This album features original compositions by jazz guitarist Duane Allen. The group features Josh Nelson on piano and keyboards, Karl McComas-Reichl on bass, and Dan Schnelle on drums.
Enzo Favata / Pasquale Mirra / Rosa Brunello / Marco Frattini
A new album recorded after several shows in the summer of 2020. Enzo Favata The Crossing is a quartet with a progressive and contemporary attitude, mixing complex layers and themes, a travel in space and time, jazz, urban atmospheres, African and Mediterranean roots, electronica, krautrock and many other different styles. Enzo Favata, a maverick musican, producer, one of the most respected artists in the Italian jazz scene, has joined forces with Pasquale Mirra (vibraphone and midi marimba), Marco Frattini (drums) and Rosa Brunello (electric bass and double bass).
There is a special care and research in sound and production a balance between jazz interplay and dynamics, live recordings and studio sessions. “The Crossing is the band I was looking for since a long time” tells Enzo Favata “And I needed jazz players that had a new feeling and approach to compositions. Concert after concert the quartet reached a new dimension and tightness, a real band in all its aspects and the main goal was to transfer this energy into an album. I achieved this through a mix of live recordings and additional production, overdubs of keyboards and analogue synths of the 70s and other guests that provided an orchestral feeling, like the strings from Salvatore Maiore and Maria Vicentini, the cinematic vocals of Ilaria Pilar Patassini, Marcello Peghin's electric guitar and the Chinese master of guzheng, Zhan Qian.
In the studio session in February 2021 we recorded two tracks, “For Turiya” written by Charlie Haden for Alice Coltrane and a new electronic hi-energy song, “Black Lives Matter” with sampled vocals from Malcolm X, Fela Kuti and Steve Biko, a strong stand against racism, a long time problem still actual, and dedicated to the struggle of black people. The album opens with “Roots” by Ian Carr's Nucleus, legend of British jazz rock and Canterburysound, that leads to an original composition, “Turn”, featuring soprano sax, electronic instruments, vintage keyboards and organ, theremin and synths. “Salt Way” is an exploration of “fourth world music” as theorized by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno, without losing the key elements of jazz.
“Oasis” is the final track, where in 12 minutes there is a summary of many elements of the album, the love for African music through the Ethiopian scales played with bass clarinet. The recording was mixed and mastered by senior sound engineer Alberto Erre, with his deep knowledge of analogue gear, filters and compressors and the result is a warm wall of sound that can hardly be obtained with contemporary digital plug ins.
1. Roots 09:19
2. All Names 09:33
3. Turn 08:32
4. Salt Way 11:49
5. For Turiya 05:45
6. Black Lives Matter 03:08
7. Oasis 12:14
Enzo Favata soprano sax, indian flute , live electronics , synth
Pasquale Mirra vibraphone, marimba midi, live electronics , samplers
Rosa Brunello electric bass, live e electronics
Marco Frattini drums , samples
Turn, Oasis and Salt Way were recorded live in the Summer of 2020 by Attilio Lombardo
Roots was recorded live in the Summer of 2020 by Giacomo Jakkeddu Sanna
Black Lives Matter – For Turiya
Recorded in a session in February 2021 at Carrabbuffas Studio
Sound engineer Alberto Erre
All additional instruments and keyboards recorded in February 2021
Mixing
February 2021
RockHouse Studio
Sound Engineer Alberto Erre on a Trident 1990 desk
This work on the compositional process informs the creator's musical universe. Over the years she has worked continuously to consolidate her own uninhibited voice, which in turn has considerably enriched the current musical panorama.
The album strikes a balance between improvisation and composition; featuring the musical voices of Albert Cirera, Iván Gonzalez, and Joan Moll who contribute their own personal traits to the whole; resulting in a unified abstract vision that is captivating for the listener.
Clara Lai's music becomes a mirror in which one recognizes one's own emotions, and where contemporary forms reveal new unsuspected horizons..
1. Introducción A 02:30
2. Introducción B 01:54
3. Nueva 11:43
4. Creciente 10:24
5. Llena 04:39
6. Menguante 02:19
7. Epílogo 10:17
Clara Lai - Piano & Composition
Albert Cirera - Tenor Sax
Iván González - Trumpet
Joan Moll - Drums
All music composeed by Clara Lai
Tracks 1,2,6 Composed by Clara Lai & Albert Cirera
Recorded live at Teatre de l'Aurora, Igualada, by Adrià Serrano & Sergi Felipe on 21 june 2021
“Nostalgia” is the name of drummer Maximilian Hering’s debut album with his “Maximilian Hering Group”, featuring the Barcelona based Félix Rossy, Edu Cabello and David Muñoz. The extraordinary line up -two horns, bass and drums- proved to be a format in which all four players would have the freedom of unfolding their personality and creating a vivid musical interplay between each other. The album contains seven original pieces, all composed by the bandleader. “Nostalgia”, also referring to the title track, is related to a melancholic flashback to the period when Maximilian was a resident in Catalonia. On two songs Andalusian flautist Fernando Brox joins the quartet and enlarges the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the band’s instrumentation.
1. Too Bad for You 06:25
2. P.F.E.M. 05:20
3. Frust 04:00
4. Elegy (On Being Left Behind) 05:12
5. Una per al Verdi cent set 06:05
6. Nostalgia 07:05
7. Like 4 Likes 05:47
Félix Rossy - Trumpet
Edu Cabello - Alto saxophone
David Muñoz - Double bass
Fernando Brox (track 5 & 6) - Flute
Maximilian Hering - Drums
All music composed by Maximilian Hering
Recorded at Sol de Sants Studios Barcelona on May 2nd and July 19th 2021
Recording engineer: Alberto Pérez
Assistants: Matteo Olivero, Paula Ruiz, Manuel Sánchez Ortiz
Mixed by Bernhard Hering at Klangraum Mainz
Stem mastering: Tom Krüger at ¿ no sé ? Studio Stuttgart
Good Time Music began when a promoter from Portugal asked Bernstein if Butler and the Hot 9 would like to play there. Butler couldn't make the show but Bernstein suggested this great singer he'd worked with at the Barn, Catherine Russell, who had cut the Harry Nilsson tune "Poli High" with Sexmob back in 2009. Bernstein built a book of arrangements around her, they played the show and it was a hit. The Community sessions with Russell were originally intended as a calling card for getting more shows, but after hearing Andy Taub's mixes, it was obvious that Good Time Music was a bona fide album.
The title comes from Lou Reed, who had just seen Levon Helm's triumphant 2007 show at New York's Beacon Theatre. Bernstein was in the band and recalls that "the audience went crazy." But Reed's summation was a bit more laconic. "Oh, you know," he told his friend Hal Willner, "it was good time music.”
"When Hal told me that story, I thought it was a put-down," says Bernstein. "But later I learned that Lou loved good time music — the kind where you just tap your foot and nod your head with a smile on your face — because he knew how important that is in the world. And with Levon, I learned how beautiful it was to play that kind of music. I always thought it would be great to make a record of good time music. So here it is.”
And once again, there's that sense of music as healing. "Absolutely," Bernstein agrees. "It's _always_ healing to play good time music — even if you haven't experienced loss. Playing good time music feels good: the band feels good, the audience feels good, everything feels good." Of course, Bernstein and the MTO had no way of knowing how much the world would soon need music such as this.
All these tunes were Bernstein arrangements that got played once or even not at all. And most of them happen to be written by residents of New Orleans: Percy Mayfield ("River's Invitation"), Earl King ("Come On"), Allen Toussaint ("Yes We Can") and Professor Longhair ("Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand"). New Orleans music runs deep in Bernstein's bones: he's worked extensively not just with Henry Butler but with Allen Toussaint and Dr. John; he was originally taught trumpet in the style of Louis Armstrong, and, like Satchmo, he funnels his charisma and genial sense of humor into a compelling stage presence.
Louis Armstrong is just one connection to Cat Russell: her father Luis Russell was Louis Armstrong's musical director in the '30s and early '40s; he also played with another New Orleans jazz originator, King Oliver. (Russell's mother Carline Ray, a Juilliard grad, played with the famed International Sweethearts of Rhythm.) In their roles as "go to musicians" Cat and Bernstein have also collaborated on recordings with Levon Helm and Little Feat.
Russell sang backup with Steely Dan and David Bowie for years, as well as other blue chip artists such as Paul Simon, Madonna and Al Green. Later in her career, she became an acclaimed solo artist, with seven albums and two Grammy nominations to her credit. "She's just the best," Bernstein marvels. "She's got a perfect mixture of science [technique] and intuition. She's an excellent musician: listen to her rhythm, every note she sings, it's perfect. There is no one else like her."
