Federico Isasti is a drummer, composer, improviser, and audiovisual software developer based in Buenos Aires. Having participated as a drummer and co-leader in more than 15 albums of creative music groups (Alan Plachta, Pía Hernández, Elias Stemeseder, Julián Mekler, NUDO, among others) and is internationally recognized by his musical work (Sales de Baño - Frist Price for Unreleased Jazz Music 2019 (Primer Premio a Música Inédita Jazz 2019) FNA, The Best Experimental Music on Bandcamp: May 2019), Federico doesn’t remain in just one isolated discipline. In the field of movement and audiovisual arts he composed electronic music for a dance piece (Simetrías, winner of PIME grant, UNSAM, premiered in Barcelona, 2019), created audiovisual performances (El Retorno de una Hormiga, audio looping and live video processing, 2019), art installations (IRS - Imagen por Resonancia Sonora, to be premiered in April 2022) and works as a web programmer/interactive platforms developer (El Próximo Paso - WebDoc, 2021). After being awarded the Beca a la Creación grant in 2019 to compose an album for piano trio and digital media, Federico developed a group of electronic devices that interact with the musicians in real-time (Max/MSP). He currently leads La Disidencias de las Máquinas, NUDO (duet with Mariano Sarra on piano) and Bruxante (drums & electronics solo set).
Federico Isasti
Imago is the first album for piano trio composed by its leader and for this specific group. Federico’s idea was to create a new band playing his compositions with musicians he admired and with whom he hadn’t worked in the past. Shortly after, in November 2018 La Disidencia de las Máquinas began playing different music venues in Buenos Aires until December 2019, when the studio album was recorded.
La Disidencia de las Máquinas is a research project on the piano trio setup taking the jazz tradition as a foundation and merging that language with the gestures, timbers, and specific techniques from contemporary music. The title of the album, Imago, refers to the homonymous term in zoology that designates the mature stage of the metamorphosis of an insect. On the other hand, in the psychology field (with variations in each author), imago designates an unconscious idealized, fixed, and univocal image. Therefore, the band has a starting point of attaining musical maturity with members that are aware of the unconscious dimension of both the human mind and the artistic experience, both it’s limitations (idealizations) and its virtues (imagination).
The album (Imago) consists of eight pieces never recorded before: three of them were arranged for the trio and the remaining five were specifically composed for this group. The inspiration that brought these pieces together comes from very diverse sources: an artistic residence in Italy (Tren a Formia), the psychoanalytic experience (Psicoanálisis), the state of infatuation (Julieta), the plastic arts (Colorritmo, a Alejandro Otero), and the discovery of new musicians (For Petter). Although the formal structure of the pieces is simple, the sections depict a subtle and complex work on orchestration, treatment of the rhythmic field, and timber. On the other hand, improvisation takes a central role as these pieces are written for improvisers and the album reaches a balance point between written and improvised material, leaving the right amount of freedom for the musicians to bring their own creative and musical skills into the music.
1. Cierre de oficio 06:30
2. Una día volvimos 07:12
3. Julieta 05:53
4. Tren a formia 06:02
5. Colorritmo (a Alejandro Otero) 04:37
6. Psicoanálisis 04:16
7. For Petter 05:48
8. Feliz con Caries 04:47
Ernesto Jodos - piano
Juan Bayon - bass
Federico Isasti - drums/compositions
