Thursday, September 2, 2021

Symprophonicum / Heiner Schmitz - Sins & Blessings (September 2, 2021)

Since years, Composer and saxophone player Heiner Schmitz is a steady member of the German Jazz scene. With the help of his various conceptional projects, he enlightens his compositional ideas from different angles. For his unique musical language, he was rewarded with WDR-Jazz Price for Composition in 2019.

1. Who knows 02:58
2. Superbia 09:09
3. Avaritia 09:24
4. Gula 06:54
5. Invidia 07:35
6. Ira 05:30
7. Acedia 04:18
8. Luxuria 06:16
9. You know 05:58

SYMPROPHONICUM (Cologne):
Simin Tander (vocals), Frederik Köster (trumpet, flugelhorn), Stefan K. Schmid (saxophones, clarinets), Holger Werner (bass clarinet), Tobias Wember (trombone), Dierk Peters (vibraphone), Simon Seidl (piano), Robert Landfernmann (double bass), Jens Düppe (drums), Lola Rubio (violin), Kelly Mitropoulou (violin), Martin Hauser (viola), David Schütte (cello)

Recorded Ferbuary 12-15th,2015, at Kammermusiksaal, Deutschlandfunk, Köln. Additional Vocal-Recordings in April, 2015 at Tonart Studio, Kerpen.
Recording Producer: Christian Heck
Recording Assistants: Kiwi Hornung, Christoph Reseberg
Editing: Lukas Lohner

Mixed by Christian Heck at Tonart Studio, Kerpen
Masterd by Walter Quintus

Cover Artwork: Knut Schötteldreier

Producer: Heiner Schmitz, Harald Rehmann for Deutschlandfunk
Executive Producer: Jürgen Czisch for Wismar Records

Heiner Schmitz´ Organic Underground (September 2, 2021)

"Jazzkantine" Sax Player meets WDR Bigband-Lead Trombone Player Ludwig Nuss meets a classic organ trio plus synths. Funky to bop-like horn lines meets a funky rhythm section....

1. Steam & Soil 04:42
2. Monday @Lunch 04:40
3. Thursday 2pm 04:53
4. Raw Food Day - Morning 01:15
5. Organic Titanic 04:50
6. Monday Afterwork 07:11
7. Friday Jazz Dance 05:21
8. Raw Food Day - Evening 01:38
9. Sunday 10am 04:51
10. Sequoia 05:33

HEINER SCHMITZ - SAXOPHONE
LUDWIG NUSS - TROMBONE
MARTIN FESKE - GUITAR
DIRK SCHAADT - ORGAN
FLORIAN BUNGARDT - DRUMS

RECORDED IN FEBRUARY 2017 AT DOGHOUSE STUDIOS, ERFTSTADT RECORDING ENGINEER: MARTIN ERNST
MIXED AND MASTERED BY JANOSCH JOHN
PRODUCED BY HEINER SCHMITZ & MARTIN ERNST
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JÜRGEN CZISCH FOR A-JAZZ

Kawol Samarqandi - Silence, Notes and Structures 1 (2021 Ramble Records)

Kawol Samarqandi is a composer and improviser of guitar from seaside Japan. His compositions are delicate fragments of incredible beauty and introspection.

Kawol Samarqandi's ethereal recording Silence Notes and Structures 1 follows his exquisite album of covers. On Silence Notes and Structures 1, Kawol explores the subtle balance between silence and notes and the result is a magically crafted recording where the space between notes is as poignant as the nuanced notes he delicately picks.
Mike Sill
Ramble Records

This is the first album of the group of works that form the core of my work. There is literally just one acoustic guitar and voice, occasional "silence" and atypical "notes" and the simple unfinished "structure" formed by them. This is probably the skeleton of my "poor music".
Kaowl Samarqandi

1. Variation 1
2. Variation 2
3. Variation 3
4. Variation 4
5. Variation 5

Ying-Da Chen - Do You Know Beige (2021)

One Guitar, two amps, two different chains of effect pedals, cooperate with bassist Ikeda Kinya and drummer Weichung Lin; the setting presents an unordinary guitar trio sound.

Three jazz musicians had already been through performances in all kinds of forms for years, apart from talking about three of them's musical styles, when they perform together as a trio they seem blurred the boundary between the genre of Modern Jazz and Free Improvisation, accomplish their works in a unique and uncopyable way.

There is always interspace for listeners to project themselves in Ying-Da's tunes while all the music titles dropping suggestions; reaching ripple effects of emotions certainly takes a big part in their musical beliefs. Along with the subject, people who know Ying-Da's music in the past wouldn't surprise that the "Tragedy" is a fundamental musical concept again in this album "Do You Know Beige", oddly always being renaissance, but being experimental takes another big part in their interest too, they proved it can be put in the same place, and it should be.

In the end, talking about the album concept, talking about the Beige:

Beige.
Do you know beige?
It’s a color; the color of rice, of the desert,
of coffee. Coffee that is neither too strong nor too weak.
Truly ambiguous.

Beige has surely entered your life
Though rarely appreciated as a color.
Perhaps it’s an uncommon thought;
Perhaps it’s unworthy of your attention
But beige is there, always there.

This is a suite of music stemming from pain
When sorrow drowns your sensations, perilous cliffs arise.
Beige is a beam of kindness, and maybe even too kind,
that exists only on the edge of consciousness. 

1. 再見 / Goodbye 06:36
2. 達令 / Darling 04:17
3. 快樂 / Happiness 08:05
4. 葬禮 / When I Die 09:29
5. 暗戀 / Unrequited Love 05:06
6. 奈何 / Nothing can be Done 07:34
7. 凝結 / Post Image 03:25
8. 惡水 / Troubled Water 03:03
9. 夢囈 / Somniloquence 06:29
10. 歲月 / Years 06:56
11. A Love Theme - The Nature of Stepping Toward Destruction 05:22
12. 你聽過Beige嗎 / Do You Know Beige 02:48

陳穎達 Ying-Da Chen / Guitar / Compositions
池田欣彌 Ikeda Kinya / Bass
林偉中 Weichung Lin / Drums

鄭皓文 Howard Tay / G5 Studio / Sound Engineering
許文蓁 Wen-Chen Hsu / Super ADD Art Studio / Design

MT6 - Trust (September 2021)

Trust is the first album of the Mark Tourian Sextet. This project was a decade in the making, and was made possible only because of a great amount of hard work by some people who are very dear to me. The music is both a reflection of the ups and downs of this period of my life, as well and a prayer for hope, renewal, and a bright future for us all.

Ten years ago, Japan was trying to move past the tragic events of the Great Tohoku Earthquake. Attempts to rebuild and recover from the damage were hampered by the danger and uncertainty of a nuclear crisis. In Tokyo, there was almost no work for musicians for six months. While this sudden state of unemployment was a big stress, it gave me a chance to start putting down on paper some ideas for arrangements that I had had in my head for some time. As I got more engrossed in the process of creating new music, composing became a tremendous catharsis for dealing with the complex emotions that so many of us were feeling during this troubled time.

By the end of the summer of 2011 I had completed a number of things, and I decided to put together the band MT6 to showcase the new music. We gave our first performance in October of that year. I continued to compose for the band, and we did a lot of rehearsing and performing to tackle what proved to be some very challenging material.

In the summer of 2013 I decided it was time to document some of this hard work. We did a live recording at our “home base,” B Flat in Akasaka, and we spent one very long day at Studio Dede in Ikebukuro. Later I realized just how lucky I was to capture these two performances of this particular lineup of the band. Soon afterwards two of the original members left the Tokyo scene, and from there the sound of the band naturally evolved into something else.

Increasing demands on my time, the financial challenges of raising a family, and some major changes in the business of producing and distributing music all took their toll, and these recordings into which we had put so much hard work and love sat dormant for more than seven years. It took another major disruption in our lives for me to finally return to this project and to see it to its completion. By April of 2020 almost all of my performance work was cancelled due to the pandemic, and I found myself with an unexpected bounty of time at home. With the generous support of our government(s), I was able to ensure there was still food on the table as I set to finally giving this music a chance to be heard by the world.

The work is entitled “Trust” and that theme is both an embodiment of the relationship the six musicians developed working on moving this music “off the page,” as well as a prayer for the people of the world to put aside our differences and work together to confront the great challenges we face in the world of 2021.

The album consists of nine songs, five of which come from the standard jazz repertoire, and four of which are original compositions. The music is dedicated to the people of Fukushima, who are continuing the struggle to put their lives back together after the terrible events of 2011.

- Mark Tourian
Mark Tourian

1. Night and day 08:06
2. Fight for survival 10:18
3. Little island 08:58
4. Trust 09:04
5. If I should lose you 07:47
6. September song 06:52
7. Invitation 07:32
8. Con alma 07:14
9. Cleanup 07:04

MT6 members:
James Mahone - alto sax
Yoshiro Okazaki - trumpet
Pat Hallaran - trombone
Simon Cosgrove - piano
Juasa Kanoh - drums
Mark Tourian - bass and leader

NIGHT AND DAY by Cole Porter ©Warner Bros Music a Div of Warner Bros Inc.
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
LITTLE ISLAND by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
TRUST by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)
IF I SHOULD LOSE YOU by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin ©Sony/ATV Harmony
SEPTEMBER SONG by Max Anderson and Kurt Weill ©Chappell and Co. and Hampshire House Publishing
INVITATION by Bronislau Kaper and Paul Francis Webster ©EMI Robbins Catalog Inc. and Webster Music Corp.
CON ALMA by Dizzy Gillespie ©EMI April Music Inc. o/b/o Dizlo Music Corp.
CLEANUP by Mark Tourian ©Panormo Publishing (ASCAP)

Recorded live in Tokyo at B Flat on July 21 and at Studio Dede on July 25, 2013.

Akira Suzuki (B Flat)
Masakazu Tomi (live recording)
Akihito Yoshikawa (Studio Dede)
Bob Ward (mixing and mastering)
Toru Takashita (cover photo)

© Copyright 2021 Panormo Music

Matt Clark Three - Bottega Rooms (2021)

Recorded in a single, improvised session at Brighton Electric Studios. Initially this was intended to be a session to work out some new ideas with Darren, but I liked the recordings so much that I decided to release them as a standalone EP...

1. Elephant Vanishes 06:39
2. Nepal 07:18
3. Metronine 07:39

Matt Clark - Guitar
James Edmunds - Drums

All tracks composed/arranged by Matt Clark