2021

Hatcher / Maunu / Kirshner - Live at Splice Series (October 10, 2021 Kettle Hole Records)

1. Poem of the Obtuse Angle
2. Bronze Mine

GERRIT HATCHER - TENOR SAXOPHONE
PETER MAUNU - GUITAR, VIOLIN AND MANDOLIN
JULIAN KIRSHNER - DRUMS

RECORDED LIVE AT THE BEAT KITCHEN 9/25/19
RECORDED, MIXED AND MASTERED BY BILL HARRIS
ARTWORK BY PETER MAUNU
THANKS TO CHRISTINA, ALEX, JIM AND MARK AT THE BEAT KITCHEN

ENSEMBLE EDGE - Dimma / A Tribute to Jan Johansson (September 16, 2021 Storyville)

The listener can look forward to a both untraditional and familiar interpretation of Jan Johansson’s beautiful and versatile musical universe when the vocal ENSEMBLE EDGE, in collaboration with a quartet of some of Denmark’s finest, young Jazz musicians, release their debut record "Dimma - a tribute to Jan Johansson."

1. Visa fraan Rattvik 07:12
2. Stepp, min stepp 03:30
3. Visa från Järna - Lapp-Nils Polska/Berg-Kirstis Polska 04:42
4. Klockan är tio slagen - Ack, Värmeland 04:47
5. Kvällar i Moskvas förstäder 04:57
6. Mellan branta stränder 04:15
7. Visa från Utanmyra 05:32
8. Sinclairvisan 04:36
9. Emigrantvisa 06:51
10. Ströva omkring 00:57
11. På ängen stod en björk 06:43
12. Klara Stjärnor 07:23
13. Dimma 05:21

Karmen Rõivassepp - Lead Vocals
Calle Brickman - Piano
Matthias Flemming Petri - Double Bass
Andreas Fryland - Percussion - Drums
Martha Marie Petri - Cello
Michala Petri - Recorder
Thomas Fryland - Fluegelhorn
Mathias Skaarup Sørensen - Conductor

Agustí Fernández / Pablo Ledesma / Mono Hurtado - Coghlan Dreams (2021 Sirulita Records)

The music that Fernández, Ledesma, and Hurtado play on Coghlan Dreams (the album is named as such because the pianist met the saxophonist and bassist in the latter's house, a few blocks from Coghlan station in Buenos Aires) goes down unexpected paths, as usually happens in dreams. Here is a music that moves from intensity to meditation, from "conventional" technique to extended technique. It's music that sometimes creates spaces that are filled with rough timbres and at other times is organised around a melodic sketch. The only instruction is "know how to relate to one another". Each musician should comply with the others, knitting a dynamic weave in which each one is a soloist and an accompanist at the same time. This is what happens on Coghlan Dreams.

The precise articulations, the fervor with which the trio tackles unexpected intervals, and the successive rhythmic impulses reveal technical skill that rises to the challenge of searching for new forms in the same time frame as the music. The remarkable interconnection that a Majorcan (by origin) and Catalan (by residence) and two Argentines have achieved in this set of 12 tracks speaks to the confidence with which they have managed to cultivate the art of playing freely over the length of their careers. But this doesn't explain why at times you feel like shouting "Eureka!" when a brief line from the sax is perfectly replicated by the piano, or when the bass holds a bowed note that creates a tonal axis over which the sax and piano vibrate. It's not only about playing "free", with no guidelines.

It's about playing free with others who also do so, completely unaware of the direction that the music will take, music that arises from an aesthetic coexistence. Unpremeditated interaction demands real-time understanding. This indeed happens in all kinds of music played by more than one performer, but perhaps free improvisation is the musical experience that requires the most empathy, since all agreements spring from the evolution of the sound itself.

Sergio Pujol

1. To Get 04:03
2. Move 08:08
3. Crossed 04:48
4. Wolf Play 05:37
5. Cheer 07:00
6. Gadget 03:08
7. Cross Move 03:28
8. Coghlan Dreams 03:26
9. Wolf Heavens 05:28
10. Go Across 03:26
11. Back-Alley 02:24
12. Deep 03:19

Agustí Fernández, piano
Pablo Ledesma, alto and soprano saxophones
Mono Hurtado, bass

Recorded by Néstor Díaz on November 23rd, 2016 at Mtt studio, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Mixed by Mono Hurtado on 2021 at Plaza studio, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mastering: Ferran Conangla at FCM studio, Barcelona, Spain
Liner notes: Sergio Pujol
English version: Sarah Claman
Fotos: Antonio Porcar, Augusto Fernández, Martín Bustos
Graphic design: Enric Jardí
Produced by Agustí Fernández, Pablo Ledesma & Mono Hurtado for Sirulita Records

Shay Hazan Quintet - Nuff Headlines (September 14, 2021 Chant Records)

Bassist and composer Shay Hazan is a mainstay on the vibrant Tel Aviv jazz scene. His new album Nuff Headlines finds him in the leadership role, a rare (although not unheard of) position for a bass player. The quintet is filled out by the two-horn duo of Tal Avraham on trumpet and Eyal Netzer on saxophone, along with Milton Michaeli on piano and Haim Peskoff on drums. Hazan’s musical roots spread far and wide into the magical realm of Moroccan Gnawa music (Hazan often plays gimbri, the traditional three stringed skin-covered bass lute), the new wave of hip hop, and the 1960's Chicago free jazz and human rights movement. These roots all feed the single organism of the band, with Hazan leading from the bottom, anchoring and propelling the music with a force only a bassist can provide.

1. Beber's Cha Cha 04:06
2. Evening Puja (Netzer) 07:40
3. Vertigo 06:48
4. Kebero 07:40
5. Desert Snake 07:01
6. Olam 05:14
7. Old Tart (ft. Rosa Lea Salmon) 05:50

Tal Avraham - trumpet
Eyal Netzer - saxophone, zurna
Milton Michaeli - piano
Shay Hazan - bass, gimbri, percussion
Haim Peskoff - drums, percussion

Rosa Salmon - vocals (*Old Tart)
Nir Tom Sabag - lyrics (*Old Tart)

Recorded December 18th 2019
Haogen Studios with Shlomi Gvili and Nitzan Levi
Mixed & Edited by Nitzan Levi and Shay Hazan

All music by Shay Hazan (ACUM)
*Evening Puja by Eyal Netzer*

Cover art by Dekel Hevroni

Allison Miller & Jane Ira Bloom - Tues Days (September 2021 Royal Potato Family)

In March and April of 2021 soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and drummer Allison Miller came together on five Tuesdays in March and April of 2021 to record some improvised sax and drum duets to see what might happen. They didn’t set out to make an album - they just wanted to play because they needed to improvise any way that they could. They played with complete abandon, performing remotely from their home studios in New York City in the reality of the world of 2021. Tues Days is the result of those recordings that now appear on Bloom’s Outline label and are available through Miller’s Bandcamp site, mixed and mastered by bassist Mark Helias with breathtaking fidelity. It’s a musical duet saturated in a kaleidoscope of color. The music is spontaneous composition at its best by two masterful improvisers – energetic, tactile, and alive. 

Miller’s multi-colored array of percussion augments her drumset in exquisite counterpoint to Bloom’s signature tone on the soprano sax. The music is both rhythmic and deeply lyrical - drum and sax dancing around one another until their song is sung. The compositions are Bloom and Miller making-it-up live and in the moment, taking you on a wild ride through their musical universe. From the adventurous journey of “The Wild Frontier” to the unpredictable “A & J’s Test Kitchen,” get ready for Tues Days - a story for your ears that will have your head spinning in wonder.

1. Tues Days 04:43
2. Technicolor 05:36
3. Rowing In The Dark 05:26
4. This Is It 03:16
5. Five Bells 02:16
6. The Wild Frontier 08:30
7. Light Years Away 05:59
8. A's & J's Test Kitchen 04:16
9. Crayola 06:13
10. On Seeing JP 04:19
11. Walk Alone 06:08

Allison Miller drums, percussion
Jane Ira Bloom soprano saxophone

Jane Ira Bloom Outline Music/ BMI
Allison Miller Supaphine / ASCAP

Produced by Jane Ira Bloom & Allison Miller
Recorded by Allison Miller & Jane Ira Bloom on March 2,9, 16, 25 & April 6, 2021 in NYC.
Mixed & mastered by Mark Helias
Cover Illustration Leo Holder ©2020, All rights reserved, used by permission.
Cover Design Christopher Drukker
Artist photography Erika Kapin

All compositions by Allison Miller & Jane Ira Bloom except “Rowing in the Dark,” “Light Years Away,” “On Seeing JP” and “Walk Alone” by Jane Ira Bloom (Outline Music/ BMI)

Tibor Debreceni - Blue Waltz (September 2021)

Jazz musician, composer, music producer, guitarist, pianist based in Budapest, Hungary.

"I compose, play and record all instruments, mix and master by myself in my home studio in Budapest, Hungary.

​Main instruments: guitar, piano, bass. Instruments in my music: drum, bass, piano, guitar, trumpet, tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax.

Styles: cool jazz, modal jazz, jazz-blues, dark jazz (now ogling to post-bop).

​Jazz music taste is mainly from Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Kenny Burrell, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond. Piano taste is mainly from Bill Evans, Horace Parlan, McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Clark, George Colligan, Chopin pieces. Guitar taste is mainly from Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Pat Metheny".


1. Alone is about the kind of feeling myself alone even if someone else is around. Melancholic and blue tune. The mute trupet brings up a bluesy theme, which goes forward into a slow, but very tense chord progression that releases only for a few notes in the melody before turning back to the deep mood. Exactly how one cannot come up easily from this „alone” state.
Instruments: d, b, p, tr.

2. Take Your Time. I wanted to bring a noir-like mood, but in a medium tempo that gives an extra highlight to the theme. It represent my inner warning signal to myself, not to overcome something important in the rushy multitasking world (what I do a lot).
Instruments: d, b, p, tr., a.sax

3. Blue Waltz. I composed the theme as a blues chanson-like jazz progression that is a perfect base for the catchy jazz melody by lead guitar supported by the tenor and soprano saxophones. The rythm of the melody gives a modern hit to the waltz beat. The guitar and piano solo sections alternate each other, taking a ’blue waltz’ with each other.
Instruments: d, b, p, g, s.sax, t.sax

4. Morning Whistle. I usually can come out from any blue mood only in the other’s day morning. This theme is one I whistled one of those mornings, so I want to help others to start the day with whistle and smile.
Instruments: d, b, p, g, tr., s.sax, a.sax

5. Think Again. During the compositions and the recordings of the tracks I was really glad about how well it went so far, so I wanted this feeling as part of the album.
Instruments: d, b, p, g, s.sax, t.sax, a.sax, tambourine, conga, bongo, shaker

6. Peace Within is a very calming theme that represents my inner peace. It is something we seek, but very rarely (or never) find. When I felt that I found, I composed this theme and it helps me to get back to that calming feeling, and I hope it will help others as well.
Instruments: d, b, p, t.sax, tr., vibraphone

Gabriele Mastropasqua - Jazzed-Up! (September 2021 Dodicilune / Ird)

Prodotto da Dodicilune, distribuito in Italia e all’estero da Ird e nei migliori store on line da Believe, martedì 14 settembre esce Jazzed-Up! di Gabriele Mastropasqua. Il sassofonista pugliese propone otto composizioni originali (“E si aprirono le acque del jazz”, “2B done”, “Fil & Al”, “Angels”, “Paul at Starbucks”, “Barile di follia”, “Una notte a castel Caetani”, “Omicidi o alla Chigiana”) che si muovono tra jazz, swing, funky, sonorità balcaniche. Mastropasqua è affiancato da un’orchestra diretta dal chitarrista Roberto Spadoni, composta da Max Zaza, Nicola Cozzella, Nicola Simone, Luigi Acquaro, Tommaso Florio (sax), Tony Santoruvo, Giuseppe Todisco, Alberto Di Leone, Andrea Depalma (trombe), Antonio Fallacara, Antonio Depalo, Matteo Bavaro (trombone), Saverio D’Errico (tuba), Antonio Simone (piano), Giulio Scianatico (contrabbasso e basso), Andrea Elisei (batteria) e, in alcune composizioni, da Annamaria Carrieri, Alessandro Andriano, Pasqualino Beltempo (voce), Rossano Emili (sax baritono), Gaetano Partipilo (sax alto), Achille Succi (clarinetto basso e sax alto), Giuseppe Todisco (flicorno soprano). 

«Un mese dopo aver preso in mano il mio primo sassofono, chiesi al mio maestro di insegnarmi a comporre. In quel momento lui si fece una grassa risata e, oggi come oggi, me la sarei fatta anche io; tuttavia, quella risata mi fece capire quanto potesse essere ambiziosa la mia aspirazione e quanto a lungo avrei dovuto studiare per raggiungerla», sottolinea Gabriele Mastropasqua. «Mettere in musica il mio vissuto è sempre stato il mio desiderio più grande: immaginate di vivere un sogno, svegliarvi di soprassalto e scrivere su carta delle note per immortalare e non dimenticare mai più quel momento! Questo è quello che mi succede quotidiana mente! Tutti i brani che compongo sono frutto di esperienze personali, forti o frivole che siano, che cerco di trasformare in musica con il desiderio di trasmettere all’ascoltatore anche tutte le mie emozioni. Quando poi, oltre ad una incredibile voglia di suonare hai anche a disposizione le infinite varietà timbriche di una intera orchestra jazz composta da amici di vecchissima data, allora non hai altra scelta che andare in studio di registrazione e concretizzare le tue aspirazioni più grandi», continua il musicista. «Il titolo del disco “Jazzed-up!” è proprio un inno alle tante emozioni che caratterizzano la mia vita da musicista: l’amore del comporre, l’entusiasmo del suonare, la gioia di vivere quella incredibile “botta” di adrenalina che solo il suono di una grande orchestra può regalare». 

«Il fluire torrenziale delle idee di Gabriele e delle sue invenzioni musicali, il suo entusiasmo irrefrenabile per la creazione musicale tiene il passo con la sua inesorabile energia vitale», sottolinea Roberto Spadoni. «È evidente che tutti musicisti coinvolti nel progetto hanno colto in pieno lo spirito che ha animato il lavoro fin dalla sua genesi, e il risultato finale è un disco ben suonato, con idee musicali non banali, a volte piacevolmente naif», è il commento di Rossano Emili. «Gabriele ha fatto un ottimo lavoro con questo disco, dimostrando una gran conoscenza di quel genere di musica che inizia con la J; scrivo solo l'iniziale per motivi di privacy, e anche per non farne crollare le vendite sul nascere», scherza Achille Succi.

Nato a Bisceglie nel 1995, Gabriele Mastropasqua prende in mano il suo primo sass ofono a dodici anni nell’associazione “Gran Concerto Bandistico Città di Giovinazzo” sotto l’ala di Michele Marzella. Presto inizia un percorso formativo professionale nel Conservatorio “Niccolò Piccinni” di Bari con Pierpaolo Iacopini. Nel 2015 ha l’opportunità di scoprire il mondo del jazz e, con la guida di Gaetano Partipilo, viene ammesso alla Siena Jazz University dove si laurea nel 2019 in sassofono Jazz grazie agli insegnamenti di grandissimi talenti del calibro di Achille Succi, Dan Kinzelman, Stefano Battaglia, e altri. Contemporaneamente al percorso accademico sulla musica Jazz, continua il percorso classico: nel 2016, per avere l’opportunità di studiare con Rossano Emili, si trasferisce al conservatorio “Antonio Buzzolla” di Adria, e successivamente, per continuità didattica, al conservatorio “Arrigo Pedrollo” di Vicenza. Attualmente sta completando gli studi nel corso di laurea di secondo livello in Composizione Jazz presso il conservatorio â Nicola Sala” di Benevento sotto la guida di Roberto Spadoni. Durante il percorso didattico ottiene visibilità come sassofonista grazie alle collaborazioni con talenti della scena musicale jazzistica nazionale ed internazionale come Maurizio Giammarco, Matt Mitchel, Joe Sanders, Cristina Zavalloni ed altri. Vanta la collaborazione come compositore con varie formazioni orchestrali, fra le tante, la SJU Orchestra nell’evento Chigiana Meets Siena Jazz “Bernstein-Gershwin Sounding Times”. A oggi è attivo in diversi progetti musicali tra cui la storica “Jazz Studio Orchestra”, la street band “Route 99”, il quartetto jazz sperimentale “GaRiMaNto Trio”, e la “Jazzed Up Orchestra” diretta da Roberto Spadoni.
1 - E si aprirono le acque del jazz
2 - 2B done
3 - Fil & Al
4 - Angels
5 - Paul at Starbucks
6 - Barile di follia
7 - Una notte a castel Caetani
8 - Omicidio alla Chigiana

All compositions by
Gabriele Mastropasqua

Roberto Spadoni - conduction, guitar (1,3,6,7)
Max Zaza, Nicola Cozzella, Nicola Simone,
Luigi Acquaro, Tommaso Florio, Gabriele Mastropasqua - saxophones
Tony Santoruvo, Giuseppe Todisco, Alberto Di Leone, Andrea Depalma - trumpets
Antonio Fallacara, Antonio Depalo, Matteo Bavaro - trombone
Saverio D’errico - tuba
Antonio Simone - piano
Giulio Scianatico - double bass, el. bass (2,4)
Andrea Elisei - drums

Soloists:
Annamaria Carrieri, vocals (4,7)
Alessandro Andriano, vocals (4)
Pasqualino Beltempo, vocals (5)
Rossano Emili, baritone sax (1,7)
Gaetano Partipilo, alto sax (2)
Achille Succi, bass clarinet (4,8), alto sax (4)
Giuseppe Todisco, soprano flugelhorn (4)
Gabriele Mastropasqua, baritone sax (4,6)
Antonio Fallacara, trombone (2)
Roberto Spadoni, el. guitar (3)
Antonio Simone, piano (6)
Giulio Scianatico, double bass (6)

PRODUCTION DATA (TIMING-ANNO-NR CAT-BARCODE)
Total time 48:14 STEREO DDD
(p) 2021 DODICILUNE (Italy)
(c) 2021 DODICILUNE (Italy)
www.dodicilune.it
CD DODICILUNE DISCHI Ed513
8033309695136

RECORDING DATA
Produced by Gabriele Mastropasqua and Maurizio Bizzochetti, Gabriele Rampino, Dodicilune, Italy
Label manager Maurizio Bizzochetti (www.dodicilune.it)
Recorded 2, 3 February 2019 by Alessandro Grasso at International Sound, Conversano (Ba), Italy
Mixed 10, 14 September 2019 by Alessandro Grasso at Four Walls Studio, Giovinazzo (Ba), Italy
Mastered 6 November 2019 by Alessandro Grasso at Four Walls Studio, Giovinazzo (Ba), Italy
Cover photo (c) gibleho   Photos by Luigi Mastropasqua
Contact: facebook.com/gabriele.mastropasqua/, gabriele.mastropasqua@hotmail.it