Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Marie Goudy 12tet - The Bitter Suite (October 12th 2018)


Toronto trumpeter, singer and composer Marie Goudy’s debut album The Bitter Suite is an ambitious and beautiful act of storytelling – a vivid depiction of young love as reflected in the distinct character of each of the year’s four seasons. This haunting, lyrical song cycle features her lifelong friend, vocalist Jocelyn Barth, and 10 of Toronto’s most exciting young instrumentalists.

In four movements, the lyrics express the excitement of new summer love; the warmth and comfort of a new partnership in autumn; the distinctive chill that only heartbreak in winter can bring; and the wistfulness of spring, when new growth brings a reminder of past loves now lost.

The Bitter Suite is an exciting addition to Canada’s large jazz ensemble tradition. Producer John MacLeod – one of Canada’s best known big band leaders and trumpeters – helps connect it to that storied history. In addition to jazz influences, The Bitter Suite is also heavily informed by Mariachi music, a style in which Marie has worked for years - it features pieces written in the Son Jailciense and Huapango styles. Marie seamlessly integrates these sounds into her music: she has created an incredible new fusion of jazz and Mariachi that brings to mind both Kenny Wheeler’s gorgeous Music for Large Ensemble and of Miles Davis’s texturally innovative Sketches of Spain.



Closing the album is ‘Remember The Days’, a evocation to Marie and Jocelyn’s time growing up together. As an album, The Bitter Suite is ultimately a tribute to Marie and Jocelyn’ musical and personal relationship. It is a poignant and heartfelt record, sure to please all curious ears.

A native of Toronto, trumpet player/vocalist Marie Goudy started her professional career at the age of sixteen. By the age of nineteen, she had already played with many notable musicians including Benny Golson, Cleo Laine and Maria Schneider. Since then she has performed with Michael Buble, Donny McCaslin, and many others.

She graduated from the University of Toronto's Masters in Jazz Performance program in 2017. She has made her mark on the Toronto music scene playing jazz, funk, mariachi, folk and Latin music, and was a featured soloist in the 2018 SOCAN Awards. Marie has played on three JUNO-nominated albums with folk-funk singer/songwriter Alysha Brilla and toured to France, Chile, Yellowknife, and Singapore with that group.

The Bitter Suite will be released worldwide on Friday, October 12th 2018 and the release will be celebrated with a performance at the Rex Hotel & Jazz Bar in Toronto on Wednesday, October 17th, 2018. 


Dhafer Youssef - Sounds of Mirrors (ANTEPRIMA 2018)

Dhafer Youssef
Nouvel album Sounds of Mirrors
Sortie le 05/10 chez Anteprima

Entre la grammaire musicale de sa Tunisie natale et celle du jazz le plus moderne et le plus aiguisé, le chanteur virtuose et joueur de oud Dhafer Youssef développe depuis plus de dix ans une identité stylistique inimitable et passionnante. On retrouve aujourd'hui Dhafer Youssef qui, avec la sortie de son nouvel album Sounds of Mirrors, assouvit son rêve de musique indienne, en un album qui invente un monde sonore saisissant de beauté.

Le vocaliste et oudiste tunisien Dhafer Youssef a toujours su s’entourer des meilleurs instrumentistes. Après avoir eu comme sidemen Mark Guiliana, Tigran Hamasyan, Nils Petter Molvaer et nombre d’autres solistes inspirés, le voici entouré d’une nouvelle et rutilante équipe pour présenter le répertoire de son prochain album Sounds of Mirrors. On compte ainsi à ses côtés le célèbre Zakir Hussain aux tablas, le très méditatif guitariste norvégien Eivind Aarset et le clarinettiste turc Husnu Selendirici encore largement méconnu du public français. Le gratin des musiciens des quatre coins du monde n’est certainement pas de trop pour Dhafer Youssef, connu pour l’éminente virtuosité de sa voix qui atteint des sommets d’émotion — et d’aigus — lors d’envolées mélodiques toujours aussi poignantes de concerts en concerts. Immanquable.


Certains musiciens connaissent une relation sacrée et profondément intérieure avec leur art. Quand à 19 ans Dhafer Youssef découvre la musique indienne à Vienne, où il étudie la musique classique, l’initiation fait l’effet d’un émerveillement et d’une révélation. Les sonorités hindoues touchent au coeur de l’âme musicale de Dhafer : « J’étais à la fois émerveillé et convaincu qu’un jour le jouerai avec des légendes de la musique indienne… », se rappelle, trente ans plus tard, le compositeur tunisien. 

Aujourd'hui, le musicien voyageur qui a contribué à introduire l’oud dans le jazz, assouvit son rêve de musique indienne et invite, dans un premier temps, le célèbre percussionniste Zakir Hussain à partager quelques scènes françaises en duo. La symbiose est au rendez-vous mais il manque une couleur : un instrument à vent. Dhafer Youssef convoque alors une autre « âme soeur » : le clarinettiste turc Hüsnü Şenlendirici. Le trio esquisse en concert la matière première du 12 titres « Sounds Of Mirrors ».


L’enregistrement débute à Bombay, puis se poursuit à Istanbul où Eivind Aarset, l’aérien guitariste jazz en provenance de Norvège, rejoint l’aventure inédite. Car le disque qui, à l’origine, était un hommage à Zakir Hussain et au tabla prend alors une direction inattendue. « J’ai senti que, partant d’un socle culturel indien, nous pouvions aller vers un propos plus universel... Cet enregistrement m’a fait l’effet d’une ode à l’amitié et à la fraternité. Quand nous jouions ensemble, j’avais la nette sensation que des âmes soeurs se reflétaient. D’où le titre de l’album : « Sounds Of Mirrors », raconte Dhafer.

De fait, l’album mixé au studio Nilento de Göteborg (Suède) connaît quelques moments en apesanteur durant lesquels quatre musiciens semblent se tenir dans un même souffle. Dès l’introductif « Humankind » – superbe climat méditatif coloré d’orientalisme léger – la voix de tête de Dhafer Youssef rejoint la clarinette pour ne faire qu’un. Plus loin, avec « Ruby Like Wine » et « Like Dust I May Rise », Dhafer affirme encore son talent pour établir une atmosphère rêvée avec une réelle économie de notes. Où les nappes célestes d’Eivind Aarset font merveilles. « Pour moi, c’est un disque plus méditatif, plus spirituel et plus facile d’accès que le précédent, « Diwan Of Beauty and Odd ». Mais attention ! Ici, rechercher une forme de paix profonde et de sagesse n’a rien de la démarche religieuse », précise Dhafer Youssef. OEuvre de la maturité musicale excellence, la voix se met en retrait au bénéfice d’une musique qui se déploie, épanouie. Emergent alors toutes les finesses de la composition et le talent du soliste.

Si la colonne vertébrale du disque tient en 5 titres contemplatifs (dont certains évoquent parfois les utopies ambient de Jon Hassell), le goût de Dhafer Youssef pour le groove ne se dément jamais. Chez lui, les rythmes impairs sonnent comme des pulsations paires : un irrépressible « drive » donne à coup sûr l’envie de battre le tempo – en particulier sur « Dance Layan Dance » (en clin d’oeil à sa fille), « Journey in Bergama », « Nasikhabhushani » ou encore l’entraînant « Chakkaradaar ». Place aux timbres précis des tablas de Zakir Hussain, conjugués au oud en liberté de Dhafer. « Avec l’âge, on n’a plus besoin de se justifier musicalement », dit-il dans un sourire. Une aubaine pour l’auditeur qui assiste ainsi, au fil du renouvellement permanent de Dhafer Youssef, à de nouvelles rencontres comme autant de couleurs musicales jamais imaginées. L’art du partage tient de l’alchimie fine.


TRACKLIST:

1. HUMANKIND 7’19
2. DANCE LAYAN DANCE 4’36
3. AL WADOOD 7’00
4. RUBY LIKE WINE (TO SHEIKH MUHAMMED OMRAN) 6’02
5. JOURNEY IN BERGAMA 5’03
6. LIKE DUST I MAY RISE (TO SHIRAZ) 4’58
7. NASIKABHUSHANI (TO ZAKIR) 3’19
8. SHAANTI « ATITHI DEVO BHAVA » SUITE 4’19
9. CHAKKARADAAR « ATITHI DEVO BHAVA » SUITE 5’38
10. SATYA « SATYAGRAHA » SUITE 4’54
11. SATYAGRAHA « SATYAGRAHA » SUITE 6’42
12. GOOD MORNING MUMBAI (TO ZAKIR) 6’28

Tous les morceaux sont composés et arrangés par Dhafer Youssef


SKNAIL: New Album


NEW ALBUM
"Mutation" 
released on the 21st of September

with :
Billie Bird (vocals)
Nya (vocals)
Yannick Barman (trumpet)
Stéphane Chapuis (bandoneon)
Philippe Ehinger (bass clarinet)
Guy-François Leuenberger (piano)
Alain Dessauges (double bass)
Special guest : Cyril Regamey (drums on 1 track)

For their third album "Mutation", SKNAIL continues the exploration of their pioneering avant-garde glitch jazz by integrating into the band female vocalist Billie Bird, a bandoneon player, and a guest drummer on one of the tracks. This time, more than ever with the fusion of timbres and styles of the past and future, they are taking jazz to unexplored territories. These musical mutations will be part of the new 10 track album. The artwork and video is realized by visionary Turkish artist Can Pekdemir.


Artwork and video by Can Pekdemir

"I've mutated ... but I still don't know what I have become ... !"


Matthias Lindermayr - New Born (September 14, 2018)


The dawning of something new, something big. Something which will have an impact on an indefinite scale. The first Guitar chord hovers, the cymbal lingers, while the first sound of the trumpet occurs. From nothingness to epic proportions. From easy wind to tempest. 

„Newborn“ is the title cut of the new record by Matthias Lindermayr which is a mesmerizing body of work. The album was conceived in an important transitional period of the artist who relocated back to his hometown after a long stint in Berlin honing his compositional skills, due to the birth of his „Newborn“ child. The initial work began before this private Milestone, with the majority of the music being completed afterwards. Lindermayr states being dominated by two themes at the time: Newborn child and record.


The focus was on the important and essential elements residing within the compositions. On „Newborn“ Matthias Lindermayr processes the essential aspects of life musically. Together with producer and guitar player Azhar Kamal who was also his partner on the production of his debut on Enja „Lang Tang“ they followed a more jazz oriented approach with more freedom of interpretation for the involved musicians than on the debut. The music you experience is extremely dynamic, free flowing at times, lots of space for the bass and the letting loose of the reins for the trumpet which has been somewhat relieved of its vocalesque duties, which it had on Matthias first offering. The line up at this concert is more or less identical to the debut with Andreas Haberl, Drums, Andreas Kurz, Bass, Azhar Kamal, Guitar. The only new addition would be Chris Gallon Piano. The production team of Lindermayr/Kamal worked well with their skills in sonic dramaturgy which surpass the limits of what may be broadly perceived as classic „Jazz“. On „Newborn“ you hear the epitome of Jazz in the 3rd millennium with brilliantly, concise melodies and trumpet which has a lot to express without being overwhelming. A voice that will be heard. Rejoice! Expect something GRAND

- Ulrich Habersetzer(Bavarian Radio)

Chris Gall (piano)
Azhar Kamal (guitar)
Andreas Kurz (bass)
Andi Haberl (drums)

Composition by Matthias Lindermayr
Produced by Azhar Kamal
Mixed by Mario Thaler
Mastered by Guido Hieronymus

1. New Born
2. Massave 04:21
3. Daydreaming
4. Pattern
5. Oktober
6. Matilda
7. Khmerish
8. On the Wall

Philip Zoubek Trio - Outside (WHY PLAY JAZZ October 26, 2018)


Philip Zoubek (piano, compositions)
David Helm (bass)
Dominik Mahnig (drums)

1. Scanning 07:33
2. Rhetorics 05:21
3. Now Then 02:44
4. Sketch 04:55
5. Spaces in Between 05:26
6. Der König 04:21
7. Gambit 04:49
8. The Clearing 04:35
9. The Long Fade 06:02
10. Distorted Chants 05:02
11. Outside (Album Teaser) 05:00

All compositions by Philip Zoubek. Produced by Philip Zoubek for WhyPlayJazz.
Recorded December 2017 by Stefan Deistler at Loft, Cologne, Germany. Mixed by Markus Braun.
Design by Markus Dorninger, based on illustrations by Ernst Haeckel.

The Invisible Party - Shumankind (September 17, 2018)


Shuman Kind is the debut record by The Invisible Party, an improvising trio that plays hard and takes no prisoners. The three-pronged attack of guitar, bass and drums creates splatters of spontaneity, off-kilter phrases and distorted shrieks and scrapes, all done with merciless joy and abandon. Shuman Kind rewards repeated listening as new shapes and colors take form to reveal a truly one-of-a-kind musical universe. Guitarist Jon Lipscomb is based in Malmö, Sweden and has worked with Brandon Lopez, Jarrett Gilgore, Anders Lindsjö, Ole Mofjell, Jaimie Branch and others. Brooklyn-based bassist Kurt Kotheimer has worked with Bobby Previte, Chris Cohen (Deerhoof), Michael Coleman (Michael Rocketship), Ava Mendoza, Matt Nelson (Tune-Yards) and others. Also based in Brooklyn, drummer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Treut has worked with Crystal Fighters, Kaki King, Chris Taylor (Grizzlybear), Wild Yaks, Brandon Seabrook and others.

Jon Lipscomb

Jon Lipscomb - Guitar
Kurt Kotheimer - Bass
Dave Treut - Drums

Engineered and mixed by Kurt Kotheimer at Figure 8 in Brooklyn, NY summer of 2017
Mastered by Jon Lipscomb
Cover art by Alexandra Costin

1. Invisible Party
2. Eye Forms
3. Plain Words
4. Conquest of Bread
5. Book Chin
6. Thirteenth Cone
7. Sleep Ship
8. Perpetuate the Fuzz

The Grays - Pachakuti (September 5, 2018)


Original jazz-funk exo-music project:

Justin Vood Good (guitar), Hans Lohse (percussion, accordion and vocals), Tracey Kroll (drums and electronica), Pat Pollen (bass) and Steve Fava (acoustic sculpting and sound production), Chris Thompson (trumpet), Shanhji (poetics).

All recording and production by Tracey Kroll Studios.


1. Pachakuti 05:00
2. Sanandu 06:08
3. Agartha 06:27
4. Evansixths 11:47
5. September Song 04:05
6. Cydonia 05:04
7. Finca Mia 06:56
8. Lovinjection 05:18
9. Jan Jan 06:42
10. Draco 18:28