Pol Omedes - ¡Pura Vida! (December 2021 The Changes Music)

Solid ‘Tradition’ with splashes of freshness, fun, and fire are what you’ll hear from the compositions and playing of trumpeter Pol Omedes on his wonderful new recording ¡Pura Vida!

The mostly original composition set and two classic Jazz Standards showcase his writing, arranging skills, and the bands finesse and solid communication. Omedes is also a vocalist on the opening track with another vocal feature from Helena Camps bringing even more variety to this recording!

Listen, listen, and listen some more as for sure you’ll enjoy this uplifting, groovin’, and deep music.

Dena DeRose

1. ¡Pura Vida! 05:03

2. My First Time in New York 05:13

3. Desconfination 04:03

4. Abrazos 05:37

5. Feu-me Cas! (Dedicada al Gran Doctor Rai Camps) 03:54

6. Stablemates 06:53

7. After George Floyd 04:30

8. Impro 4A (Hasta Siempre) 04:00

9. Naima 05:11

10. High Fly 05:00

Pol Omedes - trumpet, vocals

Pau Vidal - flute, tenor sax

Xavi Torres - piano

Giuseppe Campisi - bass

Xoan Sánchez - percussion

Joan Casares - drums

Special Guests:

Lluc Casares - tenor sax on ¡Pura Vida!

Helena Camps - vocals on Abrazos

Recorded at Vertigo Studios (Barcelona) on 7 and 8 September 2021

Mixed by Big Daddy Pein

Mastered by Aniol Bestit

Photo and artwork by Francesc Marty

PRE ORDER

Lluc Casares - Septet (November 2, 2021 The Changes Music)

The Changes presents the 3rd album as a leader of Lluc Casares, "Septet" (TC014). Septet narrates the return of Lluc to his hometown after 2 years living in New York and represents the enthusiasm and joy of playing again with his lifelong friends who at the same time are some of the best musicians of the Barcelona scene. Echoes of Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock or Wynton Marsalis resonate on this album where the vast majority of the pieces are original compositions plus a couple of arrangements of songs by Cedar Walton and Frank Strozier.

1. Foam 05:43

2. Jep's Job 08:40

3. A Walk 09:22

4. How Far is Washington Heights 04:37

5. Nova Iberia (intro) 01:25

6. Nova Iberia 06:55

7. Plantukis 06:44

8. Plantukis (outro) 01:36

9. I'll Let You Know 05:03

10. A Starling's Theme 06:02

Pol Omedes: Trumpet

Irene Reig: Alto Sax

Alba Pujals: Trombone (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Rita Payés: Trombone (tracks 1, 7, 9)

Xavi Torres: Piano, Rhodes, Hammond Organ

Pau Sala: Bass

Joan Casares: Drums

Lluc Casares: Tenor Sax and Clarinet

All tracks by Lluc Casares except #9 by Cedar Walton and #10 by Frank Strozier.

Recorded at: Vertigo Studios (July 2021)

Recording engineer: Ferran Donatelli

Mixing engineer: Enric Peinado aka "Big Daddy Pein"

Mastering engineer: Dave Darlington

Graphic design: Joan Casares

PREORDER

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

Pre-order

Oriol Vallès 4tet - Recer (2021 The Changes Music)

Before the vaccine, physical distance was the basic measure against the pandemic. The lockdown in March 2020 meant a dramatic change for both individual and collective lives. At first sight, some advantages could be observed after this new situation; in our case, digressing from social events and more time to compose. Quickly, this apparent opportunity changed to a widespread yearning to produce through social media, telework became fundamental and boundaries between retreat and work became blurred. 

1. Pur Entreteniment (Oriol Vallès)

2. Recer (Oriol Vallès)

3. Quarantena Song n.28 (Xavi Torres)

4. Ribs (Oriol Vallès)

5. Quarantena Song n.27 (Xavi Torres)

6. Represa (Oriol Vallès)

Oriol Vallès – trumpet

Xavi Torres – Rhodes

Giuseppe Campisi – bass

Andreu Pitarch – drums

Recorded at Magneti Studio, 27-7-2020

Recorded by Marc Ribera

Mixed by Quim “Kato” Puigtió

Cover by Joel Codina

Produced by Oriol Vallès

Pre-order

Xavi Torres Trio - Unknown Past (BERTHOLD RECORDS 2017)

Unknown Past, the new intriguing CD by the Xavi Torres Trio is released by BERTHOLD records in June 2017. The line up is: Xavi Torres on piano, Joan Terol on drums and Vic Moliner on bass. All Catalonians, Xavi and Joan are now based in Amsterdam. Vic still lives in Barcelona.

Xavi Torres, the driving force behind the trio, composed all the music. It is dynamic and adventurous, with strong attention to detail and played with virtuoso precision and verve. “My composing changes a lot depending on the situation,” explains Xavi. “I wrote Hope at a specific moment in my life, it just kind of appeared by itself, out of nowhere. The feeling of hope gives you energy. I was writing during a stormy moment of my life. This track has an intimate vibe.”

Unknown, by contrast, as with most of the tracks on the CD, is more driving and experimental. Xavi says, “I was trying to bring us to where we had never been before. With the whole album I tried to move on, to write and approach the music in a way that was not what we were used to, not natural, bringing us into the unknown. I was forcing myself and the band into an uncomfortable place, musically speaking, so that something new and exciting would appear.”

This “uncomfortable musical place” makes for great listening and is forward looking. Xavi though is fascinated by history. “Unknown Past is a dual concept that inspires me a lot,” he says. “It’s what happened in the past that we don’t know, that’s been lost. The other meaning is more dreamy. The known past, but what would have been if something had been different.” Xavi’s career path indeed could have been taken another turn. He was an outstanding tennis player as well as a brilliant young pianist. He felt he had to make a choice. He chose music.

“I was kind of obliged to get into music,” he recalls. “I don’t come from a musical family but they are very culturally oriented. My older sister played the piano, so I said, I can also play the piano and eventually I loved it. I started playing classical music, and when I was ten or eleven, blues. Then I was attracted to jazz.” Influenced by amongst others, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and John Lee Hooker, Xavi explored jazz together with the trio’s drummer Joan Terol. They knew each other as teenagers. “Joan comes from my home town,” explains Xavi. “I learnt with him the rhythmic approach to jazz, the swing, the language.”

01. Benko 2:02

02. The Unknown 5:27

03. Hesitació 5:18

04. Mèlt 5:34

05. Scipio 6:01

06. Our Freedom 3:54

07. Madiba 4:57

08. Hope 3:23

09. DT 3:45

10. Overcome 4:31

11. The Barco 5:13

12. Benko Ends 1:35

Xavi Torres Piano

Vic Moliner Double Bass

Joan Terol Drums