Thursday, January 18, 2018

Eichenberger / Domeniconi - Improvisations (UNIT RECORDS 2018)



What happens beneath the noise of time? At what volume does music have to be for it to find itself therein? The two protagonists had little in the way of intentions when first improvising with one another in 2015, but they collectively discovered a sound that produces a major impact in its subtlety. This music is secretively clear, non-intrusive, and never threatens to lose itself in its aimlessness. It penetrates almost silently the noise of time. For 40 years, clarinettist Markus Eichenberger has been involving himself in various settings and projects, dealing almost exclusively with improvisation, consistently experimenting, and steadily working on his sound. Domeniconi equals his counterpart’s efforts, modestly displaying a collection of unique and previously unheard movements of sounds and space.

1 Improvisation 1 4:13
2 Interlude 1 1:10
3 Improvisation 2 4:45
4 Improvisation 3 4:18
5 Interlude 2 1:05
6 Improvisation 4 2:59
7 Improvisation 5 4:34
8 Improvisation 6 2:24
9 Interlude 3 0:47
10 Improvisation 7 5:40
11 Improvisation 8 2:51
12 Improvisation 9 3:16
13 Improvisation 10 4:10
14 Interlude 4 1:21
15 Improvisation 11 3:48


Esce il 12esimo cd di nusica.org!






18th January 2018 / 18 gennaio 2018

THE 12th CD BY NUSICA.ORG IS COMING TODAY
ESCE OGGI IL DODICESIMO CD DI NUSICA.ORG


DOGWOOD 
Nico Soffiato - guitar
Zach Swanson - double bass

presents
HECATE'S HOUNDS

The first Album by the duo, it's an introspective and intimate work, looking for new sounds and trying new improvisation through several technique.

Il primo album del duo, è un lavoro di grande intimità e introspezione, che si mette alla ricerca di nuove sonorità, esplorando nuove formule improvvisative attraverso diverse tecniche.


Zach Swanson (from Massachussets) is playing double bass since when he was six and he's one of the most eclectic soloists in the young scene today.

Zach Swanson (dal Massachussets) suona il contrabbasso da quando aveva sei anni ed è uno degli interpreti più eclettici sulla giovane scena musicale di oggi.

Nico Soffiato (from Italy, living and working in new York since some years) is a young guitarist, graduated in Berkeley. He's playing in a lot of ensembles and with prestigious musicians from all over the world.

Nico Soffiato (italiano, che vive e lavora a New York da diversi anni) è un giovane chitarrista, diplomato alla Berkeley. Suona con tantissimi ensemble e con alcuni tra i migliori musicisti jazz del mondo.




Daryl Beebe - The Daryl Beebe Project: Seasons Change (2018)


The soul stirring sound of saxophonist, Daryl Beebe, has electrified audiences all over the country. He’s back to do it again with his brand new project, Seasons Change. For over 25 years Daryl has stirred the mind, body, and soul using the entire saxophone to express the emotion and message behind his music. This project, Seasons Change is an inspirational, intriguing, soothing, and uplifting collection of music that encourages listeners to look to the Son of Man to see the brighter side of life. Ecclesiastes says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the the heaven." Produced by the great Mark "Polo" Dixon, this project is sure to relax as well as inspire you no matter what season in life you are in.

Saxophonist, producer, songwriter/composer, Daryl Beebe received his Bachelor of Arts from Kentucky State University. He was a member of the University jazz, concert and marching bands. During his undergraduate studies, Beebe began to focus on songwriting, production, improvisation, and poetry. Later, he received a Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees from the University of Cincinnati. He has performed and recorded with artist such as Kurt Carr, Derrick Brinkley, Karen Clark, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Harris, James Carter, Jerry Horton and Donnie McClurkin, Vicki Winans, Martha Reeves, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Karr, and Kirk Whalum. 

In 2002, Daryl along with his good friend Harry Patton released their debut album, The Covenant Project. The energetic gospel jazz group, Partners in Christ. The project is an exciting mix of jazz, Latin, gospel, and other influences. The group followed up with their 2010 CD entitled “Called.”

Beebe was influenced greatly by his father Roy Beebe and his music teacher, Dr. Limuel Dokes, who not only taught music, but also helped build character, as well as musicianship.

Beebe has been featured on DetroitGospel.com, Gospelflava.com, the morning news with Channel 4 WDIV in Detroit, the Motor City Praisefest, TCT, CTN, WDRJ 1440, Mix 92.3, and WJLB FM 98. Daryl is known for his rich melodious sound on Tenor and his ability to wow audiences with his incredible tone on Alto. In 2016, Beebe released his CD, Sonny Side Up. Now Beebe is following up with the full CD, The Daryl Beebe Project - Seasons Change. His new release is an eclectic work filled with soul storing selections that will soothe the soul. Daryl is endorsed with Sax Dakota Saxophones and looks forward to a productive future the company.​

01. The Bee Sting 02:26
02. New Day 03:45
03. Angels 04:39
04. Paris in the Rain 05:13
05. Blue Skies 04:13
06. Is My Living in Vain 03:43
07. Shaka's Dream 04:57
08. Sonny Side Up 04:29
09. Yes 04:36
10. Sow in the Spirit 05:21
11. Anyway You Bless Me 04:30
12. Turnaround 04:20
13. Jazz Medicine 04:21
14. Uptown 04:16

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio - D'Agala (INTAKT RECORDS January 19, 2018)




With her high-quality trio with Drew Gress and Kenny Wollesen, Sylvie Courvoisier presents her eleventh album on Intakt Records: Intakt CD 300. In both her playing and her composition she shows neoclassical influences mixed with European improvised music and the experimental nonconformismof the New York downtown scene.

The nine pieces on D'AGALA are dedicated to people who admired and influenced Courvoisier. The title tune is for pianist Geri Allen, "one of three dedicatees who passed away as this June 2017 recording was in preparation – the others being guitarist John Abercrombie and French politician, women’s rights advocate and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil. Two pieces are for sculptors, Martin Puryear who merges organic and geometric forms, and Louise Bourgeois. On “Bourgeois’s Spiders,” Courvoisier is all over the piano – plucking or strumming strings inside, or playing with one hand inside and one on the keys, or rattling around on the metal frame. Sometimes the band sounds like a trio of percussionists; they’re that rhythmically acute", writes Kevin Whitehead in the liner notes and adds: "Some pianists approach the instrument like it’s a cathedral. Sylvie Courvoisier sometimes treats it like a playground".

1. IMPRINT DOUBLE – for Antoine Courvoisier 7:40
2. BOURGEOIS'S SPIDER – for Louise Bourgeois 7:32
3. ÉCLATS FOR ORNETTE – for Ornette Coleman 4:14
4. SIMONE – for Simone Veil 4:01
5. PIERINO PORCOSPINO – for Charlie 4:19
6. D'AGALA – for Geri Allen 8:13
7. CIRCUMBENT – for Martin Puryear 3:54
8. FLY WHISK – for Irène Schweizer 7:53
9. SOUTH SIDE RULES – for John Abercrombie 6:23

Soundsamples of this CD
(Player opens in new window)


Kenny Wollesen: Drums & Wollesonic
Drew Gress: Bass

All compositions by Sylvie Courvoiser (SUISA, ASCAP). Recorded June 22,2017, by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, Mont Vernon, NY. 
Mixed September 25, 2017, by James Farber at Sear Sound Studio, New York City.
Asst. engineer and editing: Owen Mulholland. Mastered by Scott Hull. 
Cover art: Mario Del Curto. Graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Liner notes: Kevin Whitehead.
Photos: Frank Schindelbeck. Executive production by Florian Keller.
Produced by Mark Feldman, Sylvie Courvoisier and Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt.

Intakt CD 300 / 2018


Florian Egli Weird Beard - Orientation (INTAKT RECORDS January 19, 2018)



The quartet Weird Beard was founded by Zurich based saxophonist Florian Egli. Following the debut album 'Everything Moves' on Intakt Records, they release a second studio album, recorded again in the Blackbox Studio in Brittany by the out­standing sound engineer David Odlum. 'Orientation' is a sophisticated record on which Weird Beard increasingly focus their attention on the creation of moods and atmospheres.

Christoph Wagner writes in the liner notes: "Weird Beard forge creative sparks out of opposites. The band use contrast as a means to create dramaturgy, veering back and forth from soft to loud, from fast to slow, and from forceful to lyrical. Sometimes the music acquires a lightness and transparency, but then becomes progressively more dense. In other places it can morph into a dreamy wallowing elegy, before opening outinto a tub-thumping inferno. Perhaps “post-jazz” is the word which comes first to mind to describe it."

1 Hanako 4:24
2 Empty Shell 7:18
3 Orientation 6:31
4 Winter 5:35
5 The Big Wasy 4:56
6 The Cat 5:29
7 No More Rain 4:27
8 Playground 4:18

Soundsamples of this CD
(Player opens in new window)


All compositions by Florian Egli, except “Playground” by Dave Gisler (SUISA). 
Recorded in January 2017 at Studio Black Box, Noyantla-Gravoyère, France, by David Odlum. 
Mixed and mastered by David Odlum. 
Cover art: Jörger-Stauss & Annatina Nay. Graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Photo: Angelika Annen.
Liner notes: Christoph Wagner. Executive producer: Anja Illmaier. 
Produced by Florian Egli and Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt. Published by Intakt Records.

Intakt CD 291 / 2018

Jazz-O-Tech - White Gardenia Vol​.​1 (February 20, 2018)


Different styles and talented artists panorama, compose the soul of Jazz-O-Tech.

In its first release, various artists mix elegant arrangements and intricated Jazz solos developing modern structures of Techno and Electronica.

The compilation brings the listeners on an emotional, hypnotic and intense journey, making us think that future is not that far away.


1. Painè - Yellowblack 05:27
2. Flat Maze - Room 111 06:07
3. Jazz Reason - Interlude 03:31
4. Duke Zilla - Messicho 02:11
5. DN3 - Lee Theme 05:27
6. Gamapawa - Nobossa 06:22

GoGo Penguin - A Humdrum Star (BLUE NOTE February 9, 2018)


Different worlds have always collided, vividly, in the sound of GoGo Penguin. The Manchester-based trio conjure richly atmospheric music that draws from their shared love of electronica, their grounding in classical conservatoires and jazz ensembles alongside indie bands, and a merging of acoustic and electronic techniques. Over the past few years, it has earned them rapturous responses all over the world—The New York Times highlighted them as one of the 12 best bands at SXSW 2017—and proved that they’re just as at home playing to muddy festival goers as jazz fans. Their latest album, A Humdrum Star, builds on the heady momentum of its acclaimed predecessors—the 2014 Mercury Prize-nominated V2.0 and their 2016 Blue Note debut Man Made Object—and transports it to new realms.

“I think we felt even more liberated on this album—and I think there’s more of each of us on it,” says bassist Nick Blacka. “When we were making V2.0, we were just getting together as much as we could, hustling spaces to work. Man Made Object definitely had more of an immediate sense of pressure.

“Having been through those experiences, the most difficult thing about making this album was that we tour so much. But when we do find time to record, there’s never a shortage of inspiration. That’s what’s great about this band; someone brings an idea, then it snowballs into this other space nobody was expecting.”

The band have gathered in the bar at HOME, the buzzy Manchester multi-arts centre where they originally premiered their 21st-century score for Godfrey Reggio’s cult doc Koyaanisqatsi (a 2015 experiment which yielded an extensive live tour). On A Humdrum Star, their latest material reveals both native turf and far-flung influences. They evoke the symbiotic flow between Nick, pianist Chris Illingworth, and drummer Rob Turner, as well as their seasoned relationship with producer and sound engineer Joe Reiser (credited as the “fourth member” of GGP, both on tour and in the studio) and co-producer Brendan Williams. As with previous albums, these tracks stemmed from a love of electronic music, whether collectively developed from “sketches” written by Rob on DJ/producer tech including Logic and Ableton, or composed on the bass or at the piano. That electro-acoustic tension pulses throughout the new album, from the beautifully brooding piano melody and dissonance that makes opener “Prayer” so soulful yet unsettling, to the stirring, house-y reverb that gives way to Rob’s propulsive beats on “Bardo.”

“We started with this idea of ‘inner and outer’, and opposing things that are essentially the same,” says Rob. “A lot of the textures and sounds do come from the electronic writing, but Brendan also wanted everything to be made as organically as possible.” This provoked various DIY twists, such as chains and even a tape measure held against Nick’s bass strings to create the rustling rhythms on “Prayer.”

Rob elaborates: “’A Hundred Moons’ started out as a kind of early Brian Eno ambient vibe; the beat actually came late one night when I started listening to a Caribbean hymn—I had no idea what it was, but it was so hypnotic, I played it for days. The two forces came together from nowhere.” His eyes widen, humorously: “You could think of it as really cosmic…”

“Transient State” sounds both restless and reflective; it’s infused with the spirit (and surrealism) of life on the road, as Chris explains: “We had a day off in Tokyo last year, and Nick and I wandered around the Shibuya district; we saw a Shinto shrine in Yoyogi Park, which was mind-blowing. The entire day was an amazing mixture of different things: rockabilly dancers outside the park, a traditional wedding procession…”


Chris began reading into the Shinto belief in kami spirits: embodied in nature, and embracing equally good and bad. “It relates to the idea of being on tour, in that constant flux—and experiences that might be positive or negative, but are all part of a bigger thing.”

Elsewhere, Chris likens the interplay on “Strid,” between the edgy funk of Nick’s bassline, Rob’s loops, and his own more chilled-out chords to “the fader on record turntables, where you flick it to another groove and then back again.” This track is named after a beautiful yet perilous stretch of the river Wharfe in Yorkshire, where Nick grew up. Nick recalls: “We’d go for picnics there, by Bolton Abbey, and I used to look at this innocuous-seeming river, which apparently turns on its side out of sight, and which has killed loads of people. It’s just the idea that you could be happy and safe in your life, then – game over; things don’t always appear as they are.”

While the band forged the new material’s intensity through a string of “secret” live dates in East London, they were also intent on recording entirely in Manchester, for the first time – at Low Four, located within the historic Old Granada Studios. All three had gravitated towards the city as young students (Chris and Rob originally attended the Royal Northern College of Music) and stayed on, crossing paths across various local groups, throwing parties (Nick ran ad hoc nights at the Klondyke, a former bowling club in South Manchester), and signing to Gondwana records (run by Mancunian jazz musician Matthew Halsall) for their first two albums. Nick was invited to join GGP following the 2012 release Fanfares; his arrival sealed a thrilling dynamic.

“It made things fresh again, the way we were able to develop ideas together, on top of what we already had to start with,” says Chris.

“The band, in this format, was relatively inevitable,” adds Rob. “Maybe we’re the only lunatics that are prepared to do it; we’re too far in it to give up.”

They’re now settled into their rehearsal space in Wellington House, Ancoats: a converted fabric mill that now houses hundreds of musicians and artists; art rockers and fellow Mercury nominees Everything Everything are in the room below. “I’ve never stopped loving Manchester: the scene, the players, the people, and maybe the legacy of it all,” smiles Nick. “It’s just big enough and just small enough; the city’s creative output means that you’re never really pulled away.”

There is poetry and precision in GGP’s new work—and intimacy and vastness. Their titles tend to speak volumes, in tandem with their evocative instrumentals. They’d actually completed the new album’s track-listing before settling on the name for A Humdrum Star—yet it captures a distinctive tone. It’s taken from a quote by American astrophysicist Carl Sagan, on his 1980 TV series Cosmos, which Rob reads aloud:

“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” 

1 Prayer 2:54
2 Raven 4:57
3 Bardo 7:14
4 A Hundred Moons 4:27
5 Strid 8:10
6 Transient State 5:59
7 Return to Text 5:22
8 Reactor 6:17
9 Window 5:21

07.02.2018 Concorde 2 Brighton Tickets
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09.02.2018 Trinity Centre - SOLD OUT Bristol Tickets
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14.02.2018 Circolo Magnolia Milan Tickets
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