Shubh Saran | "inglish"

Guitarist, Composer, and Producer

Shubh Saran Releases New Album, inglish

New Album Explores Identity and the

Difficult Process of Assimilating While

Embracing Your Own Culture

New York-based guitarist, composer, and producer Shubh Saran will independently release his second full-length album and fourth overall release titled inglish on October 29, 2021. After releasing his last EP titled Becoming in late 2019, Saran toured briefly in the United States and India, and upon returning to the U.S. was faced with what became the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. During this time, Saran quickly began writing and recording demos for what would ultimately transform into inglish. The new album explores new musical territory, as Saran incorporates predominant Indian and Middle Eastern instruments for the first time, while expanding the use of modular synthesizers in the momentous arrangements.

Throughout his life, having to assimilate into different cultures has been a common occurrence for Saran, and inglish is a reflection of that progression and evolution. “I wanted to find a metaphor for this idea of existing in the world where you’re trying to navigate a global culture while at the same navigating your own culture and home culture,” he says. Managing changes in culture and language has been a repeat experience for the Indian artist, who has spent time living around the world in places like New Delhi, Dhaka, Cairo, Geneva, Toronto, Boston, and New York City.

To provide some historical context, the term “inglish,'' a portmanteau from the late 1900s, describes Indian English, a variety of the English language spoken in India and by Indian diaspora. It’s a form of dialect that has shown similarity to British English, brought by British Colonization, but has become an amalgamation of Indian and Western culture. This duality has been the focus of Saran’s most recent research and explorations in music, and it’s something that he has experienced first hand. “Within the last several decades, Indian English has taken on a life of its own, with a lot of influence from regional languages and dialects, and a mixture of ‘Queen’s English’,” says Saran, reflecting on the connection between the album title and its anthropological history.

While language is a large part of the inspiration for inglish, the reflection on personal identity and the tension between trying to retain one’s own native tongue and customs while living in non-native territories is equally present. The unboxing of how traditions and cultures get passed down by generations, and the true origins of those artifacts, was also in the foreground of Saran’s mind when writing and recording inglish. “It was interesting to see that the origins for a lot of my own internal biases about being Indian, and Indian identity, seemed actually not to stem from Indian culture, but actually came from external sources,” says Saran. “What ends up happening, I believe, is that the narratives and the biases get internalized by the community, and then sort of get re-fed back into the community like a feedback loop.”

inglish is multi-layered album that explores concepts of identity far beyond the music. As people continue to think, move, and grow globally, the essence of native culture and identity are challenged, but still remain critically important. For Shubh Saran, inglish is a longform message that pays tribute to the difficult process of assimilating while embracing your own culture. 

For more information on Shubh Saran, please visit:

ShubhSaran.com | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Upcoming Shubh Saran Performances:

November 15 | Rockwood Music Hall | Brooklyn, NY

November 17 | Showcase Lounge | Burlington, VT

November 18 | Funk n' Waffles | Syracuse, NY

November 19 | Mahall's Locker Room | Cleveland, OH

November 20 | Pie Shop | Washington, DC

Glimlip & Yasper and Jazzinuf Explore Deepest Connections Between Hip-Hop and Jazz as Leaders in Lo-Fi Music with New Releases

 Glimlip & Yasper and Jazzinuf Explore
Deepest Connections Between Hip-Hop and Jazz
as Leaders in Lo-Fi Music with New Releases,
Available Now via Downtown Music Services

Glimlip & Yasper's Undertones

At an early age Rotterdam born producer Glimlip. never imagined himself becoming a beatmaker. Starting off playing the drums and guitar, music was nothing more than a playful way of spending his time. A few years further down the road it would be impossible though to speak about him without thinking of his soulful/jazz influenced beats inspired by the likes of J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Madlib and Kiefer.

Growing up in Arnhem, Yasper started playing music at his 10th. He started off as a metalhead, playing all the rock/metal tunes he could get his hands on. Since he moved to Amsterdam in 2014 his love for jazz music developed more and more. This led into love for Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul as well. Learning how to produce music since 2016 led to what he is finally making now. Jazz inspired Hip-Hop beats with influences by J Dilla, Tom Misch, Wes Montgomery and Kiefer.

For more information on Glimlip, please visit:

Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify (2.2 million monthly listeners)

For more information on Yasper, please visit:

Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify (800k monthly listeners)

Jazzinuf's Snow In My Shoe

Manhattan based multi instrumentalist, ever since 2012 Jazzinuf blends swinging beats with harmonious soul/jazz/funk inspired arrangements. An avid lover of all arts, but has a special love for jazz hiphop/ lofi beats. At night he is an opera singer and during the day he is at the studio producing beats. Jazzinuf is the founder of Etymology Records, and has a robust fanbase with a total of 123 million Spotify streams and 1.7 million monthly listeners.

For more information on Jazzinuf, please visit:

Instagram | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Spotify (2 million monthly listeners)

Relief: A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians’ Emergency Fund | Mack Avenue Music Group

AVAILABLE NOW, RELIEF: A BENEFIT FOR

THE JAZZ FOUNDATION OF AMERICA’S MUSICIANS’ EMERGENCY FUND

(PURCHASE/SHARE HERE)

 

An Unprecedented, Star-Studded Collection from

America’s Top Jazz Labels in Support of Musicians

Affected by the Pandemic

 

2-LP Set, CD and Digital Album Features Herbie Hancock,

Wallace Roney, Buster Williams, Jimmy Heath, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, IRMA and LEO (Esperanza Spalding & Leo Genovese), Cécile McLorin Salvant, Charles Lloyd, Hiromi, Kenny Garrett, Jon Batiste,

and Other Jazz Greats

A consortium of major jazz labels – Concord Music Group, Mack Avenue Music Group, Nonesuch Records, Universal Music Group’s Verve Label Group and Blue Note Records, and Warner Music Group – has taken the unprecedented step of joining hands for Relief, an all-star compilation of previously unreleased music on LP, CD and digitally November 12, continuing the non-profit Jazz Foundation of America’s (JFA) ongoing efforts to aid musicians affected by the international shutdown of venues and other performance opportunities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. PURCHASE/SHARE HERE.

 

All net proceeds from the package – comprising studio and live tracks by top-flight jazz artists – will benefit the JFA’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund, established in the spring of 2020 after the pandemic ground the music industry to a sudden, catastrophic halt.

 

JFA executive director Joe Petrucelli says, “The Jazz Foundation of America deeply appreciates the artists, songwriters and label teams who contributed to this project with such compassion and generosity. As pandemic restrictions continue to lift, we recognize that musicians will face a particularly lengthy recovery. They were among the first to be hit by the effects of the crisis and will be among the last to achieve a true sense of normalcy or stability. We and our partners are here for the long haul.”

 

Relief commences with a recording that exemplifies the extreme challenges faced by musicians in the depths of the 2020 health emergency: “back to who,” a track by vocalist Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leo Genovese, recording as IRMA and LEO, was created remotely at home studios in Hillsboro, OR and Brooklyn, NY.

 

The compilation concludes with a live quintet performance captured at the JFA’s 2014 “A Great Night in Harlem” benefit show at New York’s historic Apollo Theater. It features pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Wallace Roney, who died after contracting the coronavirus, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath and tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath, the composer of the number, who died at the age of 93 in January 2020, in a poignant version of “Gingerbread Boy.”

 

“I'm honored to be part of this meaningful project that supports the important work of the Jazz Foundation, who has always been there for musicians going through tough times. They have been an especially critical resource for the community during the pandemic, helping those in need of medical care, putting food on the table and paying their rent,” says Hancock. 

Offering a compact overview of jazz’s past, present, and future, the album also presents fresh tracks from bassist Christian McBride, vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, saxophonists Kenny Garrett, Charles Lloyd, and Joshua Redman, pianist Hiromi Uehara, and pianist-vocalist Jon Batiste.



The set is merely the latest pandemic relief effort mounted under the aegis of the JFA’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund. 2020 benefit events included the virtual concert #TheNewGig in May, an international “Gershwin Global” online performance led by Israeli pianist Guy Mintus in July, and the Charlie Parker-themed “Bird Calls” streaming fundraiser in December.

 

Mack Avenue Music Group president Denny Stilwell, who spearheaded the formation of the label consortium with longtime JFA board member and entertainment lawyer Geoffrey Menin last spring, says, “We had met via conference call for about two months before the idea of putting an album together came up. The initial impetus was to raise money for the fund. Sometime around eight weeks in, Blue Note’s president, Don Was, said, ‘Why don’t we make a record? Let’s all contribute some tracks.’ There was a nanosecond of silence, and then everybody in our core group – including John Burk at Concord, Jamie Krents at Verve – said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’

 

“We all decided that we were going to look into the vaults and agreed that we wanted to have unreleased tracks…it just came together organically. Once we got all the music together, we traded some ideas and Joe Petrucelli, John Burk and Will Wakefield laid out the final sequence of how the tracks would flow. I think it works great!”

 

Relief marks the first appearance on record of a performance from one of the JFA’s annual benefits at the Apollo. (The 2020 “A Great Night in Harlem” show, which had been set for April 14, was postponed due to the COVID outbreak.)

 

Stilwell recalls, “Joe Petrucelli was pretty excited about including a live track. The thing that makes that track heartbreaking and relevant is the inclusion of Wallace Roney, who was one of the first of our community to pass from COVID. I think that track, which also features Jimmy Heath, who also left us last year, has some extra weight and meaning for all of us.”

 

In his notes for the album, Rolling Stone senior music editor Hank Shteamer writes, “Even in a pandemic, the jazz ecosystem – not just its practitioners and facilitators but those who value the music as a lifelong sustenance – has managed to summon grace, dignity and unexpected joy. That spirit extends to Relief, a compilation which continues the relief efforts undertaken last year. This album reflects the duality at the heart of jazz: It's a music of cooperation, of intuitive teamwork, that also leaves room for a broad array of personal idiosyncrasy. Differences of generation, heritage, methodology…strengthen the music's vast collective mesh.”

Album Tracklist:

1. IRMA and LEO back to who feat. Esperanza Spalding and Leo Genovese 4:41

2. Christian McBride Brother Malcolm 4:47                  

3. Cécile McLorin Salvant Easy Come, Easy Go Blues 2:32

4. Kenny Garrett Joe Hen’s Waltz 8:07

5. Jon Batiste Sweet Lorraine 3:52

6. Hiromi Green Tea Farm [2020 version] 7:52

7. Joshua Redman Facts feat. Ron Miles, Scott Colley, Brian Blade 3:39

8. Charles Lloyd & Kindred Spirits Lift Every Voice and Sing [live] 8:26

9. Herbie Hancock Gingerbread Boy feat. Wallace Roney, Jimmy Heath, Buster Williams, Albert “Tootie” Heath [live] 6:54

Relief – A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund

Various Artists · Mack Avenue Records

For more information on Jazz Foundation of America, please visit:

JazzFoundation.org | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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John Patitucci and Andy James | An Evening With John Patitucci & Andy James (November 5, 2021 Le Coq Records)

AVAILABLE NOW via LE COQ RECORDS



VOCALIST ANDY JAMES AND

BASS MASTER JOHN PATITUCCI TEAM UP TO CRAFT

AN INTIMATE EVENING OF JAZZ STANDARDS AND

POP CLASSICS BACKED BY AN ALL-STAR ENSEMBLE

AN EVENING WITH JOHN PATITUCCI & ANDY JAMES,

DUE OUT NOVEMBER 5 ON LE COQ RECORDS,

FEATURES ARRANGEMENTS BY

BILL CUNLIFFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS BY

CHRIS POTTER, RICK MARGITZA, TERELL STAFFORD,

JOHN BEASLEY, VINNIE COLAIUTA AND MORE

On An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James, two gifted performers join forces to conjure an intimate evening of captivating music. At a time when jazz aficionados around the world have been starved for musical experiences, the album recreates the sultry atmosphere of a candlelight nightclub as some of the most revered musicians in modern jazz perform classic standards.

Due out November 5 via Le Coq Records, An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James features nearly 90 minutes of scintillating music featuring an incomparable ensemble. In addition to James’ mesmerizing vocals and Patitucci’s bass mastery, the album boasts arrangements by piano great Bill Cunliffe for an ensemble that includes saxophonists Chris Potter and Rick Margitza, trumpeter Terell Stafford, guitarists Chico Pinheiro and Jake Langley, keyboardists John Beasley and Jon Cowherd, percussionist Alex Acuña, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Marcus Gilmore and Marvin “Smitty” Smith, along with powerful horn and string sections.

“I wanted people to just sit back and enjoy a listening experience of serene pleasure,” declares James. “John and I tried to create something easy to listen to that would leave people feeling good afterwards. I recorded the album in anticipation that people wouldn’t something too complicated at this time we all find ourselves in.”

Jazz singing and Flamenco dance have been parallel passions throughout Andy James’ life. Flamenco took prominence during what she now refers to as “act one” of her artistic life. She became renowned as a world-class Flamenco dancer, enjoying a successful career dancing with husband and partner Piero Pata in Madrid.

For “act two,” James relocated to the U.S. and focused on her singing career, renewing collaborations with the great jazz musicians who had crossed her path while they traveled through Europe. She and Pata launched Le Coq Records, releasing a series of albums ranging in style from the elegance of the female jazz swing tradition to vintage R&B to the post-bop urgency of the classic Blue Note era. 

An estimable professional family has quickly found a home at the label, with Patitucci, Acuña and Cunliffe playing key roles on a number of releases and several musicians making recurring appearances from one recording to the next. On An Evening With…, Patitucci proves an ideal partner for James, bringing his revered tone and musical vision to the project and convening the ideal musicians for each piece.

“When choosing personnel for any project,” Patitucci explains, “I try to find the greatest musicians that I have longstanding relationships with, in order to have the opportunity to get more deeply into the music at hand.”

Over the course of a career lasting four decades, Patitucci has forged essential collaborations with some of the most acclaimed artists in jazz and beyond, most notably long-lasting partnerships with iconic saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the late Chick Corea. 

Speaking of James, Patitucci says, “Andy is a very generous and flexible collaborator. She has a great love for the Great American Songbook. When she sings, her phrasing is reminiscent of so many of the great singers that I grew up listening to. The style that she sings in provides the opportunity to write arrangements for larger orchestrations.”

James returns the compliment. “John is very important to my whole performance. Without John’s playing I would have been restricted in the way I could sing and approach every song in the album. John Patitucci brings a deep sound that allows me the freedom to sing with a lot of mood or feeling in my voice. He gives me a lot of space to create a meaningful performance.”

From the intoxicatingly lush opener “Autumn in New York,” with Patitucci’s robust bass matched by a fervent tenor solo by Potter, to the last-call balladry of “Angel Eyes” that closes the set, An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James features countless classic songs along with a few surprises, including the smoldering James and Pata-penned love song “Burn for Love.”

As she did on her previous release, Tu Amor, James reaches into her Latin influences on “Besame Mucho.” In addition to a number of well-known jazz standards James stretches the American Songbook to encompass great pop and rock classics like The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.”

The choices certainly inspire passionate playing from James and Patitucci’s guests, with standouts including Rick Margitza’s soaring solo on “Fire and Rain,” Terell Stafford’s heart-wrenching take on “Moonlight in Vermont,” and the soulful playing of Potter and John Beasley on the Gerry Goffin/Carole King favorite “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

“The songs came naturally,” James explains. “I just wanted to sing some beautiful songs. The mood I had in mind when choosing these songs was one of love – I just wanted people to find love with each other again after the era of Covid!”

1. John Patitucci, Chris Potter, Vinnie Colaiuta - “Autumn In New York” feat. John Patitucci & Chris Potter 04:23

2. Marvin “Smitty” Smith, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, John Beasley, Chris Potter - “Besame Mucho” feat. Chris Potter 07:07

3. Chris Potter, Vinnie Colaiuta, John Patitucci, Dan Higgins, Michael Dease, Alex Acuña - “I Love You And Don't You Forget It” feat. Chris Potter 03:08

4. Jon Cowherd, Chris Potter, Marcus Gilmore, Alex Acuña, John Patitucci, Chicho Pinero, Jon Cowherd, - “To Dream As One” - feat. Jon Cowherd & Chris Potter 05:07

5. Terell Stafford, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe - “Moonlight In Vermont” feat. Terell Stafford 04:40

6. Vinnie Colaiuta, John Patitucci, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe - “Day Dream” feat John Patitucci 05:09

7. John Patitucci, Marvin Smitty Smith, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe, John Beasley, Charlie Bisharat - “Blackbird“ feat John Patitucci 05:46

8. Vinnie Coliauta,Terell Stafford, John Patitucci, John Beasley, Alex Acuña, Terell Stafford, - “When I'm With You” feat. Terell Stafford 03:19

9. Chris Potter, John Beasley, John Patitucci, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Alex Acuña, - “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” feat. Chris Potter & John Beasley 06:05

10. Terell Stafford, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, John Patitucci, Terell Stafford, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe - “Unchain My Heart” feat. Terell Stafford 04:12

11. Rick Margitza, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci, John Beasley, Alex Acuña, Jon Cowherd - “Fire & Rain” feat. Rick Margitza 06:22

12. Chris Porter, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci - "Burn For Love” feat. Chris Porter 04:19

13. John Patitucci, John Beasley, Rick Margitza, Charles McNeal, Alex Acuña, Vinnie Colaiuta - “Some Other Time” feat. Rick Margitza & Charles McNeal 05:30

14. Vinnie Colaiuta, Bill Cunliffe, John Patitucci, - “Laura” feat. John Patitucci 04:26

15. “More Than You Know” feat. Chris Potter 04:00

16. John Beasley, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, Jake Langley - “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” feat. John Patitucci & John Beasley 05:02

17. Vinnie Colaiuta, Alex Acuña, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, Charlie Bisharat - “Angel Eyes” 04:03

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Keith Jarrett | "Facing You" 50th Anniversary | ECM

Keith Jarrett’s Debut ECM Album

Facing You To Celebrate

50 Year Milestone Anniversary

On November 10, 1971 pianist Keith Jarrett entered the Arne Bendiksen studio in Oslo Norway to record his ECM debut, Facing You. This album of solo piano pieces, which now has its 50th anniversary, was produced by Manfred Eicher and engineered by Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Facing You was the auspicious start to a celebrated landmark run of recordings that created a new solo piano paradigm, with albums including: Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne; The Köln Concert; Sun Bear Concerts; The Melody at Night, With You and Jarrett’s latest release, Budapest Concert.

“I was on tour with Miles Davis and had met Manfred around this time,” Jarrett recalled. “He had written me about a proposed collaboration with Chick Corea but I was set on recording solo. I thought it would be a novel idea to not prepare and was totally comfortable with my decision despite a tight afternoon schedule while strictly playing electric piano on the tour.”

Jarrett reminisced about the initial idea of recording solo. “Prior to the recording, Manfred and I went to a classical concert at the university in Heidelberg in which I performed solo. I improvised between a couple of standards and was encouraged by the positive reaction.”

“When he plays alone, Jarrett pushes his creativity to its limits. It’s almost scary to hear someone who apparently relies so totally on the spirited, flowing, almost effusive directions of his muse, yet the muse seems to never let him down. His inspirations seem to be as prolific and varied as his compositions. […] It may well be the finest album of jazz piano solos since Art Tatum left us, and it is without a doubt the most creative and satisfying solo album of the past few years.”

— Rolling Stone (1972)

"Although his most famous solo recording, The Köln Concert, and all subsequent solo recordings, are much better known to the public, for me his first solo recording, Facing You, reigns supreme. Its innovative approach to composition and musical development was shocking at the time. Jarrett radiated as much warmth, heart and beauty in his playing as he did virtuosity and intellect. Jarrett’s playing represents new and innovative levels of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic development bundled with the vastest creativity imaginable. It was a new standard of playing in its time and still is today."

— JazzTimes (2011)

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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

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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