Robert Muller - Peregrination (2018)

I recorded this in April of 2014 in the recording studio at Santa Fe University of Art and Design with then-student Willa Snow as the engineer. 

I didn't have anything too specific in mind, just to track a few loosely planned sketches. The arrangements are spontaneous, a combination of modern jazz and pop and classical and whatever else happened to be bouncing around this brainhole of mine. It's got some of the introspective vibe of the rainy Pacific Northwest where I grew up, some of the intensity of my time in New York City, and maybe some of the space and solitude of my current life in New Mexico. 

It was probably kind of a funny way to work; very little planning and one or two takes per track. It was an interesting challenge, and it inevitably comes with some inevitable imperfect moments. It also allows things to happen that would never happen in a carefully notated, extensively rehearsed kind of session. 

There's a certain kind of intensity or feeling that I hope to come across when I'm listening or playing music, and this little project documents the process of me trying to find "that thing" in a couple different ways. It's not perfect, but it's human and it's honest.

1. Papa Dog 07:36

2. The Black Sun Riseth 04:54

3. Count Shebula 04:56

4. Nixie 08:28

5. The Fifth Thing 09:09

6. Ool Blues 06:00

7. Stacks 09:29

8. Vilhelm's Revenge 08:05

Robert Muller, piano and composition 

Willa Snow, engineer

Giacomo Zanus Trio - Searching for the North (2018)

This Italian project was born in 2016 and it features Giacomo Zanus on guitar and compositions, the international doublebass player Mattia Magatelli (European Jazz Motion, Kaja Draksler, DUMItRIO, Sri Hanuraga, Filippo Vignato Quartet, Vitale/Magatelli/Windfeld Trio,ecc..) and the venetian drummer Max Trabucco (Oirquartett, Trabucco Bros, Max Trabucco 4th).

The result is a music inspired by contemporary jazz languages, which combines a lyrical writing approach founded on open spaces and more rhythmical ideas with a tension towards free improvisations too, maintaining dialogue and reciprocate interplay that converges in a well balanced musical conception.

The Trio is led towards a narrative dimension made of silences and densities, simple melodies from where create a compelling highly interactive sound space.

1. Prelude to the nature 01:33

2. Travenanzes 07:05

3. Searching for the North - Departure 07:03

4. To the Universe 05:30

5. One Way (feat. D.Boato) 09:13

6. Tre Cime (feat. D.Boato) 10:53

7. Scent of spring 05:37

8. In front of mountains 06:59

9. A glimpse from the top (feat. D.Boato) 06:36

10. This love 04:32

11. Searching for the North - Arrival (feat. D.Boato) 04:31

Giacomo Zanus: electric and classical guitar, effects, loops

Mattia Magatelli: doublebass

Max Trabucco: drums, percussions

Special Guest:

David Boato: trumpet, flugelhorn

All compositions by Giacomo Zanus except n°4 by Mattia Magatelli and n°9, a collective free improvisation.

Recorded at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavallico (UD), Italy

Sound Engineer: Stefano Amerio

Mixed and Mastered by Stefano Amerio

Produced by Giacomo Zanus

Baydog - Dry Land (2018)

With the arrival of the third album, this time a few friends were invited to take a guest part in the project Baydog by Bart Bajda. 

Jacek Niziol - bass (Pitz, Straszydle, Flat Battery Sound Collective) musician associated with Polish avant-garde jazz scene, Danish-born jazz singer, composer, producer Astrid Engberg (Hugo Kant, Mattic, Berry Weight) and Kamil Klama - Polish guitarist and producer (Wolnosc Ptakow Drazni Drzewa). 

Dry Land is an album born from a fascination/love of perpetual sound structures coming from acoustic instruments as well as digital music devices resulting in a laid back yet disturbed body of a cinematic soulful blend.

1. Particles (ft Astrid Engberg) 03:12

2. Grit In My Eyes 02:41

3. Rise Up (ft Astrid Engberg) 04:16

4. Perhaps 03:33

5. Cluff Court 03:07

6. Noise Above My Head (ft Astrid Engberg) 03:17

7. Slow Traffic 03:16

8. Stay Dreaming 02:54

Astrid Engberg : astridengberg.bandcamp.com

Jacek Niziol : pitz1.bandcamp.com

Kamil Klama : wolnoscptakowdraznidrzewa.bandcamp.com

Mastered Minoo Krakow 2017

William Flynn and Tim Fischer - Cross Country (2018)

  

Cross Country (2018, Artists Recording Collective) 

represents another facet of the musical partnership 

between guitarists William Flynn and Tim Fischer, a 

partnership that has spanned over four years and 

multiple states. The shared aesthetics and priorities that 

have guided their previous teaching, writing, presenting, 

and playing are present on Cross Country’s eight tracks. 

Never living in the same state, Flynn and Fischer have 

maintained their collaborations through regular phone 

meetings and annual in-person collaborations. The 

album receives its title from these meetings. Cross 

Country’s music is the result of a 1,300+ miles trip in 2017 

between Kansas and South Carolina. Both are jazz guitar 

educators at colleges (Flynn at Wichita State University, 

Fischer at Coastal Carolina University) and have cowritten 

a book on the subject of guitar duets (Jazz Guitar 

Duets, Mel Bay 2016). 

Cross Country eschews the traditional jazz rhythm section 

of bass and drums in favor of the more intimate and 

interactive guitar duet format, a rich tradition that dates 

back to the beginnings of jazz guitar. Flynn and Fischer 

have taken a conversational approach to performing this 

material, while still presenting plenty of opportunities for 

their guitar pyrotechnics. The album consists exclusively 

of original compositions, equally representing the 

writing of each performer. The album’s compositions 

reference bebop, samba, modern jazz, vand even 

classical counterpoint, helping to frame the performer’s 

improvisations in a variety of settings. Fans of jazz guitar 

and composition are sure to enjoy William Flynn and Tim 

Fischer’s Cross Country. 

1. Dawn 05:42

2. Wildacres 06:32

3. Rose Creek 05:43

4. Prince's Waltz 05:42

5. Stargazing 06:27

6. Winter Ballad 06:16

7. Anacapa 05:16

8. Homecoming (for Colleen) 05:32

William Flynn - guitar (left channel)

Tim Fischer - guitar (left channel)

Engineering - Tim Fischer

Mixing/Mastering - Cynthea Kelley

Compositions by:

Tim Fischer - tracks 1, 4, 6 & 7

William Flynn - tracks 2, 3, 5 & 8

Recorded July 17, 2017 - Wheelwright Recording Studio at Coastal Carolina University

Peripheral Vision - More Songs About Error and Shame (2018)

JUNO-nominated Canadian jazz quartet, Peripheral Vision launches their fourth album, More Songs About Error And Shame. "A rules-breaking quartet made up of some of the best modern players around" (CBC), Peripheral Vision extends their no-holds-barred performance aesthetic into the production concept on this album. Once again, they have teamed up with mad-scientist engineer, Jean Martin (Barnyard Records) to orchestrate a bigger sound for the record, adding layers of overdubs and studio treatments to the live-off-the-floor recordings. Peripheral Vision has always been a live show band, and the seven new Herring and Scott originals on More Songs About Error And Shame show what can be gained from years of touring, including three recent tours throughout Europe as well as many trips across Canada.

Co-leaders Michael Herring (bass) and Don Scott (guitar) delve into their own neurotic psyches, finding inspiration not only in music, but also in art, literature and standup comedy. The album title is a reference to the iconic album by famously neurotic band, Talking Heads, and this cross genre nod is indicative of how they like to mix genres and themes, blending classic and modern jazz, the rock music of their youth, and non-musical influences such as the Catalonian artist Miró, and British comedian Stewart Lee. 

This is a working band with a long-time rapport - Herring and Scott have been joined by drummer Nick Fraser and tenor saxophonist Trevor Hogg since the band’s inception in 2008. Peripheral Vision is fuelled by this long-time musical friendship, bringing years of tour van talks about music and life to the stage and studio, and this dynamic group interaction creates the provocative sound of More Songs About Error And Shame.

1. The Blunder 08:02

2. Syntax Error 07:40

3. "And the metaphysical concept of shame." 07:46

4. Portrait of a Man in a Late Nineteenth-Century Frame 05:57

5. Chubby Cello 06:19

6. Mycelium Running 07:25

7. Click Bait 09:31

The recording was made possible through a grant from the Ontario Arts Council 

Produced by Michael Herring and Don Scott with Jean Martin 

Recorded at Canterbury Studios by Jeremy Darby 

Mixing & Additional Recording at the Farm by Jean Martin 

Mastered by Fedge 

Art & Design by Howie Shia & Leo Shia 

© 2018 Don Scott & Michael Herring (SOCAN)

Raphaël Imbert - Music Is My Hope (JAZZ VILLAGE PIAS 2018)

Music Is My Hope, le nouvel album de Raphaël Imbert chez Jazz Village, est un combat d’espérance. Après Music Is My Home en 2016, le saxophoniste et compositeur livre ici un témoignage intime tout autant qu’une flamboyante invitation au partage.

Entre actualité planétaire et vécu intime, c’est bien d’espoir dont il est question ici. À une époque où il semble tant manquer, il se dévoile partout dans ce disque : dans le prêche habité de Marion Rampal de Show Boat To Delphi, dans l’introspection poétique d’Aurore Imbert sur Lady On Earth, dans un chant populaire provençal radicalement revisité par la voix de Manu Barthélémy et bien sûr un peu partout dans les volutes de saxophone de Raphaël Imbert.

Music Is My Hope nous emmène à cet endroit où la musique est essentielle et brûlante, et réunit dans un même geste la protestation, la prière, l’activisme, l’amour, le sacré et le profane. Une musique qui ravive les flammes de nos espérances amoureuses, politiques, universelles ou personnelles. Une musique qui peut, par sa force salvatrice, nous remettre en mouvement et nous rassembler.

Au-delà du blues des origines, Raphaël Imbert invoque ici les appels du spiritual, les revendications de la soul et des protest songs, les introspections du folk et des chants populaires qui font œuvre commune et collective. En retrouvant ses sources, la musique réveille la fraternité, la contestation, l’affirmation, le désir et l’allégresse.

L’album s’ouvre sur la voix de Paul Robeson lisant le dernier monologue d’Othello de Shakespeare. Destin hors-norme animé par une conscience universelle et humaniste, Paul Robeson représente d’emblée notre quête d’espoir. Un fil conducteur de Music Is My Hope que l’on retrouve dans Peat Bog Soldiers chant antifasciste, dans Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel un spiritual de l’émancipation, dans le si profond Blue Prelude.

1 Peat Bog Soldiers 7:31

2 A Letter to the Muse 3:45

3 Blue Prelude 8:11

4 Lady on Earth 4:34

5 Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel 2:20

6 Turn! Turn! Turn! 6:18

7 Vaqui Lo Polit Mes De Mai 5:46

8 Eastern Queen 5:04

9 Here's a Song 5:07

10 The Circle Game 8:01

11 Show Boat to Delphi 6:11

12 Play Your Cards Right 2:55

13 Shenandoah 5:12

14 Christ Iag In Todesbanden (Bonus Track) 1:52

Raphaël Imbert : saxophones, clarinette basse

Pierre-François Blanchard : claviers

Thomas Weirich : guitares

Pierre Durand : guitares

Jean-Luc Difraya : batterie

Aurore Imbert : chant

Marion Rampal : chant

guests: 

Manu Barthelemy : chant

Big Ron Hunter : chant

Luca Lo Bianco - Ear Catcher (FITZCARRALDO RECORDS 2018)

The focus that animates the music of the band is the continuous expressive exploration in a creative synthesis with no aesthetic limitations, the result of a natural superposition of musical languages. The repertoire is mainly based on original compositions written by the leader, but there is also space for the music of Suzanne Vega (Language) or Massive Attack (Tear Drop), in a daring alchemy of sound enlivened by contrasts of timbre and articulated arrangements focused on choral execution.

Migrants abandon a place which has become inhospitable, nomads invent the lands in which they move and learn new languages, superimposing them with memories of a land that they have never had. The nomad, for what he has seen or heard, could go back home with red eyes or perforated ear drums. He could forget. He could even escape. Or else, he could look at all the spaces and extensions and transform them into intentions. Nomad music is like this: it transforms landscapes into escape routes, into new tangled streets, into a weapon. Great geographical adventures are escape routes, from which new forms of music are born. With long trips, Luca Lo Bianco travelled unpredictable paths, he transformed the intensity of the world into his own way of speaking.

Far from definitions, this music has spoken thousands of languages, it has been contaminated, it has lain traps for the open spaces of the city it portrays, in which deserts and urban steppe grow, in which the sound takes on the colour of the streets. He invented nomadism as an answer. Like the necessity to lose control of your own language to put something with an unpredictable life into the world, but in order to follow this route we need to know how to listen and capture the vibrations of the air with our ears.

1. Girl with a red bike 03:31

2. Tear drop 06:35

3. Overnight 04:46

4. They are still watching us 04:05

5. Oop 07:13

6. Language 04:00

7. Zulu dream 05:29

8. Bar code 07:38

9. Afternoon...a kind of 04:08

Francesco Guaiana - electric guitar

Gaspare Palazzolo - soprano, tenor sax, clarinet

Marco Di Fonte - cello

Luca Lo Bianco - acoustic & electric bass

Fabrizio Giambanco - drums

guest: 

Fabio Rizzo - lapsteel guitar

All compositions by Luca Lo Bianco except:

N.2 by Del Naja, Marshall, Volles, Fraser

N.6 by Susanne Vega

N.8 by F. Guaiana

N.9 by J. Giuffre/L. Lo Bianco

Recorded at Music Box Studio in Palermo, April 2008

Sound engineer Enzo Puccio

Mixed at Lab Music Recording Studio by Antonio Zarcone and Luca Lo Bianco

Published by Fitzcarraldo Records

Luca Lo Bianco - La Scomparsa di Majorana (FITZCARRALDO RECORDS 2018)

The story told in this CD was freely inspired by the book The mystery of Majorana by Leonardo Sciascia and it embraces the intriguing thesis advanced by the writer about the disappearance of the great physicist, Ettore Majorana. The story develops during a period of great scientific enthusiasm and it proved to be topical for its complexity. As a result Majorana goes down in history as a brave and brilliant man who probably decided to disappear, being face to face with the insight of the disastrous potential of nuclear research and laying down the details of his plan with extreme efficacy. Sciascia and Majorana both express a way of being Sicilian, two complex, sincere and extremely severe characters, the former for his painstaking research of another possible truth the latter for his rejection of a science he carried as a secret in his inner being.

Two men who accept the consequences of their actions with an exemplary strength imbued with an inescapable awareness, after choosing as a leading principle of their behaviour the rejection of an imposed reality. The driving idea for me to conceive this project, which has also become a performance, is one of putting into place a real synergy between music and text, making the sound an integral part of the narration. The music then is no longer in the background but it is the foundation for the whole story to take place. Therefore it provides not only the supporting layer which integrates the text in its descriptive and evocative function (inspiring sceneries, images, places) but it becomes also an instrument to convey the uniqueness of a story full of a spirituality I have decided to describe with the language of sounds.

1. Intro 00:10

2. Un'andatura quasi incerta 07:14

3. I ragazzi di Via Panisperna 02:22

4. Inganni e ritardi 05:09

5. Lipsia 10/1/1933 08:41

6. Thanatos 09:01

7. Senso comune 08:00

8. La disintegrzione di un atomo radioattivo 03:31

9. Per non piu' tre giorni 06:48

10. Alfonsina y el mar 04:38

LA SCOMPARSA DI MAJORANA'

Featuring:

Claudio Gioè, Rosario Tedesco (actors)

Ferenc Nemeth, Mimmo Cafiero, Massimo D'Aleo, Fabrizio Giambanco (drums)

Gianni Gebbia, Gaspare Palazzolo, Orazio Maugeri (sax)

Giorgia Meli (voice)

Francesco Guaiana (guitar)

Mauro Schiavone (piano)

Luca Lo Bianco (acoustic & electric bass, electronics)

All compositions by: Luca Lo Bianco, except N°10 by Ramirez/ Luna

Recorded on February 2005

Published by Silta Records

Piano Süd Trio - Hypothesis (FITZCARRALDO RECORDS 2018)

1. Gotcha (A. Messina) 06:54

2. Per non piu' di tre giorni (L. Lo Bianco) 07:47

3. Damn Blues (A. Messina) 04:56

4. Trick or treat (A. Messina) 04:48

5. La mia parte nopea (S. Borzacchiello) 05:13

6. Hypothesis (A. Messina) 05:13

7. Dancing in a dream (A. Messina) 07:34

8. Siciliana (A. Messina) 05:55

9. Blue in green (M. Davis) 05:10

All compositions arranged by Piano Süd Trio

Antonello Messina - piano

Luca Lo Bianco - acoustic bass

Silvano Borzacchiello - drums

Altomaria - Disco Infermo (FITZCARRALDO RECORDS 2018)

Altomaria is an historical sicilian-based band active since 2000 a.d. who reunites some of the best Jazz players from the three corners of Sicily island. Featuring the obliquous bassist Luca Lo Bianco and sax veteran Gianni Gebbia, from Palermo, master of rhytms Francesco Cusa from Catania and the trombone wizard Tony Cattano from Syracuse area. 

Serious fun. Steve colemanish plus minguslike and funkadelics grooves in a solid musical 'Cosa Nostra' band.

1. Malo Inno 08:22

2. S.C. 08:09

3. Bluemingus 05:01

4. Zero in geometria 05:05

5. Bowin' in the wind 02:47

6. You go! I go? 07:29

7. Taranzurka 03:16

8. Disco Infermo 03:57

G i a n n i  G e b b i a ✪ alto Saxophone

T o n y  C a t t a n o ✾ trombone

L u c a  L o B i a n c o ⚒︎ acoustic bass

F r a n c e s c o  C u s a ⚧ drums

All compositions by Altomaria except n.4 by G. Gebbia

Recorded live at Lab Music Studio - Palermo 2003

Sound engineer Antonio Zarcone

Produced by Luca Lo Bianco and Gianni Gebbia

Graphic design Luca Lo Bianco

Samples on N.4 and N.5 Giovanni Verga

Published by Fitzcarraldo Records in colabeling with Objet-a

Jacky Molard Quartet - Mycelium (INNACOR RECORDS 2018)

« Dans la Grande Boutique de Langonnet (Morbihan), leur Friche Articole, Jacky Molard (violon) et Hélène Labarrière (contrebasse) ainsi que leurs amis Janick Martin (accordéon) et Yannick Jory (saxophones alto et soprano) assaisonnent le jazz aux herbes de Bretagne sans oublier de le pimenter de quelques épices venues d’ailleurs, des rivages de l’Afrique aux portes de l’Orient.

Du fait maison aux saveurs incomparables avec un cœur gros comme ça... ». Ainsi débutait ma chronique du concert de ce quartet incomparable lors de l’Atlantique Jazz Festival de Brest en octobre 2017. On attendait alors la parution du disque que voici avec une belle bordée d’invités toujours prêts à embarquer : Christophe Marguet avec fûts et cymbales, François Corneloup et son baryton, Serge Teyssot-Gay pour mettre le feu avec sa guitare électrisée, Jean-Michel Veillon avec sa flûte d’autrefois et même l’incomparable conteur percupoétique qu’est Albert Marcœur. Du jazz issu de la diversité comme on le cuisine en Armorique chez d’irréductibles militants de la musique vivante, insolite, impertinente et donc, indispensable !

01. Bolom

02. Adjihina

03. Jabiru

04. Triangle

05. Mycelium

06. An Nouveau

07. Précautions d’usage

Jacky Molard : violon, guitare sur 4

Yannick Jory : saxophones alto et soprano

Jannick Martin : accordéon diatonique

Hélène Labarrière : contrebasse

+

François Corneloup : saxophone baryton (4, 6)

Christophe Marguet : batterie (3, 4)

Albert Marcœur : voix, percussions (4, 7)

Serge Teyssot-Gay : guitare électrique (2, 4)

Jean-Michel Veillon : flûte traversière en bois (1, 4)

INNACOR RECORDS

Gildas Scouarnec - Live at Radio France (FRESH SOUND RECORDS 2018) 2-CD

You can almost hear their restlessness: listen the two saxophonists enter the arena, Peter King on alto, Jean Toussaint on tenor. Playfully, they try to reach each other’s registry—the alto scraping for its lower notes while the tenor goes through the higher octaves. And in two of the tunes they have the young Sylvain Beuf join in for the games. At the piano? Alain Jean-Marie, immediately recognizable by his unrivaled touch and swing, by the elegance without flourishes that he has always represented. The many colors of Tony Rabeson on drums: revel in his solo on Minor Mood. And in some tunes George Brown replaces him with his bold, unpredictable swing, unrivaled in the history of Parisian jazz! And behind this beautiful scene Gildas Souarnec, composer and bassist. Not all the tunes are his —for example Shorter, composed by Peter King, who quotes Nefertiti with admiration and a hint of mischief—but you can hear the leader’s hand in most of them: his enthusiastic proposals, the interplay between the voices of the saxophones, the melodic charm of Valse pour Margot…

And through all of it, a beautiful bass, natural, fair and full bodied, unfiltered by amplification, delivering the sound of the fingers and the string—a real taste of the authentic without added colorings and preservatives, as fresh today as the day it was made!

CD 1

01. Mr. Silver

02. Modjo

03. Minor Mood

04. U.Turn

CD 2

01. Shorter

02. First Kick

03. 93/94

04. Valse pour Margot

05. Blues for Sylvain

All tracks composed by Gildas Scouarnec, except CD1 #1 by Peter King

Gildas Scouarnec (b)

Peter King (as)

Jean Toussaint (ts)

Alain Jean Marie (p)

Tony Rabeson (d)

On CD 1, tracks #1 & 4: Sylvain Beuf (ts), Georges Brown (d)

Recorded at La Maison de Radio France, Paris, June 11, 1996 (CD1 #1 & 4: Broadcast “Jazz Vivant,”) & February 11, 1994 (Broadcast “Transcontinentales”)

Produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol

Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered

Elliot Galvin - The Influencing Machine (EDITION RECORDS 2018)

Elliot Galvin 'The Influencing Machine'

OUT NOW

Listen Before You Buy

“Brilliantly executed bright ideas...the set is right in Elliot Galvin’s ballpark of brilliantly executed bright ideas and witty diversions.” THE GUARDIAN (UK)

“There is so much irrepressible enthusiasm, so much craft, madness, wit, humor and sense of curiosity in the game, that you are happy to watch these young Britons.” JAZZTHING MAGAZINE (DE)

“Packed to the gills with superb music.” JEZ NELSON, JAZZ FM (UK)

“Young British pianist/composer Elliot Galvin isn’t your ordinary maverick...he’s made a work of soaring ambition. Ten tracks… coalesce into an exhilarating riff on technology, the mind and our factually-challenged age… Visionary stuff.” EVENING STANDARD (UK)

“Could well prove a significant album this year…this trio has been attracting attention for some time and their new album should definitely consolidate that…the original music written by the leader puts all the jazz traditions through a very personal filter…” KEVIN LEGENDRE, BBC RADIO 3 (UK)

LP, CD, DN

Snowpoet - Thought You Knew (EDITION RECORDS 2018)

Snowpoet 'Thought You Knew'

OUT NOW

Listen Before You Buy

"A beautiful 10-piece collection full of warmth, depth, and contemplation.” GINA LOVES JAZZ (DE)

“Snowpoet knows how to leave a beautiful, poetic impression in a good half hour. If you make a little effort, you will have a wonderful growing-on-you disc here.” WRITTEN IN MUSIC (NL)

“Thought You Knew offers a delicately haunting collection of songs that seamlessly straddle the boundaries of folk, jazz and popular music and are all infused with, as the name suggests, a subtle poetic delivery.” ALL ABOUT JAZZ (UK)

“Fantastic second album!” BBC RADIO 3, JAZZ NOW (UK)

LP, CD, DN

Jozef Dumoulin & Orca Noise Unit - A Beginner's Guide to Diving and Flying (YOLK RECORDS 2018)

"Orca Noise Unit is based on an anagram of —oneironautics—, which refers to the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis. Those who have already kept a dream journal know what it feels like to go back and read over older parts. Some dream accounts have a lot of details, others evoke not much more than just a vibe. Some can be read like a full story, whereas others have no beginning, or no end, or neither. Sometimes we were genuinely lucid at the moment of the dream - or at least had a clear perception of things - whereas at other moments we were totally immersed in the projected reality.

But together the stories always make sense in a very particular way that is difficult to describe. When I was putting this record together I understood at some point that this was the perfect image for what I was trying to do. The feeling I got when listening to the whole of the final versions of the songs was very similar to the one I get when I’m dealing with my own dream world and my dream journal.

This was a new sensation for me. I let it be the guide for the final adjustments of the music and I’m very happy and excited to have been able to turn that atmosphere into a musical form.”

“This record is dedicated to the loving memory of my father, Jacques Dumoulin.”

1 As Above, So Below 5'15"

2 The Garden 3'42"

3 Imagined Rotation 1'40"

4 The Hand 3'18"

5 Second Room 2'27"

6 Little Lemon 4'36"

7 Mild 5'06"

8 Peering And Palpation 0'55"

9 Breathing Under Water 2'26"

10 The Bristlecone Pine 2'46"

11 The Other Side Of The Month 6'12"

12 Something About A Horse 0'26"

13 Little Flower Expanding 4'56"

14 Acknowledgements 1'38"

15 As Below, So Above 6’16"

Jozef Dumoulin - piano, percussion

Sylvaine Hélary - flutes

Antonin Tri Hoang - saxophone, clarinete, percussion

Bruno Chevillon - bass

Tom Gouband - percussions

YOLK RECORDS

EDITION 10 KINGS PLACE CONCERT SERIES

To celebrate our 10th anniversary this year, we're very happy to announce a 4 concert series at Kings Place, London featuring Eyolf Dale, Snowpoet, Dinosaur and Enemy.

Book Tickets

EYOLD DALE - 4th April

DINOSAUR - 3rd May

SNOWPOET - 10th May

ENEMY - 24th May

EDITION

New Music. New Thinking.

Jean-Christophe Cholet / Alban Darche / Mathias Rüegg & Grand Ensemble - Le Tombeau de Poulenc (YOLK RECORDS 2018)

A PROPOS DU DISQUE

« IL NE S'AGIT PAS DE PROLONGER LE TRAVAIL DE FRANCIS POULENC NI MÊME D'UTILISER SES CODES ET SES COULEURS, MAIS DE VÉRITABLEMENT INVENTER UNE ŒUVRE ORIGINALE QUI PUISE SON INSPIRATION DANS L'ÉCOUTE DE CELLE DE POULENC. »

Jean-Christophe Cholet et Alban Darche avaient depuis longtemps l’envie de s’associer pour un projet commun en grande formation. Le projet se concrétise en 2015, avec la création du programme Le Tombeau de Poulenc, regroupant des musiciens issus de leurs deux formations respectives : Diagonal/ JC Cholet et l’Orphicube/ Alban Darche.

Le contexte de ce nouveau projet est très proche de l'univers des derniers disques de Mathias Ruëgg : Third Dream, avec le Vienna Art Orchestra et Petites Visions (musique de chambre). C’est donc avec grand plaisir que celui-ci rejoint en tant que co-compositeur Alban Darche et Jean-Christophe Cholet.

L’idée est de créer une œuvre originale qui prenne son inspiration dans l'œuvre de Francis Poulenc, de lui construire son « Tombeau », à l'instar de Maurice Ravel qui créa avec son Tombeau de Couperin une œuvre intemporelle, qui ancra profondément son auteur dans une tradition française initiée par François Couperin ou Jean-Philippe Rameau.

"LE TOMBEAU DE POULENC EST UNE RENCONTRE EXQUISE ENTRE LA MUSIQUE CLASSIQUE FRANÇAISE DU DÉBUT DU XXE SIÈCLE ET LES INFLUENCES DU JAZZ." (JJ BIRGÉ, MEDIAPART)

L’instrumentation permet autant de faire sonner un orchestre de jazz que de recréer un concertino propre à développer une forme qui fera écho au travail de Poulenc : le concerto pour deux pianos et orchestre. L’idée est d’alterner la musique de chacun, grâce à un scénario construit sur le modèle d’un concerto grosso.

La fragrance, l'esprit de Poulenc sont là, mais le projet et sa forme sont libres. Il ne s'agit pas de s'inscrire dans les pas du maître, mais de s'imprégner de son œuvre pour inventer une musique inédite et actuelle, affranchie de toute codification, et forte du mélange avec toutes les autres influences qui ont nourri les plumes de Jean-Christophe, Alban et Mathias. 

L’HISTOIRE DU TOMBEAU

Pendant la période baroque, le tombeau était composé en hommage à un grand personnage ou un collègue musicien (maître ou ami), aussi bien de son vivant qu'après sa mort, contrairement à ce que le nom de ce genre musical pourrait laisser penser. Il s'agissait généralement d'une pièce monumentale, de rythme lent et de caractère méditatif, non dénué parfois de fantaisie et d'audace harmonique ou rythmique. 

Contrairement au lamento italien, le tombeau n'était pas censé utiliser les modes expressifs du deuil et de la douleur qui sont alors vus avec scepticisme dans la tradition musicale classique française. Cependant certains éléments sont notables comme l'usage d'une note répétitive symbolisant la Mort frappant à la porte ou l'utilisation de gammes diatoniques ou chromatiques montantes ou descendantes symbolisant les tribulations de l'âme et sa transcendance.

Le genre du tombeau a quasi disparu vers la fin du XVIIe siècle avant de retrouver quelques faveurs au début du XXe siècle : Maurice Ravel avec le Tombeau de Couperin ou Manuel de Falla avec le Tombeau de Claude Debussy.

01. 1st Convergence (Cholet)

02. Le Tombeau De Poulenc 1 (Darche)

03. Dans Le Monde De Poulenc (Rüegg)

04. 2nd Convergence (Cholet)

05. Dans Les Idées De Poulenc (Rüegg)

06. Le Tombeau De Poulenc 2 (Darche)

07. Cadence (Darche)

08. Le Tombeau De Poulenc 3 (Darche

09. Dans Le Sens De Poulenc (Rüegg)

10. 3rd Convergence (Cholet)

11. Dans L’Esprit De Poulenc (Rüegg)

12. Le Tombeau De Poulenc 4 (Darche)

Enregistré à l’Estran, Guidel (56) en mars 2016

LE TOMBEAU DE POULENC

Jean-Christophe Cholet : Piano, compositions

Alban Darche : Saxophones, compositions

Mathias Rüegg : Compositions

Nathalie Darche : Piano

Marie-Violaine Cadoret : Violon

Pascal Vandenbulcke : Flûtes

Matthieu Donarier : Saxophone ténor, Clarinettes

Olivier Laisney : Trompette

Samuel Blaser : Trombone

Matthias Quilbault : Tuba

Christophe Lavergne : Batterie

Stéphane Kerecki : Contrebasse

YOLK RECORDS

George Cotsirilos Quartet - Mostly in Blue (OA2 RECORDS 2018)

A fixture of San Francisco's jazz scene for 40 years, guitarist George Cotsirilos presents a new album of original compositions, along with a Warren/Gordon gem, "I Wish I Knew." Taking advantage of his decades long performing relationship with pianist Keith Saunders, bassist Robb Fisher and drummer Ron Marabuto, Cotsirilos creates a warmly swinging, instantly classic recording.

1. Mostly In Blue 6:55

2. Wes Side Blues 5:53

3. I Wish I Knew 7:13

4. Ms. Luna 6:42

5. Blue Dusk 5:19

6. Crazeology 4:20

7. Lights Out 6:44

8. Down, Not Out 5:41

George Cotsirilos - Guitar

Keith Saunders - Piano

Robb Fisher - Bass

Ron Marabuto - Drums

OA2 RECORDS

The Crossing (Donald Nally, conductor) - If There Were Water (INNOVA MUSIC February 23, 2018)

A new recording of world premieres addressing a topic of our national discourse: diaspora. If There Were Water, from Philadelphia’s 2017 Grammy-winning choir, The Crossing, is a testament to the expressive range of the human voice. These two strikingly diverse, yet equally compelling unaccompanied compositions were commissioned for The Crossing’s Month of Moderns festival and premiered in June 2017. Drawing from literary and historic sources, the works are highly personal reflections that speak with clarity to contemporary concerns of displacement, while weaving together past and present.  

In Crossings Cycle, Greek composer Stratis Minakakis creates a visceral musical response to the experience of observing Syrian refugees on the Isle of Lesbos. An elegy on things irretrievably lost, Crossings Cycle draws on Ancient Greek literature, Eliot’s The Waste Land, and microtonal tuning practices to convey a deeply resonant expression of the human condition.  Sounds emerge and disappear from the shadows, often erupting as great cries or crashing waves that disintegrate again into murmurs.

un/bodying/s by composer Gregory W. Brown explores the history of the displaced populations of Quabbin, the Swift River Valley in Western Massachusetts, including the Native Americans moved by incoming Europeans, and then those Europeans relocated by the State when creating the massive reservoir that supplies Boston with water. Gregory and librettist Todd Hearon tell these stories from a variety of perspectives, including the history of the wildlife that, like the human refugees, have fled and since returned to this troubled land. The music undulates as if at times floating on water, or hidden under it, or soaring above it, reflecting up.  Suddenly a New England hymn will emerge, then be replaced with a more distant, elusive texture, as the eternal search for Atlantis continues.

The Crossing is a professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to new music. Consistently recognized in critical reviews, the ensemble regularly collaborates with some of the nation’s most accomplished ensembles and imaginative composers. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir, most often addressing social issues. The Crossing, with Donald Nally, is the American Composers Forums’ 2017 Champion of New Music.