GNP (Giroux / Niedbalski / Perrillo) - Codes (November 12, 2021 ears & eyes records)

GNP is a jazz trio featuring Tyler Giroux on piano, Matt Niedbalski on drums, and Dylan Perrillo on bass.  Tyler, Matt, and Dylan have been playing together for several years.  They first began playing together at the Speakeasy 518 in Albany, New York, a cocktail bar known for its prohibition era ambiance and live jazz.  Through countless gigs the trio grew together as a unit, playing as a stand-alone group as well as backing up instrumental soloists and vocalists.

In 2020, a shared passion for original music led to the decision to record their debut album as a group, “Codes.”  “Codes” is a reference to the band’s musical communication, the unique vocabulary and cues the group developed over years of playing and growing together.  The album consists of 9 original pieces composed by Tyler, Matt, and Dylan, as well as one standard, Gershwin’s “But Not For Me.”

About the compositions:

“Rise and Grind” is a contrafact on Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”  The title, coined by local jazz radio host Bill McCann, is a reference to the piece’s high energy and upbeat mood.  The song features solos from Tyler and Dylan, as well as trading between Matt and Tyler.

“Takeoff” is an up-tempo selection.  The straight eighth latin groove creates the excitement of an airplane taking off down the runway.  Solos from bass and piano.

 

In literature and storytelling, prolepsis is an anticipating action, or a flash forward to future events.  “Prolepsis,” a medium jazz waltz, (obviously I need to add more to this)

 

“Things To Come,” like “Prolepsis,” is a nod to what may happen in the future.  The composition is played in a slower 5/4 time, almost waltz-like.  The opening ostinato evokes a darker, more ominous mood.  This recurring pattern is contrasted with different melodic sections.  Solos from bass and piano.

 

The album is rounded out with George and Ira Gershwin’s “But Not For Me.”  It is one of the bands favorite standards, and a regular on their setlist for many years.  The arrangement is off the cuff, but through closer listening, one can hear some of the communication and cues, or “Codes,” that form the band’s sound and vocabulary.

Dream Visions is a composition which takes inspiration from a Joe Henderson piece “Black Narcissus” combined with a more contemporary straight 8th feel. The 8th note descending line during the bridge helps to release the tension established in the beginning of the piece. 

JC is a dedication to a dear friend, Joel Cotton. Joel describes his own writing as “little ditties” and always stresses upon simple melodies as a vehicle for soloing, so this tune is a nod to him.

 

Up Here builds its main motif around a unison bass and left hand piano line. A repetitive melody figure is used to break up the bass line in the A sections and the bridge is a release of that melodic idea.

Matt writes, “Scrubs was written as a dedication to healthcare workers that had to work through the pandemic. I live outside of a hospital and was sitting in my studio working on some compositions. I had hit a wall with writing and was trying to break a few habits that I normally find myself in, so I decided to just drop my hands down on the piano randomly and notate the chords. A rubato free flowing melody seemed natural and after bringing in the sketch to our first rehearsal it was finalized.

1 Rise and Grind 5:10 (by Giroux)

2 Dream Visions 5:10 (by Niedbalski)

3 Takeoff 5:07 (by Giroux)

4 Obediah? My kin? 6:50 (by Perrillo)

5 Prolepsis 5:28 (by Giroux)

6 JC 6:24 (by Niedbalski)

7 Things To Come 7:37 (by Giroux)

8 Up Here 4:42 (by Niedbalski)

9 Scrubs 2:49 (by Niedbalski)

Tyler Giroux - Piano

Matt Niedbalski - Drums

Dylan Perrillo - Bass

Recorded by Scott Petito  at NRS in Catskill NY

Mixed and mastered by Matt Niedbalski in Gansevoort NY

Album concept/design by Nate Giroux

Websites: www.mattniedbalski.com  www.tylergiroux.com  www.dylanperrillo.com

Releases on independent label, ears&eyes Records, on November 12th 2021

PREORDER

Out Fri. Nov. 12: "Just Me, Just Me" – Single from Tony Malaby's upcoming album "The Cave of Winds"

Saxophonist/composer Tony Malaby reconvenes his stunning quartet Sabino with guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tom Rainey 

The Cave of Winds, due out January 7, 2022 via Pyroclastic Records, draws inspiration from Malaby’s Covid-era sessions under a NJ turnpike bridge 

" [The] tenor and soprano saxophonist Tony Malaby has earned a reputation as one of New York’s stalwart improvisers, through an array of sideman appointments and some rigorously rewarding albums."

– Nate Chinen, New York Times 

" Malaby will play inside, outside and all around his saxophone, but never once will it sound out of place with whatever else is happening." 

– Paul Acquaro, The Free Jazz Collective

The 2020 pandemic forced most of us indoors, musicians included, resulting in a surfeit of new solo projects and home recordings. Saxophonist Tony Malaby took the opposite approach. Having hosted regular sessions at his home for years, resulting in countless new collaborations and inspired breakthroughs, he decided to take these creative get-togethers out into the streets (both as an antidote for cabin fever and out of consideration for his suddenly homebound neighbors). 

Beginning in July of 2020, Malaby began hosting regular sessions underneath a turnpike overpass near his home in New Jersey. Leading a trio featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Billy Mintz, Malaby invited such improvising luminaries as Tim Berne, Mark Helias, Ches Smith, William Parker and others to join him in the graffiti-covered, reverberant enclave that buzzed with the sound of nearby pedestrians, overhead traffic and the usual collision of nature and humanity that fuels the city. 

“My artistic discipline comes from playing sessions,” Malaby says. “I just couldn't let that go. It was something I needed just to keep my head above water with everything that was happening with the pandemic and the [presidential] election. Everything was nuts, so I just had to go down there and throw sound with my guys. It got me through and kept me positive.” 

The turnpike sessions proved to be not only a respite from Covid-related stir craziness but also a source of considerable inspiration for Malaby. The saxophonist felt rejuvenated by the freedom and unique sonic qualities of the space, elements that he wanted to carry into the studio. Feeling that a guitar quartet would make the ideal setting, he reconvened Sabino, the group with which Malaby recorded his debut album in 2000. With bassist Michael Formanek, drummer Tom Rainey and guitarist Ben Monder (stepping in for the original album’s Marc Ducret), he recorded the adventurous new album The Cave of Winds, due out January 7, 2022 via Pyroclastic Records.

While there are natural rock formations that share the name in both Niagara Falls and Colorado, The Cave of Winds is Malaby’s affectionate nickname for the turnpike bridge that he made his musical home for the better part of a year. “It was like a tunnel down there,” Malaby recalls. “Wild, crazy things would happen while we were playing in that cavern. Trucks were rolling by, sirens going off, birds singing. We would be down there in 30-degree February weather and the wind would be howling. It was incredible.” 

The compositions that make up The Cave of Winds were directly inspired by Malaby’s tenure under the bridge. With the literal and figurative space offered by that environment, he was prompted to pen minimal pieces ripe for expansion by the trio and their guests; at the same time, they also are colored by a return to more traditional jazz contexts by this inveterate free improviser. 

“Billy Mintz and John Hébert got me into playing standards and jazz repertoire again,” Malaby explains. That comes into play here. We still play freely, and so, you know, but doing that led me to think about harmonic color, the richness of my roots and the joy of playing changes with someone like Ben Monder.” 

One of the most striking examples of this collision of the tradition and Malaby’s intrepid spirit is the album’s closing track, “Just Me, Just Me.” A contrafact based on the chord changes of the classic “Just You, Just Me” (memorably recorded by the likes of Nat King Cole and Thelonious Monk, among countless others), the tune is far more agitated experience than its jaunty predecessor, and while the title is a tongue-in-cheek play on the original it also captures the fervent individuality of these four musicians. 

Similarly, the burnished bop melody of “Corinthian Leather” is a loose reinterpretation of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Woody ‘n You,” leading to unspooling invention from both Malaby and Monder as they stretch the flexible theme beyond recognition. Monder’s roaring heavy metal distortion introduces “Scratch the Horse,” which draws inspiration from the Native American ceremonies depicted in the Richard Harris western A Man Called Horse. “Recrudescence” is a hypnotic group improvisation reflecting on the cyclical nature of the musical life, interrupted though it may have been by recent events, while “insect Ward” suggests a sanctuary for Malaby’s restless, flitting soprano (parried by Formanek’s buzzing bowed bass). “Life Coach” is a duo improvisation by Malaby and Rainey dedicated to their former bandleader, bassist Mark Helias, whose presence the saxophonist insists he can hear in the rhythm and language they share. 

The Cave of Winds marks the closing of a few chapters for Malaby. For one, it spells the end of the turnpike sessions and the period of research and exploration they represented. Coinciding with the lifting of pandemic- era restrictions, Malaby also left the New York area after more than 25 years for Boston, where he’s taken a position on the faculty of Berklee College of Music. 

The album also brings Malaby’s career full circle as he embarks on this new venture. 20 years after the release of Sabino he revisits that quartet with three of his most longstanding collaborators. Malaby met Formanek while the saxophonist was still a student at William Paterson University, when both played with the Mingus Big Band. They were both enlisted by saxophonist Marty Ehrlich for a band that also included Tom Rainey on drums, forging a connection that would remain strong for the next three decades. 

While Ducret was featured on the 2000 album, Ben Monder actually precedes him as Sabino’s guitarist, in an early version of the quartet that featured Jeff Williams and Ben Street. Malaby had initially heard the brilliant guitarist in Marc Johnson’s short-lived band Right Brain Patrol, then approached him at the bar of the Knitting Factory. They met again a week later on a session led by Guillermo Klein and have been working together regularly and fruitfully ever since. 

Like the primal space its name implies, The Cave of Winds is vast and tempestuous, opening into a reservoir of mystery and inviting the curious to venture deep within. Encouraged by Malaby’s dauntless curiosity, these four stellar musicians delve into the furthest reaches and emerge with inspired riches.

1. Corinthian Leather

2. Recrudescence

3. Scratch the Horse

4. Insect Ward

5. The Cave of Winds

6. Life Coach (for Helias)

7. Just Me, Just Me

Tony Malaby - Tenor and Soprano Saxophones

Ben Monder - Guitar

Michael Formanek - Double Bass

Tom Rainey - Drums

All compositions by Tony Malaby (Chubasco Music/ Sesac) except 'Recrudescence' by Monder/ Formanek/ Rainey/ Malaby

Recorded at Samurai Hotel Studios on June 24, 2021

Mixed and Mastered by Mike Marciano at Systems Two Long Island

Graphic Design by Hidde Dijkstra

Cover Art: 'Lost in Thoughts' by Marieken Cochius

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

Produced by Tony Malaby

Executive Producer: Kris Davis

(c)(p) 2021 Tony Malaby & Pyroclastic Records

Tony Malaby’s Sabino – The Cave of Winds 

Pyroclastic Records – PR 18 – Recorded June 24, 2021

Release date January 7, 2022 

PREORDER

Gaetano Partipilo Boom Collective - LEAVE & MEET (November 12, 2021 Auand Records)

“Leave&Meet”: Gaetano Partipilo new album, featuring his Boom Collective

Out now on Auand Records

A detailed, original work on creative collaboration,

mostly conceived throughout the 2020 lockdown

Italian saxophonist Gaetano Partipilo’s new album “Leave&Meet” is the result of a very specific need: a virtual meeting, much like a distant hug, and the will to share a creative moment with musicians confined in their homes during the first Italian lockdown. It’s a complex, layered work, designed and written in spring 2020, followed by the search for the right musicians and by the recording, which mostly happened at different times and places.

«This second phase – Partipilo says –  was the hardest, because I wanted to investigate a complete lack of interplay. Sometimes the musicians who were recording a track had no idea who else would be playing that. And this phase took 8 months! The lack of interplay leads you to new scenarios because it’s like going blindly. All those usual movements, that relentlessly drive each of us to the same familiar direction, no longer happen. I could say that, despite all its damages, the lockdown offered us a creative opportunity».

“Leave&Meet”, published by Auand Records and supported by Puglia Sounds - Programmazione Puglia Sounds Record 2020/2021, will be available on CD and on Bandcamp on Friday, November 12th.

It includes 12 tracks (10 penned by Partipilo), and features 11 musicians, 2 singers, plus Partipilo himself on sax, keyboards, and synths. There will be 11 singles overall. Each of them will be released on all streaming platforms on a biweekly basis, starting from October 29th. The live show for the album launch will be on Friday, December 3rd, at Teatro Forma in Bari (Italy), supported by Node and Eskape, during the celebration of Auand’s 20th anniversary.

 «I’ve selected the musicians for this project – Partipilo adds – by looking at some specific details: first of all, their area. The Boom Collective is “made in Puglia”. Second, their age: I wanted musicians younger than me, that I never played with. They brought a fresh, exciting new vision that drove our music into something unexpected to me».

This multi-layered work can be very well summed up by the opening track, which, not coincidentally, is “Puglia”. «This track – Partipilo explains  – was written with the vocalist Angela Esmeralda. The first part is reminiscent of our video calls, something we all experienced back in those sad days. Our habits changed: we kept in touch using the Internet, through endless group calls, and remote learning. Everything changed, all of a sudden. “Puglia” is all about that time, our land, and our imaginary journey to distant places, whether it be New York, or Los Angeles, or Rio De Janeiro, while still staying put».

1 Puglia (Gaetano Partipilo, Angela Esmeralda Pepe)

2 Shero (Gaetano Partipilo, Angela Esmeralda Pepe)

3 Goldfishes (Gaetano Partipilo, Angela Esmeralda Pepe)

4 Digital Horizons (Gaetano Partipilo)

5 Celebrity (Gaetano Partipilo, Rossella Giancaspero)

6 Moving Forward (Angela Esmeralda Pepe, Gaetano Partipilo, Marco Menchise)

7 Breaking Pad (Gaetano Partipilo, Giorgio Vendola)

8 Always On (Gaetano Partipilo)

9 Refresh (Gaetano Partipilo, Joanna Teters)

10 Change My Mind (Gaetano Partipilo, Angela Esmeralda Pepe)

11 Home Sweet Home (Gaetano Partipilo)

12 A Little Melody 4 U (Federico Pecoraro)

Gaetano Partipilo: saxes, keyboards

Angela Esmeralda Pepe, Joanna Teters: vocals

Seby Burgio, Mirko Signorile: keyboards

Marco Menchise: guitar

Giorgio Vendola, Federico Pecoraro, Gianluca Aceto, Giuseppe Bassi: basses

Dario Congedo, Giuseppe Santorsola, Fabio Accardi, Dario Panza: drums

Music composed and recorded between March 2020 and September 2021 in various locations

Mixed and mastered by Tommy Cavalieri at Sorriso Studio (Bari, Italy)

Produced by Gaetano Partipilo

Executive producer: Marco Valente

auand

jazzos

bandcamp

spotify

Ill Considered - Liminal Space (November 12, 2021 New Soil)

Free-wheeling live improvisers Ill Considered open a new chapter with their first fully produced studio album on New Soil, Liminal Space, featuring Tamar Osborn, Sarathy Korwar, Theon Cross and more.

Having exploded onto the scene with 9 self-released albums between 2017 and 2019, UK-based outfit Ill Considered are breaking new ground with their first fully produced studio album and an interactive audio/visual performance residency at Southbank Centre's Purcell Room, this autumn.

Capturing a moment of transformation for the group, Liminal Space not only features a new core line-up of Idris Rahman (saxophone), Liran Donin (bass) and Emre Ramazanoglu (drums), but also sees Ill Considered bounce their live-wire style off a range of collaborators such as Collocutor’s Tamar Osborn, Steam Down saxophonist Ahnanse, tuba player Theon Cross and percussionist Sarathy Korwar.

1. First Light

2. Sandstorm

3. Loosed

4. Dust

5. Dervish

6. Pearls

7. Light Trailed

8. Knuckles

9. The Lurch

10. Prayer

PREORDER

Martin Wind Quartet - My Astorian Queen (November 12, 2021 Laika Records)

Bassist and composer Martin Wind is on a roll with two upcoming albums from Laika Records.

He celebrates 25 years in NYC with My Astorian Queen, a quartet album featuring Wind and his Quartet with Scott Robinson, Bill Mays and Matt Wilson. The album will be released November 19, 2021. 

Wind follows this album on February 25, 2022 with the release of AIR featuring his New York Bass Quartet (Wind, Greg August, Jordan Frazier, Samm Suggs along with special guests Matt Wilson, Gary Versace and Lenny White).

Wind is one of a few German jazz musicians that have been able to establish themselves and remain on the New York jazz scene. My Astorian Queen is a heartfelt thank you note to “this city and its welcoming artistic community in general, and some very special human beings in particular, that have guided and formed me over the last quarter of a century.”  

The album is also a tribute to his wife.  Wind hadn’t even been in New York for 24 hours when Mays’ wife at the time introduced Wind to one of her colleagues. “On my second day in NYC I got to meet my future wife on a blind date – what are the chances?! The first couple of years were incredibly intensive and life-changing: my studies at NYU, the first attempts of making the scene, my marriage to Maria and the birth of our first son, all while living in a cute apartment in Astoria, Queens.”

George Gershwin wrote a song for Porgy and Bess called “There`s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon For New York.” Except for the fact that Martin Wind arrived at the Big Apple exactly 25 years ago by plane a lot of the Gershwin opera’s storyline could have been written for him. The bassist from Flensburg, Germany has found his version of the American Dream. “I’ve been living it ever since my arrival in 1996 together with my wife, our two grown-up sons, our dog and the house in the New Jersey suburbs, just outside of big city.” As a matter of fact, he is one of a few German jazz musicians that were able to establish them- selves on the New York jazz scene for good. His new al- bum My Astorian Queen is a heartfelt thank you note to “this city and its welcoming artistic community in general, and some very special human beings in particular, that have guided and formed me over the last quarter of a century."

He’s referring to the members of his quartet - all veterans of the New York jazz scene. Pianist Bill Mays was impressed by the classically trained bassist when he heard him for the first time at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam in 1992. He started to mentor him as they recorded and toured Europe together with the late drummer Keith Copeland. “Bill used to fax me pages and pages of tunes that he wanted me to learn when I was still living in Cologne.” 

Wind hadn’t even been in New York for 24 hours when Mays’ wife at the time, who worked at a hospital, introduced Wind to one of her colleagues. “On my second day in NYC I got to meet my future wife on a blind date – what are the chances?! The first couple of years were incredibly intensive and life-changing: my studies at NYU, the first attempts of making the scene, my marriage to Maria and the birth of our first son, all while living in a cute apartment in Astoria, Queens.” 

The swinging opener, “Mean What You Say,” relates to a magical moment that Wind experienced at the legendary Village Vanguard. “It took several years before I got a chance to play a Monday night with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. While some of the last guests were taking their seats, the rhythm section started to play this great composition by Thad Jones. Already while setting up my gear, I had noticed how unbelievable my instrument sounded in the acoustics of this basement club: warm and chocolatey, yet incredibly clear and defined. That first night with this band was one of those NYC moments that I will never forget.” 

While establishing his New York career, Wind took a wide variety of gigs including subbing on major musicals. Those theater jobs inspired him to record “Broadway.” “I got to play a dozen or so performances of Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ which was not my cup of tea. I much preferred a production of Cole Porter’s fabulous ‘Kiss me, Kate’ with arrangements by Don Sebesky.” 

Outstanding on this track is Scott Robinson, featured on the mighty bass saxophone. Robinson plays seemingly every reed and brass instrument ever invented, and Wind identifies him as “the voice of my music.” Robinson’s rehearsal and recording space, which he calls his laboratory, is home to many uncommon instruments such as a bass marimbaphone, a theremin and the extremely rare contrabass saxophone. “Scott and I share the same birthday, live in the same town AND he brews his own beer! He is an unbelievably spontaneous and sensitive musician who manages to still surprise and deeply move me after all these years of playing music together.” 

Bill Mays, Scott Robinson, Martin Wind, Matt Wilson at Deer Head Inn, Pennsylvania, July 4, 2021 by Jeff Dunn, Detroit

Those who can’t get enough of the wonderfully growling sound of the bass saxophone will be happy to discover a short encore somewhere towards the end of the Brazilian song “E Preciso Perdoar,” which was made famous by João Gilberto and Stan Getz. 

Wind’s third trusted friend and musical partner is drummer Matt Wilson, with whom he has spent more time on the road than with any other musician over the last 20+ years. “Matt was one of the first established band-leaders to invite me into his world and accept me as his equal. Because of him I started to believe that I might belong here. His presence is so liberating that you think you can fly - he welcomes everything you offer so completely that there really isn’t such a thing as doing anything ‘wrong’ around him.” With the classic Sinatra hit “New York, New York,” the two friends close out the album. Their approach is a lot looser than the original: “Matt and I love to use the term ‘going into the sandbox.’ It means to innocently sit down in the sandbox and to start molding, creating and truly playing with the material - and then react to what is starting to appear in front of you.” It seems that this approach is working: “After hearing our take, Bill Mays commented approvingly: ‘Man, you almost make me like that song!” 

In every sense, this album turned out as a fitting and genuine musical gift to the metropolis and its soulful inhabitants. The compositions narrate some of Wind’s personal NY stories, and are presented with song serving, yet unpredictable arrangements. 

It all adds up to a fitting tribute to the one person in Wind’s life that has made this ongoing musical adventure possible: Maria, his “Astorian Queen.”

1 Mean What you Say (Thad Jones) 7:36

2 Solitude (Martin Wind) 5:30

3 Broadway (Wilbur H. Bird) 6:08

4 Peace Waltz (Bill Mays) 7:38

5 È Preciso Perduar (Carlos Cequeijo & Aleivando Luz) 5:04

6 Out in P.A. (Martin Wind) 8:04

7 My Astorian Queen (Martin Wind) 5:34

8 There’s a Boat that’s leaving soon for New York (George Gershwin) 4:57

9 New York, New York (Fred Ebb & John Kander) 3:15

Martin Wind (upright bass)

Scott Robinson (tenor-, bass-saxophone, clarinet, trumpet)

Bill Mays (piano)

Matt Wilson (drums, percussion)

Produced by Martin Wind, co-produced by Matt Balitsaris, executive produced by Peter Cronemeyer.

Recorded (July 4 & 5, 2021) and mixed by Matt Balitsaris at Maggie’s Farm, Pennsylvania.Mastered by Gene Paul in July 2021 at G & J Audio, Union City, New Jersey. Cover photos by Olff Appold, Hamburg. Live photo Deer Head Inn, Pennsylvania, July 4, 2021by Jeff Dunn, Detroit. Martin Wind plays D’Addario Strings, Acoustic Image Amps, The “Lifeline” Pick-up, the “Nadine” bass microphone by Ear Trumpet Labs and a beautiful instrument crafted for him in 2017 by master luthier Arnold Schnitzer.

Wind celebrates My Astorian Queen with NYC concerts:  

• Thursday, November 18 – Martin Wind Quartet at Cellar Dog 

• Friday, November 19 – MW Trio at Mezzrow

Martin Wind

Laika Records

Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates (November 12, 2021 International Anthem)

Irreversible Entanglements’ third full-length album OPEN THE GATES is ethereal shards of jagged onyx, a melancholic exploration of the post-colonial debris that surrounds us. Let’s watch and listen, as this platter snakes through the sandy ashes of possible histories, dialogs with a nervous present, and asks to be birthed into a holographic new future. “Together in holy sound!” the band stitches patient anthems out of atmosphere. Pulling from a wider sonic vocabulary than on previous excursions, the agit-jazz found here is simultaneously pre- and post-apocalypse, as bass lurches in a tranced-out loop, horns are up in the track grooves like poltergeists playing in the streets, poetry cascades like a warrior call at a satsang, the drums both wild and refined pulse with uhuru-heart cadence. This is Irreversible Entanglements on new ground; same as the old ground.

And we need it now – the universe was awash in the sickly static veneer of anti-cosmos, of anti-nation; the halls were emptied, our shadows echoing and staining the walls of our abandoned oases – so we poured out into 2020’s wild streets. The ghosts of our labor danced around the sickness as we set fire to our old ways of thinking and moving, as we set fire to cop cars and bashed in the windows of our own rising disenfranchisement. “Open the gates!” we shouted, blessed be – we need it now!

Here come Irreversible Entanglements – Luke Stewart, the high priest on bass; Aquiles Navarro, the electric universe in human form on trumpet; Keir Neuringer, the cosmologist with the siren sound on sax; Tcheser Holmes, the griot, the myth-maker on drums; and Camae Ayewa, the Moor mother with an empyrean pen game – on this new disc with their fierce aural tectonics shifting the earth, their watery post-pangea as dirge, their punk rock ethos and crash and bang polyrhythmic super-sonic sound synesthesia in the form of OPEN THE GATES – here it comes, my Brothas and Sistas, here it comes.

1. Open the Gates

2. Keys to Creation

3. Lágrimas Del Mar

4. Storm Came Twice

5. Water Meditation

6. Six Sounds

7. The Port Remembers

Camae Ayewa - voice, synth

Keir Neuringer - saxophone, synth, percussion

Aquiles Navarro - trumpet, synth

Luke Stewart - double bass, bass guitar

Tcheser Holmes - drums, percussion

Recorded on January 5th, 2021, at Rittenhouse Soundworks, Philadelphia. Mixed in April, 2021, at International Anthem Studios, Chicago. Mastered in May, 2021, at Elysian Masters, Los Angeles.

Produced by: Camae Ayewa, Keir Neuringer, Aquiles Navarro, Luke Stewart, and Tcheser Holmes.

Recorded by: Michael Richelle.

Mixed by: Dave Vettraino.

Mastered by: Dave Cooley.

Cover Photo by: Cyrus Moussavi.

Back Cover & Liner Photos by: Bob Sweeney.

Liner Notes by: Alex Smith.

Design & Layout by: Craig Hansen.

Executive Production by: Scott McNiece & David Allen

PRE-ORDER

Noam Lemish - Erlebnisse (November 12, 2021)

Toronto based pianist Noam Lemish celebrates the release of Erlebnisse, a piano solo album of improvisations that blurs the lines between jazz, western art music, Eastern European Jewish music and Israeli popular song. It may be that Lemish’s hyphenated identity as an Israeli-American-Canadian has helped inspire his multiplicity and general disinclination to follow stylistic guidelines. In Erlebnisse we encounter an artist who clearly enjoys living “in between” genre boundaries and embraces the liminality inherent in improvisation. Each note is an affirmation of the present moment, each moment of silence and pause an inviting space vibrating with possibility.

Erlebnisse is German for “deeply felt experiences”. Each piece is completely improvised, recorded in a single take, and played in “real time”. Each selection serves as a sonic portrait that captures a unique “deeply felt experience”: an Erlebnis, all told through spontaneous improvisation. The music traverses wide ranging emotional terrain and Lemish’s pianism is at once deeply lyrical and fierce, displaying textural richness and dynamic variety that masterfully exploits his instrument and exhibits a fearless, adventurous spirit.

Following six previous recordings under his name, Erlebnisse marks Lemish’s first piano solo release. As a recording that whole-heartedly embraces free improvisation as process and artistic expression, it manifests Lemish’s long held belief in improvisation as a practice that is simultaneously inwardly and outwardly revealing and rewarding. Erlebnisse thus invites the listener into an intimate, vulnerable and open space that is filled with the joy and excitement of in-the-moment creative expression.

Erlebnisse will be released worldwide on Friday, November 12th.

1. Erlebnis 1 4:01

2. Erlebnis 2 5:35

3. Erlebnis 3 1:35

4. Erlebnis 4 4:09

5. Erlebnis 5 6:34

6. Erlebnis 6 3:48

7. Erlebnis 7 1:05

8. Erlebnis 8 5:19

9. Erlebnis 9 3:55

10. Erlebnis 10 1:08

11. Erlebnis 11 4:05

12. Erlebnis 12 3:17

13. Erlebnis 13 4:53

14. Erlebnis 14 3:29

15. Erlebnis 15 2:10

16. Erlebnis 16 3:03

Noam Lemish - Piano & Prepared Piano

www.noamlemish.com

Joe Fiedler's and "Open Sesame" - Fuzzy And Blue (November 12, 2021)

In 2019 trombonist Joe Fiedler released Open Sesame, packed with inventive jazz readings of material drawn from his longstanding “day job” as an EMMY-nominated music director and staff arranger for the famed children’s show Sesame Street. The effort was equally beloved by lay listeners and the jazz world alike. DownBeat praised the music’s “diverse aesthetic,” in which Fiedler blends “elements of funk, rock, free-jazz and New Orleans polyphony into a potent mix that gives depth and texture to the lighthearted compositions.” When Fiedler and the band toured the music, including a stop at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola with guest luminaries Wynton Marsalis and none other than Elmo himself, the realization set in that the project would be no one-off. “I have these songbooks from the Sesame Street office,” Fiedler says, “and if you whip through the first 30 tunes, absolutely everyone knows them. But there are six or seven thousand songs they’ve done over the past 50 years, with plenty of gold in there to do a second album for sure.”

Fuzzy and Blue, Fiedler’s second volume of Sesame Street songs, shines still more light on the extraordinary wit and melodic gift of the foundational Sesame Street composers Joe Raposo and Jeffrey Moss, among others. The album boasts the same top-tier lineup as Open Sesame, with a couple of twists. Trumpeter Steven Bernstein, who played on only part of Open Sesame, now becomes an integral cog in a nimble three-horn section, expanding and varying the palette and allowing Fiedler to bring his seasoned orchestration skills to the foreground. Reedman Jeff Lederer plays tenor and clarinet and relies more heavily on soprano sax this time out, helping achieve the ideal blend of colors and registers that Fiedler was seeking. Drummer Michael Sarin and bassist Sean Conly keep the rhythms locked and creatively churning, from the Dr. John/Professor Longhair vibe of “Fuzzy and Blue” to the reggae feel of “Elmo’s Song” (by Tony Geiss), to the Hugh Masekela-inspired Afropop of “Ladybug’s Picnic” (originally a peppy country novelty by the late William “Bud” Luckey).

The ensemble also gets a visit from vocal powerhouse Miles Griffith, the very model of a guest on Sesame Street. On the “I Love Trash/C Is for Cookie” melange (a one-two shot of Moss and Raposo), Griffith’s singing is unabashed, larger than life, uproariously funny but insightful and firmly in control. He’s equally compelling in a sociopolitical vein on “I Am Somebody,” in which Fiedler combines an original song with the lyrics of Reverend William Holmes Borders — words recited to powerful effect on Sesame Street in 1972 by Reverend Jesse Jackson. Fiedler felt a need on Fuzzy and Blue to acknowledge social tumult at the close of the Trump presidency and the still-tentative aftermath of the COVID pandemic. “We Are All Earthlings,” a gentle and idyllic Jeffrey Moss folk ballad from 1993, accomplishes this as well, though Fiedler brings a stark added tension with his Stravinsky-esque horn voicings.

Together, Bernstein and Fiedler present a veritable master class in the use of mutes for endless color and timbre subtlety, in the spirit of early jazz. “We’re playing these Harmon mutes with the stems in,” Fiedler says, “which nobody does — that’s from the ’20s.” Bernstein plays his signature slide trumpet on Raposo’s “X Marks the Spot” (the only minor-key song) but otherwise is heard on valve trumpet and flugelhorn, not to mention the lower and darker G trumpet on Raposo’s “I Am Blue.” That song opens with beautiful muted trombone and is distinctly Ellingtonian in orchestration, with horns placed outside their more common registers.

Throughout the album there’s an atmosphere of fun, “a sense of burlesque” as Fiedler put it in the Open Sesame liner notes, that flows from the trombonist’s deep love of Ray Anderson, the Jazz Passengers, Carla Bley and other major influences. Steven Bernstein’s Sexmob is another. The improvisational openness and risk of Fiedler’s trio dates Sacred Chrome Orb, The Crab, I’m In and Joe Fiedler Plays the Music of Albert Mangelsdorff also carry over to this more song-oriented endeavor. Fuzzy and Blue, like its predecessor, is Fiedler’s way of bringing it all together, reminding himself and all of us that inspiration can and does come from everywhere, and that everything is connected.

A native of Pittsburgh, Fiedler is an accomplished jazz improviser and bandleader with sideman credits including Andrew Hill, Charles Tolliver, Satoko Fujii, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz and a host of others. In addition to his trio and other small-group lineups, Fielder leads the low-brass quartet Big Sackbut (three trombones & tuba), which has released the albums Big Sackbut, Sackbut Stomp and Live in Graz. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in a Children’s Series in 2013 and 2016. He plays lead trombone on the 2021 movie soundtrack album for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, contributing horn orchestrations for five major numbers and underscoring cues as well. While playing the In the Heights stage production in 2008 he met chief arranger Bill Sherman, who went on to hire Fiedler for a reboot of The Electric Company and then Sesame Street as well. 

1. ABCDEFGHI

2. Bein' Green

3. Fuzzy and Blue

4. I Am Somebody

5. I Am Blue

6. Elmo's Song

7. I Love Trash

8. Bip Bippadotta Suite

9. Lady Bug's Picnic

10. We Are All Earthlings

11. One of These Things

12. X Marks the Spot

13. Captain Vegetable

Joe Fiedler, trombone

Jeff Lederer, soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet

Steven Bernstein, trumpet, slide trumpet, flugelhorn, G trumpet

Sean Conly, acoustic and electric bass

Michael Sarin, drums

Special Guest: Miles Griffith, vocals (Tracks 4 & 7)

Recorded at The Bunker Studio Brooklyn May 10-11, 2021

Mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording

Art: Fran Pontenpié

Photography: Scott Friedlander

PREORDER

Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O / Umdali (November 12, 2021 Mushroom Hour Half Hour)

 

A generous sideman and bandleader, multi-instrumentalist Malcolm Jiyane stands at the vanguard of his prodigious generation of jazz musicians. Operating from the centre and the fringes of the South African jazz scene, the trombonist (and pianist) is an enigmatic yet charismatic galvaniser of his contemporaries, able to put them through their paces in his own compositions, while giving them enough room to interpret them anew.

In UMDALI, his debut album as frontman, Jiyane delivers not only a major contribution to the canon -- one shaped around dedications to key figures in his personal and professional life -- but an honest snapshot of his personal circumstances at the time of recording. In that period several years ago, Jiyane was dealing with the death of a band member, the birth of a daughter and the passing of his beloved mentor Johnny Mekoa, founder of the Music Academy of Gauteng, which Jiyane attended from a young age. These life-altering events give shape to the music's emotional register and its thematic concerns. Positioned at the edge of this precipice, Jiyane turned to a core of talented musicians mostly based around Soweto's jamming scene, as well as to key figures in his own creative trajectory.

The coterie of bassist Ayanda Zalekile, drummer Lungile Kunene, percussionist Gontse Makhene, pianist Nkosinathi Mathunjwa, saxophonist Nhlanhla Mahlangu and trumpeters Brandon Ruiters and Tebogo Seitei shrouded him in his time of need, providing intuitive musicianship through which to execute his ideas, and, more importantly, life-affirming comradeship.

Jiyane is nothing if not the product of astute mentorship from elders and peers alike. Given the late Mekoa's stature in South African jazz, trombonist Jonas Gwangwa (also late) would have been among regular visitors to the academy, imprinting on the young Jiyane not only the breadth of South African music traditions but also the science of how to lead musical ensembles without stifling individual contribution.

In Gwen Ansell's memorable Mail and Guardian obituary of Gwangwa, she quotes saxophonist Steve Dyer on the elder trombonist's approach to music making as such. "For him it was not about the notes. It's not about the theory. It is about the feeling and emotion behind the notes." This valorising of comradeship and warmth over technical wizardry is noticeable throughout UMDALI. It can be felt, in particular, in the swaggering gait of Ntate Gwangwa's Stroll, in which Jiyane channels the elder, and can be heard shouting encouragement to Nkosinathi Mathunjwa as he carefully feels his way into a keyboard solo towards the song's end.

That Jiyane is informed by a frame of reference that extends beyond the trombone, goes without saying. Moshe courses with late pianist Moses Molelekwa's harmonic, melodic and rhythmic idiosyncrasies. "I found myself thinking about how he would approach certain songs," said Jiyane. "It's like being in someone's shoes kind of a thing, looking into what they have achieved musically. He'd play piano the way he feels it. He gave me the motivation to pursue what I'm feeling."

In Black Music, his book of essays and critiques, Amiri Baraka makes the point that jazz musicians, be it in the construction of solos or in other aspects of composition, always draw on the works of their contemporaries or elders. How much outsiders pick up on that is really dependent on how au fait they are with the music. In this album especially, Jiyane finds comfort in this well-trodden path. Two songs make for great examples. Umkhumbi kaMa, a jazz-funk track celebrating the creative force as inhabited by women, the motif to Herbie Hancock's Ostinato (Suite for Angela) is a clear reference, connecting in one swift move, not only the musical traditions of the Black Atlantic but also the struggles and triumphs of women across space and time. On the same note, the free-form Solomon, Tsietsi & Khotso, conjured in the same jam session that yielded SPAZA's UPRIZE!, appears here in a more fleshed out form as Senzo seNkosi; a tender dedication to Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O bass player Senzo Nxumalo.

Jiyane's own path to the realisation of UMDALI is nothing if not fraught with tests along the way. But his generosity of spirit means that the offering is more than merely one individual's breakthrough. Workshopped and recorded within two days in Johannesburg, UMDALI, not unlike Miles Davis' landmark Kind of Blue, stretches our idea of what it means to improvise within the context of jazz.

With this debut, the Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O has created a work that is not only keenly aware of what came before it, but blazing a trail to the future. 

1. Senzo seNkosi

2. Umkhumbi kaMa

3. Ntate Gwangwa's Stroll

4. Life Esidimeni

5. Moshe

All songs composed and arranged by Malcolm Jiyane

All songs published by Mushroom Hour Half Hour

Ayanda Zalekile – electric bass

Brandon Ruiters – trumpet [tracks 1, 2 & 4]

Gontse Makhene – percussions & toys

Lungile Kunene - drums

Malcolm Jiyane Xorile – trombone & vocals

Nhlanhla Mahlangu – alto saxophone [tracks 1, 2 & 4]

Nkosinathi Mathunjwa – piano & keyboard

Tebogo Seitei – trumpet [tracks 1, 2, 3 & 4]

Tubatsi Mpho Moloi - vocals [track 5]

Recorded by Peter Auret at Sumo Sound on 8 November 2018

Mixed by Dion Monti

Mastered by Norman Nitzsche at Calyx Mastering

Produced by Malcolm Jiyane Xorile

Executive Produced by Steve Kwena Mokwena, Nhlanhla Masondo & Andrew Curnow

Cover Design by Vusi Hlatywayo

Photograph of Sierra Leone Xorile Dlamini taken by Andile Buka

Liner notes on LP by Steve Kwena Mokwena

PREORDER

Jelly Cleaver - Forever Presence (November 12, 2021 Gearbox Records)

Forever Presence is the recorded debut of a new project by London-based guitarist, activist and producer Jelly Cleaver.

Jelly has had an incendiary rise over the last year; she has received the Steve Reid Award, is a Serious Take Five artist, was nominated for an Ivors Composer Award, and has been called “the next artist to make an impact on the London Jazz Scene” by Tina Edwards. Yet in the excitement and movement of this jazz scene, Forever Presence takes a different path, focusing on the neglected elements of ballads and beauty to allow other emotions to enter the music. It pays tribute to artists like Pharaoh Sanders, Alice Coltrane and Dhafer Youssef, as well as taking inspiration from Jelly's contemporaries such as Moor Mother and Angel Bat Dawid. Weaving together spiritual jazz, blues, soul, and psychedelic rock and accompanied by rising stars of the UK jazz scene, Forever Presence explores in five tracks the narratives of loss, love and the universe.

1. Forever Presence: Pt. 1

2. Forever Presence: Pt. 2

3. Prayer For Rojava

4. We Have Known Love

5. Black Line

Jelly Cleaver - composition, production, guitar, vocals, synth, percussion James Akers - saxophone

Lorenz Okello-Osengor - piano, rhodes, hammond organ

Katie Moberly - cello, electric bass

Hamish Nockles-Moore - double bass

Tash Keary - drums, percussion

All songs and lyrics written by Jelly Cleaver apart from ‘We Have Known Love’ which was written by Jelly Cleaver, Lorenz Okello-Osengo, James Akers, Tash Keary, Katie Moberly and Hamish Nockles Moore with lyrics by Jelly Cleaver.

Recorded at Henwood Studios

Studio Engineer: Joe Henwood, Jelly Cleaver

Mix Engineer: Jess Camilleri

Mastered by Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records

Mastered using all-valve Decca equalisation and Telefunken limiters. Lacquer discs cut on a Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, Westrex 3DIIA cutting head. Monitored on Audio Note equipment

Cover Artist: Angela Laier

Graphic design: Alan Foulkes

Photographer: Helen Amanita Murphy

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Mareike Wiening - Future Memories (November 12, 2021 Greenleaf Music)

Future Memories is the new album from New York-based German drummer and composer Mareike Wiening, featuring her longstanding band that includes saxophonist Rich Perry, pianist Glenn Zaleski, guitarist Alex Goodman, and bassist Johannes Felscher. Recorded in one day in the midst of an extensive tour, the album captures the live group energy and cohesion that only comes from playing together regularly.

Featuring eight of Wiening’s originals inspired by her band members, the compositions are emotional, rhythmical and most importantly, always lyrical. The music was captured in January 2020, just before the first pandemic lockdown, and the album’s title encapsulates Mareike’s feelings: the unexpected value of our future interweaves with various levels of past experiences, memories and the unknown. Balancing great compositions with soaring solo explorations, this is exciting, thoughtful, and engaging creative jazz.

1. Northern Sail

2. El Escorial

3. An Idea is Unpredictable

4. RiChanges

5. Future Memories

6. The Other Soul

7. Seesaw March

8. Dance Into Ju

Mareike Wiening | Drums

Rich Perry | Tenor Saxophone

Glenn Zaleski | Piano

Alex Goodman | Guitar

Johannes Felscher | Double Bass

Produced by Mareike Wiening

Executive Producer: Dave Douglas

Recorded at Riverside Studios Cologne, Germany on January 17th, 2020

Recorded by David Brucklacher

Mixed and mastered by Johannes Felscher

Graphic Design by Frank Hoeger

Photography by Lukas Diller

All compositions and arrangements by Mareike Wiening (GEMA)

Mareike Wiening plays Meinl Cymbals and Meinl Stick & Brush

Rich Perry plays D’Addario reeds

Alex Goodman plays Collings Guitars

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Milton Man Gogh - The Great Reset (November 12, 2021 Art As Catharsis)

Art As Catharsis is proud to announce Milton Man Gogh's return in 2021 with their latest offering: 'The Great Reset'; a musical and graphic novella that takes MMG's brand of frenzied prog-jazz, slips a pink Mitsubishi or three into its pocket and turns on a strobe light.

Intended as a loose sequel to their sophomore release 'XXXX Bitter Irony', 'The Great Reset' continues the meta-narrative of their protagonist; coming to terms with his brutal murdering of a second-rate Australian jazz trio, the feelings of regret and grief and the desire to reset the game and play again. Illustrated by MMG resident artist Chloe McAlister, 'The Great Reset' takes Milton's extreme psychological imbalance and cuts it into easy to digest pieces!

Musically speaking, Milton Man Gogh find the delicate balance between the calm and the storm. Embracing their growth as songwriters on this release, the band continue to turn past extremes into normality, ranging from calm and languid to an overwhelmingly energetic barrage of texture and sound.

The release of ‘The Great Reset’ comes after a busy period for the band, receiving continual critical praise for their previous work which earned them a position as a finalist in the Queensland Music Awards, alongside an attempted European tour and a position in the finals of the 2020 Belgium International Jazz Competition.

“We figured that if we have trouble classifying what we do as a group, we’re probably over-thinking it quite a bit” the band explains.

“After a while, it became somewhat second-nature to always try to be uncompromising in our collective individuality; musically and conceptually. We are still, as always, taking risks and trying not to suck” 

With big plans in the new year, cut off your ear and keep the other one listening for Milton Man Gogh.

1. 3 Action Formula

2. Youth Is Wasted On The Young

3. See You Round The Traps

4. The Great Reset (Part 1)

5. The Great Reset (Part 2)

Milton Man Gogh is:

Andrew Saragossi - Tenor Saxophone/Clarinet, Composition (2)

Zac Sakrewski - Upright Bass/Electric Bass, Effects, Composition (4, 5,)

Benjamin Shannon - Drums, Composition (1, 3)

The Great Reset Was:

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Cody McWaters at Hunting Ground Studios, Moorooka, Brisbane, November 2020

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The Filthy Six - Soho Filth (November 12, 2021 Color Red)

1. Mr Shmingle Bangle (feat. Snowboy)

2. Swapsies

3. In Time

4. The Swagger Junkie

Nick Etwell - Trumpet

Mark Brown - Tenor Saxophone

Andrew Noble - Electric Organ

Daniel Drury - Bass

Simon Lea - Drums

Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove - Congas

Produced by Nick Etwell, Tristan Longworth

Tracking Engineer - Tristan Longworth, Jonny Solway

Dean St Studios

Mixing Engineer - Tristan Longworth

Dean St Studios

Mastering Engineer - Doug Krebs

Doug Krebs Mastering

Artwork - Christopher Ball

Christopher Ball Design

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Nishla Smith - Friends With Monsters (November 12, 2021 Whirlwind Recordings)

Singer Nishla Smith creates vivid, enigmatic stories through sound, her voice stretching from melancholic sweetness through to dark intimacy. Her debut album 'Friends with Monsters' confirms Smith as a major new vocal talent in the UK, and sees the vocalist’s affinity for inventive narratives extended over the span of a full album. The Australian performer travelled via Berlin to eventually settle in Manchester, and is joined here by some of the city’s most talented improvisers. Richard Jones and Johnny Hunter cover piano and drums respectively, whilst bassist Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley and trumpeter Aaron Wood add graceful touches to complete the quintet’s intimate feel. Smith’s depictions of night-time have an enigmatic quality, inviting listeners on an atmospheric journey but all the while pointing to something greater.

A City Music Foundation artist, she has received commissions from Manchester Collective and Opera North, as well as Manchester Jazz Festival and Jazz North. As co-creator of theatre company Ulita, she also creates collaborative pieces that blend theatre, music and visual arts. Friends with Monsters continues that theatrical drive – “I'm a very natural storyteller, I just love to tell stories. I find myself weaving everyday events into tales that are very narratively pleasing.”

Set over the course of a single evening, 'Friends with Monsters' explores changing states of insomnia, informed by Smith’s own sleepless nights. It’s realised in four distinct sections; each is introduced by a scene-setting interlude. Smith shares one of those duets – ‘Twilight’ – with Jones to begin the night, an opener that floats tranquilly towards the title track. “‘Friends with Monsters’ is the central metaphor of the album,” says Smith. “It's about my inability to sleep, but it’s also about those things that haunt you, and yet have become part of you. You can’t imagine who you'd be without them.” In these gaps, Smith adds considerable emotional candour, as night-time slowly becomes a place where the most complex of emotions can roam free.

‘Julian’ grapples with affirming the future in the midst of loss, opening with Wood at his most harrowed. The clock ticks to ‘Midnight’ with Cavanagh-Brierley’s nocturne, a lullaby that could be of Birdland. ‘Home’ and ‘Starlight’ give chance for reflection – the first “a feeling of peace with the person you belong with”; the second tries to recapture the vibrant memories of childhood, knowing they’re ultimately rose-tinted. ‘It Might As Well Be Spring’ showcases Smith’s interpretive skill, offering a dreamy, up-tempo take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic inspired by memories of her grandmother. As daybreak beckons, the album continues its positive turn through the chilled out bossa ‘I Want To Make You Happy’, before reaching sunrise with ‘Dawn’. The night-walk concludes with the quietly inspiring ‘Up’, written whilst on holiday and embodying “the child-like feeling of being happy and free.” Smith wants first-time listeners to find the album’s subtle emotional range: “I want them to feel things with me.”  Delving deeper into the dreamy world of Smith’s storyland rewards greatly.

1. Twilight

2. Friends with Monsters

3. Julian

4. Midnight

5. Home

6. Starlight

7. 3 AM

8. It Might As wll Be Spring

9. I Want You To Be Happy

10. Dawn

11. Up

Nishla Smith - voice

Aaron Wood - trumpet & flugelhorn

Richard Jones - piano

Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley - bass

Johnny Hunter - drums & percussion

ecorded at Giant Wafer Studios, Wales

Recorded & mixed by Alex Killpartrick

Mastered by Tyler McDiarmid

Produced by Chris Hyson & Nishla Smith

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

Photography - Robin Clewley

‘Julian’ artwork by Luca Shaw

Graphic Design - Becky McGillivray & Dave Bush

All songs by Nishla Smith except

‘It Might As Well Be Spring’ - Rodgers & Hammerstein

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Liv - Hage (November 12, 2021 Losen Records)

LIV’s second album HAGE is produced from a place of abundance and expansion, again combining the best of central European and the High North musical flairs and colors. As in Kemedu – LIV’s first album (LOS 141-2 Losen Records 2015), also HAGE refuses to be labeled in any particular style or tradition, but insists – in each song on its own right to define and unfold its own innate logic and sense. Even so; traces of jazz, pop, ethno, punk, soul and not at least yoik, (delivered in the most delicate and wonderful way through the internationally acclaimed and renowned Sami artist Mari Boine’s backing vocal on several tracks), are all present. Layered and fused together to a rich sound-template by the experienced producer Andreas Mjøs (known from a.o. Jaga Jazzizt), we hope the music also keeps moving its listeners into surprising landscapes as it has done with us. 

LIV is a French-Norwegian musical collaboration that started in 2013 when Thierry Girault (FR) and his family exchanged a busy and crowded European life for a year in Tromsø (NO) with fishing, walks in the mountains – and eventually musical exchange with the locals, Øystein Blix and Liv Hanne Haugen. A little later Alain Kawczak (FR) joined and together they formed the band LIV, which forms a perfect container for them to eat, drink, laugh, create, talk, travel and channel it all into songs and concerts for a broad audience on intimate as well as larger stages. They have in total played more than 30 concerts in Norway, France, Italy and in Switzerland. And it doesn’t stop here, we are all just at the beginning.

1 Little Fly

2 Hage

3 Æ tælle

4 Reindeer

5 Stjernestøv

6 Shaman Punk

7 Spheres of Light

Liv Hanne Haugen vocal

Mari Boine – vocal & sámi drum on tracks 1, 2 & 3

Øystein Blix trombone, vocal

Thierry Girault piano, synth, vocal, lead vocal on track 4

Alain Kawczk guitar

PREORDER