Thursday, November 11, 2021

Aging ~ Land Trance - Embassy Nocturnes (Tombed Visions Records)

Embassy Nocturnes is the debut collaboration between Manchester-based Aging and Liverpool-based duo Land Trance.

Aging, led by seasoned multi-instrumentalist and Tombed Visions label owner David McLean, utilises the traditional jazz quintet to evoke the iconography of film noir and hard-boiled detective fiction, creating a proudly specific genre music for night-time consumption. Specialising in spacious, nocturnal improvisation and ballad heavy melodies present on releases such as 'Suitable for Night', 'Troubles? I got a bartender' and 2020's beautifully arranged LP 'Sentenced To Love', the band continue to conjure a deeply cinematic trip through the shadowy metropolises and rain soaked streets of classic 20th century crime stories.

Land Trance is the duo of Benjamin D. Duvall and Andrew PM Hunt, both active practitioners in the UK experimental music scene since the mid-2000s. The former as founder and creative director of prepared guitar ensemble Ex-Easter Island Head, the latter as leader of art pop group Outfit and more recently as a prolific composer and solo performer under his Dialect alias, with 2021's 'Under ~ Between' on RVNG Intl garnering significant critical acclaim for its idiosyncratic blending of electronic and acoustic textures. As Land Trance, the duo make an ecstatic, ecclesiastical form of psychedelic music rich in improvisation, instrumental colour and found sounds to create an elusive sense of place and memory. Their debut First Séance was voted 14th in The Quietus' best albums of 2020, with a vinyl reissue by Rocket recordings released in June 2021.

Embassy Nocturnes was recorded in the expansive basement of Liverpool's former Brazilian embassy. The nine evocatively titled pieces that make up the album act as their own distinct scenes, suggesting the labyrinthine atmosphere of the empty ballroom, the secret compartment and the damaged-beyond-repair reel of 8mm film marked “1968” discovered therein. Throughout, synthesisers glow and arc like approaching lights in the driveway; piano chords hang like cut-glass chandeliers. Echoes of quartet recitals for long gone dignitaries permeate the brass and bowed strings, electric guitar and tenor saxophone wreathed in red velvet and cigar smoke.

Elsewhere, pulsing machine rhythms and oscillating electronics evoke a passengers eye view of some neon expanse at cruising speed, with Joel C. Murray's agile and propulsive drum-work fluttering and hissing around the arrangements like steam valves opening and closing. Pealing, mournful trumpet bookends the album like a ghostly echo from the lower floors whilst other elements – dictaphone, bamboo marimba, plucked zither – weave through the pieces as enigmatic objects in an unknown narrative.

Embassy Nocturnes is a bold first meeting of musical voices, united through their commitment to creating a distinctive sense of place within their work. With group improvisation being sculpted into adventurous forms through extensive post-production and instrumental arrangement, the music blurs the edges of each artists’ distinctive musical vocabularies to create a vivid, mysterious collection of instrumentals rendered with cinematic richness.

1. Shattered Rooms 05:51
2. Under Chandeliers 04:30
3. Creeping Moonlight 04:31
4. Findings I 03:18
5. Lights In The Driveway 03:51
6. Findings II 03:49
7. Night Wounds 03:58
8. The Ornamented Lock 05:22
9. New Opiate 06:26

Andrew Hunt – Piano, Synthesisers, Electronics, Tenor Saxophone, Drum machine
Benjamin D. Duvall – Sampler, Shahi baaja, Bamboo Marimba, Zither, Dictaphone, Drum machine
David McLean – Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Piano
Joel Murray – Drums & Percussion

With
Nick Hunt - Trumpet
Chris Hutchinson - Double Bass
Ben Fair – Piano, Synthesiser

Recorded at The Embassy by Andrew Hunt
Additional recording by David Berger
Mixed and Arranged by Andrew Hunt & Benjamin D. Duvall
Mastered by Dirk Serries
Artwork by Lewis McLean

Enrique Peña - Intersticios (November 2021 ears & eyes Records)

The second album as a leader from the Colombian guitarist (based in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is entitled "INTERSTICIOS" (ears&eyes Records, 2021). This elegant and sophisticated record work in which the expressive freedom of each artist coexists with high-quality instrumental work conforms to a particular sound world, deep, soft, and energetic, and impregnated with an excellent jazz language.

On this occasion, Enrique Peña presents us with a group in trio format with very particular instrumentation, especially for two reasons: the non-use of the drums and the use of the bass clarinet as a melodic instrument, with a wonderful performance by Inti Sabev. To complete the trio, the guitar and clarinet are joined by the flawless participation of double bassist Juan Bayón.

We could say that “INTERSTICIOS” is the product of a different search in the development and evolution of these great musicians. It is a palpable example of his growing musical creativity, accompanied by an impeccable and well-cared-for instrumental elaboration.

The album consists of eight musical pieces, seven composed by Enrique Peña and one by Inti Sabev. Chosen with a good disposition, they tell us a story that reveals exquisite musical moments both in the improvisations and in the arrangements of the works.

When listening to “INTERSTICIOS”, we realize indisputably that we are dealing with high-quality work, both sound, and artistic.
1. Incertidumbre 06:50
2. Aguaneñado 07:15
3. Paysandú 05:28
4. Gris 03:15
5. Lundi 04:50
6. Archipiélago 06:15
7. Paraguas Mojados 04:24
8. Un Sueño Olivdado 06:32

Enrique Peña, guitar
Inti Sabev, bass clarinet
Juan Bayón, double bass

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Mariano Míguez at Ideo Music in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Album art/design by Nicolás Gaggero
Produced by Enrique Peña

Don Macdonald - Shifting Sands (November 2021)

This groove infused jazz fusion album puts violin and mandolin on center stage with a traditional rhythm section of guitar, piano, acoustic bass, and drums. I wrote and produced all the music and blended influences from around the world with contemporary compositional approaches. It’s a meditation, then a celebration, a New Orleans bluegrass jam then a Ghanaian inspired mandolin duet. 

I’m joined by an all-star cast of Canadian musicians including Dave Restivo (3-time winner of the National Jazz Awards' Pianist of the Year Award), guitarist Mike Rud (Juno Award Winner), Steven Parish on drums, Rob Fahie and Jill McKenna on bass, and Dylan Ferris on mandolin. Joining the group is Boston based Jason Anick, “A rising star in the world of jazz violin and mandolin” (Downbeat Magazine). 

1. Shifting Sands 06:07
2. Dali's Hourglass 05:17
3. Bayou 05:14
4. Dreams of Ozymandius 04:37
5. La Tormenta 04:51
6. Derecho 05:41
7. Bembe 05:27
8. Atacama 05:16
9. Homecoming 04:47

Don Macdonald - violin/composer/producer
Dave Restivo - piano
Mike Rud - guitar
Steven Parish - drums
Rob Fahie and Jill McKenna - upright bass
Jason Anick and Dylan Ferris - mandolin

Mixing and mastering - Chris Gestrin

Thierry Eliez - Sur l'écran noir (November 2021 Le Triton)

Thierry Eliez consacre un album studio aux chansons écrites par Michel Legrand pour Claude Nougaro. “Sur l’écran noir” paraît chez Triton / L’Autre Distribution

Claude Nougaro écrivait, poète sur le zinc. Michel Legrand composait jour et nuit, sur le piano. Une écriture cinématographique se dresse, en jeux de caméras subtilement pensés, introspectifs, des plans resserrés en portrait qui parlent du désir, de peur, de blues, de la folie, des contrastes entre le blanc et le noir, le noir et le rouge, entre l’enfer et le paradis. Leurs chansons, des court-métrages, achevées, ils sont partis à la recherche des interprètes qui deviendraient les 1er rôles de leurs scenarii, scènes de rêves, comédies ou drames, métaphysiques ou légères, des ondes de Jazz pour chaque vers. Mais la rencontre ne s’est pas faite, les chansons n’ont pas trouvé leurs voix. Alors Nougaro s’est mis à chanter pour elles…

60 ans plus tard, Michel Legrand raconte cette histoire à Thierry Eliez et Ceilin Poggi qui, avec la complicité du Triton, partent à la recherche des interprètes qui sauront à nouveau rencontrer ces œuvres sublimes, le temps d’un concert. Dans la continuité de ce concert le Triton a décidé de produire cet album avec 10 chanteurs et chanteuses. 

Thierry Eliez, pianiste virtuose et émérite du jazz, construit chaque détail de sa carrière sur la curiosité, le goût de la fantaisie et la déconstruction des genres. Il voue une admiration infinie à la profondeur poétique de Claude Nougaro, qu’il explore et interprète depuis ses tendres années. Il le rencontrera quelques années plus tard en l’invitant à chanter une version de Dansez sur moi devenue mythique, sur l’album du même nom, enregistré avec le Ceccarelli Trio. Sa rencontre avec Michel Legrand a lieu lors d’un enregistrement pour Aretha Franklin et marque le début d’une longue collaboration musicale. Michel Legrand n’hésitait pas à parler de Thierry Eliez comme « le meilleur pianiste de Jazz du monde », leur admiration réciproque les fit travailler ensemble à de nombreuses reprises, en particulier sur l’album “Legrand Nougaro” sur lequel Michel Legrand interprète lui même les chansons qu’il composa sur les textes de Claude Nougaro.

Né à Arcachon, Thierry Eliez se passionne très jeune pour le piano. Il n’a que 7 ans lorsqu’il écrit ses premières pièces à partir d’improvisations libres. Il est alors considéré comme l’un des plus jeunes prodiges des claviers et de l’improvisation qui, plus qu’une forme musicale libre, est la voie même de son expression artistique et de sa création.
Professionnel à 17 ans, il se fait remarquer par Didier Lockwood, qu’il rejoint pour enregistrer l’album «1234». C’est sur cette tournée qu’il se lie avec André Ceccarelli et Jean-Marc Jafet, rencontre qui marquera la naissance du groupe le Ceccarelli Trio. En 1992, Ils reçoivent les Victoires de la Musique du « Meilleur Album Jazz » et le Prix Django d’Or pour « Hat Snatcher ».

Thierry Eliez devient l’une des plus importantes figures du Jazz français et travaille avec de nombreux artistes internationaux et notamment avec la chanteuse américaine Dee Dee Bridgewater pour qui il sera le directeur musical durant 14 années de tournées mondiales.

Michel Legrand fait appel à lui pour jouer de l'orgue dans son album Legrand Nougaro en hommage à Claude Nougaro. Cet album permet à Thierry Eliez de rejouer avec son ami André Ceccarelli et de rencontrer, entre autres, le contrebassiste Ron Carter.

Sa carrière internationale est également marquée par de multiples rencontres et collaborations parmi lesquelles on peur noter Horace Silver, Jaco Pastorius, Jimmy Smith, Aretha Franklin, David Sanchez, Ray Charles, James Moody, Ron Carter, ainsi qu’avec les compositeurs Michel Legrand, Eric Serra et Lalo Schifrin. 

À la fois pianiste, organiste, claviériste, chanteur, compositeur, auteur, arrangeur, Thierry Eliez est un musicien ouvert à tous les styles musicaux, de la musique brésilienne au jazz en passant par la chanson, le blues ou encore le rock progressif.

01 - Le cinéma 04:26
02 - Splaouch 04:42
03 - Sa maison 03:22
04 - Tiens toi bien a mon coeur 02:21
05 - Vachement décontracté 04:17
06 - Serge et Nathalie 04:20
07 - Alcatraz 04:24
08 - Ma fleur 04:25
09 - Les en fants qui pleurent 04:16
10 - Le rouge et le noir 02:51
11 - Bilboquet 02:45
12 - Tu dormiras longtemps 03:39
13 - Le Paradis 04:49

Thierry Eliez (p, voc)

+ invité.e.s au chant:
Ceilin Poggi, Alain Chamfort, Paloma Pradal, Médéric Collignon, Thomas de Pourquery, Celia Reggiani, Manu Domergue, Stella Vander, JP Nataf.

Aldo Romano - Liberi Sumus (November 2021 Le Triton)

1 Observare 7:22
2 Entrare 8:46
3 Acceptatio 5:00
4 Acceleratio 8:07
5 Animus 1:29
6 Rapidus 2:33
7 Complementum 10:16
8 Exit 4:33

Aldo Romano (ds)
Henri Texier (b)
Vincent Lê Quang (sax)

Andrea Centazzo / Elisabeth Harnik - TWIN PEAKS (November 2021 ICTUS Records)

We like here to quote part of what the magnificent musician and great friend Steve Swell wrote about our duo just few months ago:
“...The improvisations on this recording radiate with life and provide an expansive look into the deeper reaches of our minds. Each one completely engaged me, spurring my imagination in so many ways, taking me to new places that created landscapes with some vivid and unusual scenery. It was a fun listen by two master improvisers and the perfect antidote to another day in the confines of the Corona-Virus Blues. The power of improvisation. Its where it’s at my friends....
There’s an ancient-future that reveals itself constantly here. A modernity that grows and blooms from the rich soil of the recent, flowering into the next, to assure the winning of a hard scrabble evolution into humanness…”
Steve Swell, New York City

1. TWIN PEAKS #1 04:59
2. TWIN PEAKS #2 05:11
3. TWIN PEAKS #3 12:29
4. TWIN PEAKS #4 04:34
5. TWIN PEAKS #5 08:57
6. TWIN PEAKS #6 03:19

Andrea Centazzo Percussion, Mallet Kat, Sampling
Elisabeth Harnik Piano, Objects

Recorded live in concert by Raimund Spoeck at Villa For Forest, Klagenfurt, Austria on December 13th 2019
Edited, mixed and produced by Andrea Centazzo at ICTUS Studio, Long Beach, California November 2021
Concert organized by Raimund Spoeck for Verein Innenhofkultur, Klagenfurt
Cover art by AC

Marc Cary - Life Lessons / Ancestral Outtakes (November 2021 The Harlem Sessions)

1. Babes Blues 04:56
2. Bird Lives 05:33
3. Bird Lives (alternate version) 05:30
4. Isle of Java 03:37

Los Carlitos - Plop (En vivo en ECEM) November 2021 Discos ICM

Los Carlitos es el grupo liderado por el trompetista Esteban Garvie. Junto a él lo integran Federico Viceconte en saxo y clarinete, Leandro Camus en contrabajo y Luciano Monte en bateria.

1. Plop 05:32
2. Camonangetti 06:14
3. Byung 04:47
4. Honky Tonk 06:51
5. Chau Mingus 05:26
6. Bleiki 04:02
7. Barto tocate un Do 05:20
8. Brad 02:00
9. Valen Scale 06:55

Esteban Garvie. Trompeta y composición
Federico Viceconte. Saxo
Luciano Monte. Batería
Leandro Camus. Contrabajo

Invitado en Valen Sacale, Bleiki y Camonangetti Valentin Garvie. Estos temas fueron grabados y mezclados por Jorge Petta.

Various Artists - Garden of Eden (November 2021 Radio Juicy)

Radio Juicy presents “Garden of Eden”, a complete collection of all the essential singles we’ve released from 2020 and 2021. Previously, these singles were all only available via digital streaming, and with “Garden of Eden'' we brought them all together in an exclusive, cohesive experience. It’s available now streaming on all DSPs, for digital purchase on our website / Bandcamp, and as a limited physical pressing on white vinyl as a part of a double LP gatefold package, illustrated and designed by modern artist Sandro Rybak.

Garden of Eden brings together all of the artists that have been contributing to what we refer to as the new Radio Juicy sound, and the compilation marks a significant chapter in our musical adventure; one that’s as jazzy, electronic and organic, expanding from our lofi roots and replacing sample-based loops with extended original compositions.

This compilation will take you back over the last couple of years of Radio Juicy releases in style, where you can (re)experience the music as if it was new, while also giving you a chance to own all of the songs for your collection and further more with this incredible physical collector's edition.

As the album marks a completed chapter for Radio Juicy as a label, it is also the beginning, or “genesis”, of our next adventure, and this body of work lays the foundation of what’s to come next.

1. uncommenn, oxthemoron, slowya.roll & Nokiaa - Eclipse 03:34
2. elmo, anu & nico harris - Early Hours 02:58
3. Glance, goosetaf & slowya.roll - Triptych 03:08
4. anbuu - Two Paths 02:58
5. shortfatty, Needraw & midnight alpha. - Whitetail 03:14
6. goosetaf, anbuu & liid. - Withholding 02:52
7. Nokiaa & Deauxnuts - Safehouse 02:40
8. Bao & Dayle - Redline 02:34
9. elmo & nico harris - Flipside 02:42
10. slowya.roll & daniel hayn - Out of Time 04:08
11. slowya.roll, anbuu, elmo & goosetaf - Typhoon 03:43
12. Keeth, elmo & Glance - Overflow 03:32
13. Glance, Nokiaa & goosetaf - Nudge 02:38
14. anbuu & Needraw - Blueform 03:10
15. elmo & Kalimero - Papillon 03:32
16. uncommenn & Chris Mazuera - Jams 02:48
17. walzy & goosetaf - Table Tennis 03:05
18. nico harris, anu & elmo - Uncertain 03:11
19. khoa - Cabin Fever 01:52
20. Vooo & slowya.roll - Aqua 04:21

All tracks produced and mixed by the various named artists
Mastered by SterilOne at Staub Audio Engineering
Illustration and design by Sandro Rybak
A&R by Janis Koch & Mitchell Peterson
Published, manufactured and distributed by Urban Waves