Alan Kwan Quartet - Petrichor (February 2022)

“Incisive, beautiful playing and gorgeous writing. Great record, Alan is a voice worth listening to!”

- Paul Bollenback

"Alan is a next-generation modern player/composer on the rise, from Hong Kong but with NYC pedigree. Beyond his lush harmonies, seamless rhythmic sophistication and breathy melodies, I connect with the expressiveness and honesty I hear in this array of original compositions that are beautifully recorded. It's music that will appeal to musicians who love this idiom, and to listeners new to jazz who love soothing textures and ethereal melodies. I hear the budding of a prolific composer who I think people will be excited to see/hear where he goes”

- Peter Mazza

“…The guitar artistry is exceptional, the tone is warm and rich, the technique is clear, precise and very fluid….”

- Fred Hamilton

“This album is full of his brilliancy, warmth and tenacity. The tone heals the listener.”

– Daiki Yasukagawa

1. Voyage 06:45

2. When Will I See You Again? 06:01

3. Central Escalators 06:20

4. Montauk 04:55

5. Petrichor 07:57

6. Hold True 06:39

7. Tread Softly 03:17

Alan Kwan / guitar, compositions

Fabian Almazan / piano

Linda May Oh / bass

Johnathan Blake / drums

Special Guest: 

Dayna Stephens / tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

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Nery Kim - Purple Reflection (September 10, 2021)

1. Love Poem (戀歌) 05:45

2. Luna 06:47

3. Purple Reflection 07:28

4. BD 07:39

5. Merveille 06:47

6. Mikyren 06:02

7. Falling Blossoms (落花) 02:26

8. Aster 06:20

Trumpet Alex Sipiagin

Tenor Saxophone Dayna Stephens

Trombone Alan Ferber

Piano/Keys Nery Kim

Bass John Patitucci

Drums Jonathan Pinson

Violin Chia-Yung Daniel Chin

Violin Seoyeon Im

Viola Li-Jung Chien

Cello Hyelim Kwon

All Compositions written by Nery Kim

Recorded by Jason Rostkowski at GSI Studio, New York, NY

Mixed & Mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording Studio, New York, NY

Produced by Nery Ki

Photo by Hannah Jeon

Artworks by Sewon Kim

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Dayna Stephens - Pluto Juice (July 2021)

For nearly 15 years, having achieved international renown as a saxophonist (#1 Rising Star Tenor, 2019 Downbeat Critics Poll), Dayna Stephens has worked assiduously to create a musical voice on the Akai Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI). Following in the footsteps of Bob Mintzer and the late Michael Brecker, and like his EWI-exploring peers Morgan Guerin, Mark Shim and Seamus Blake, Stephens has featured the EWI in select contexts with his own bands, on Gilad Hekselman’s 2019 release Further Chaos and other projects. With Pluto Juice, co-led and co-produced by drummer and composer Anthony Fung, Stephens turns the spotlight fully on EWI for the first time, in an adventurous electric quartet setting with the stellar Canadian musicians Andrew Marzotto (guitar) and Rich Brown (bass).

One of the band’s first pieces, “Approaching Pluto,” was composed by Stephens when NASA’s New Horizons craft completed its long-awaited flyby of the dwarf planet in the summer of 2015. The music that followed was conceived specifically for the group, and the theme of space travel stuck. Stephens’ “Welcome to Our Snow Globe” leads off with a focus on Earth, while “Outskirts of Neptune” strives to capture the journey through the outermost solar system as Pluto grows momentously near. Fung’s “Pluto and Beyond” follows New Horizons past its final destination and further into the void, while two more Fung compositions, “Trial on Mars” and “Green Gargantua,” deal respectively with imagined conflict on other worlds and the unfathomably massive emptiness of a black hole. The writing, full of complexity, rhythmic urgency and sonic adventure, represents a thrilling new departure for the two co-leaders.

Fung, a Toronto native now based in Los Angeles, has two fine albums to his credit, Chronicles (2014) and Flashpoint (2018, awarded four stars in Downbeat). He first played with Stephens when called to sub on a trio gig at the LA club Sam First. Sparks flew right away, and Fung invited Stephens up to Toronto to pursue the EWI-driven collaboration that became Pluto Juice. “The first Pluto Juice gig in January 2019 was immediately awesome,” recalls Stephens, “and by the time we played the Toronto Jazz Festival we knew we had to record, because this was some serious s**t.”

The group takes full advantage of the EWI’s capabilities in creating what Stephens calls “a sea of infinity in terms of sound production.” Stephens employs synth interfaces, copious guitar pedals and other wares, imbuing Pluto Juice with a wealth of sonic color and mystery. The EWI has the unique advantage of being terra incognita, far more so than the tenor saxophone, Stephens notes: “There’s a lot less pressure, and you can really develop your own approach to it. It’s got eight octaves like a piano as opposed to two and a half on sax, so it’s a completely different universe.” The EWI can also function harmonically: you will often hear Stephens comping two-note dyads under Marzotto’s solos. “There’s an expression I’ve heard regarding tenor players, ‘You’ve got to fight for your sound,’ and that’s what I feel like I’m still doing on EWI,” he muses. “I’m still just getting started on this axe. The possibilities are so endless.” In fact, constant innovation in synth technology (physical modeling, wavetables, harmonizers, all too involved to attempt to explain here) assures that the possibilities are growing more endless still.

At times Stephens will tap into a lyrical woodwind tone, or conjure a broad open soundscape, or dig in with something reminiscent of a Hammond B3 with Leslie speaker. Or he’ll launch into gnarled, overdriven lines and phrases, equal parts John Scofield and some unknown instrument from the beyond.

The blend of EWI with Marzotto’s fluid guitar lines and celestial harmonies, and the supple rock-solid feel of Brown and Fung, makes Pluto Juice all the more striking. “I’ve known Andrew since we were kids,” says Fung. “We went to Berklee together, he’s one of my closest buddies from Toronto. He had his own thing from the start and that’s why I love calling him for projects.” Rich Brown made waves as the original bassist of Andy Milne’s Dapp Theory and has done groundbreaking work as a leader with rinsethealgorithm, Abeng and the solo bass album Between Heaviness & Here. His effortless facility and deep tone help make Pluto Juice the captivating listen that it is. 

1. Welcome to our Snow Globe 06:55

2. Pluto and Beyond 05:29

3. Outskirts of Neptune 08:53

4. Rolly Polly 06:20

5. Trial on Mars 04:54

6. Zoomed Out 07:37

7. Green Gargantua 04:01

8. Approaching Pluto 06:30

9. Lies That Tell the Truth 02:53

Dayna Stephens - Ewi & Soprano Sax

Anthony Fung - Drums

Andrew Marzotto - Guitar

Rich Brown - Bass

Pete Rende - Synth (only on Track 5)

Produced by Anthony Fung & Dayna Stephens

Recorded October 27, 2019 by Chris Stringer at Unknown Sound Company in Toronto, Canada

Mixed by Pete Rende

Mastered by Nate Wood

Artwork by Dayna Stephens & Christopher Drukker

Graphic design by Christopher Drukker

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Johannes Wallmann - Elegy for an Undiscovered Species (June 25, 2021 Shifting Paradigm Records)

Johannes Wallmann’s Elegy for an Undiscovered Species is the pianist’s ninth album and his most ambitious effort to date: a full-length album of new music for jazz quintet and string orchestra. The 19-piece ensemble is fronted by two returning collaborators of Wallmann’s, New York trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, and powered by a rhythm tandem of drummer Allison Miller and bassist Nick Moran. Two years in the making, the album was recorded at the Hamel Music Center in Madison in late February 2020 – just prior to the Covid shutdown – and will be released June 25, 2021.

1. Elegy for an Undiscovered Species

2. Two Ears Old

3. In Three

4. Expeditor

5. Longing

6. The Greater Fool

7. Two Ears Old (reprise)

Johannes Wallmann - piano

Ingrid Jensen - trumpet

Dayna Stephens - tenor saxophone, EWI

Allison Miller - drums

Nick Moran - bass

String orchestra: Kaleigh Acord (concert master), Maynie Bradley, Mercedes Cullen (principal), Glen Kuenzi, Chang-En Lu, Anna Luebke, Richard Silvers, Mary Shin, violins; Emma Cifrino, Pedro Oviedo, Rachel Riese (principal), violas; Hannah Kasun, Cole Randolph (principal), Ben Therrell, cellos; Michael Dolan, conductor.

All compositions by Johannes Wallmann, MooseWorks Music, BMI

Recorded February 21 & 22, 2020 at the Mead Witter Concert Hall, Hamel Music Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Johannes Wallmann is a Yamaha Piano Artist and thanks Heid Music and the Yamaha Corporation for providing the Yamaha CF6 piano for this recording.

Recording engineers: Audrey Martinovich and Buzz Kemper (Audio for the Arts)

Mixing engineer: Audrey Martinovich (Audio for the Arts)

Mastering engineer: Mark Whitcomb (DNA Music Lab)

Graphic Design: Jamie Breiwick, B Side Graphics

Producer: Johannes Wallmann

This recording was made possible with generous support from: The Emily Mead Baldwin Award, Division of the Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison & The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the Graduate School Research Competition, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Ethan Iverson - Bud Powell In The 21st Century (2021 Sunnyside Records)

The effects of the bebop revolution in jazz music are still being felt and explored. Of the half dozen true pioneers of the movement, pianist Bud Powell has remained somewhat in the shadows, although his work has become a major touchstone for true devotees of the music and a principal influence for most of jazz’s most explorative pianists.

Powell’s brilliant original compositions are essential, infinitely listenable but also strangely tricky. Unlike Monk, Parker and Gillespie, the composer neglected to perform them much after their original recordings, so they never became a part of the jazz lingua franca. Pianist and historian Ethan Iverson provides a fantastic validation of Powell’s compositional genius on his new recording, Bud Powell In The 21st Century, a reworking of a number of Powell’s pieces for big band.

Iverson came upon Powell’s music early in his development via the Mosaic boxed set of the complete Powell on Blue Note Records and the essential The Genius of Bud Powell compilation on Verve Records. The music was revelatory for Iverson and has continued to be an inspiration well into his career. That career has always balanced itself between the presentation of new contemporary work and jazz history, essentially Iverson’s involvement with The Bad Plus paired with his work on Do The Math.

After his departure from The Bad Plus, Iverson’s time has been occupied more and more with large commissions, like curating MONK@100, the Monk Centennial event at Duke University, Iverson’s overview of the British jazz scene for the London Jazz Festival, a piano concerto for the American Composers Orchestra, and Pepperland for the Mark Morris Dance Group. It was under the auspices of a commission from Carlo Pagnotta, Enzo Capua and the Umbria Jazz Festival that Iverson’s Powell project was able to take shape.

The popular pull of tribute concerts in jazz institutions has continued to surge, a common draw at Jazz at Lincoln Center and jazz festivals all over the world. Iverson believes fresh creative composition to be almost a requirement for jazz repertory projects to be successful. The project shaped itself into what would be Iverson’s first attempt at arranging for big band; to be presented at the Umbria Jazz Festival in 2019.

For source material, Iverson began toward four quintet pieces that Powell recorded with an incredible group of musicians in 1949. The ensemble of Powell, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, trumpeter Fats Navarro, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer Roy Haynes plays quintessential versions of Powell’s “Bouncing with Bud,” “Dance of The Infidels” and “Wail,” along with Monk’s “52nd Street Theme.” Because this is the only Powell led session with horns, Iverson decided to use these tunes as the backbone of his orchestrations.

Iverson is generally attracted to more idiosyncratic jazz composers who write for their ensembles, individuals like Duke Ellington and Carla Bley. In an effort to bridge a divide that would come from composing and arranging for a one-off big band, Iverson enlisted a tremendous quintet to secure the foundation of his work. Ingrid Jensen had impressed Iverson for years as a triumphant solo voice in Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Band. Saxophonist Dayna Stephens stood apart for his virtuosity and oblique approach. Bassist Ben Street has been a longtime collaborator, someone who understands both bebop and modernity. The happy opportunity to add drummer Lewis Nash, a master musician who has been the first call of many legends, was too good for Iverson to pass up.

Going into the actual writing and arranging, Iverson knew that he wanted to present Powell’s compositions accurately, doing “no harm” to their original intention. This would be difficult, as the pieces are hard and have finicky details. There were a number of composers and arrangers Iverson looked to for inspiration, including Stravinsky’s arranging of older Italian music and Carla Bley’s take on Spanish folk songs for Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra. Shades of Count Basie and the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band also tint Iverson’s palette.

Iverson’s composed original pieces, like “Bud Powell in the 21st Century” and “Nobile Paradiso,” use Powell’s improvisations as building blocks. Iverson also borrows key harmonic and melodic ideas to inform his “Spells,” short chorales that connect the larger pieces and have the feel of an eerie séance with the celebrated pianist. Pieces like “Continuity” and “Nobile Paradiso” are heightened by Iverson’s mastery of counterpoint, with strands of ideas moving around each other, the latter piece composed of Iverson’s original material that builds like an anthemic Powell composition, like a hill from a grain of sand (with a foxtrot rhythm!). Big moving block chords hammer in the harmonic ingenuity of Powell’s originals under Iverson’s dynamic revisions.

Powell’s touch can be heard throughout the recording. Iverson and other ensemble members quote the pianist’s solo lines throughout, as can be heard in the saxophone section on “Celia” and under Iverson’s capable fingers on “Tempus Fugit,” which happens to be led in by an unaccompanied display of Nash’s impeccable bebop drumming. The gorgeously played French horn feature for Giovanni Hoffer on Powell’s ballad, “I’ll Keep Loving You,” is a true showstopper.

Ethan Iverson’s Bud Powell in The 21st Century is a landmark not only in his career but also in the legacy of Powell, a musician who came from a generation that longed for the opportunities to have their pieces appreciated as the true art it is. Iverson has stylishly recreated the legend’s pieces for a grand big band to perform on a festival stage in Italy. Powell’s spirit should be pleased.

1. Bud Powell In The 21st Century: I. Chorale 02:33

2. Bud Powell In The 21st Century: II. Continuity 04:13

3. Celia 05:10

4. Tempus Fugit 05:02

5. Five Simple Spells: I. Chorale 01:11

6. Bouncing with Bud 04:00

7. Five Simple Spells: II. Waltz 00:53

8. Wail 03:02

9. Five Simple Spells: III. Chorale 00:52

10. Dance of The Infidels 02:49

11. Five Simple Spells: IV. Moderato 01:15

12. 52nd Street 03:50

13. Five Simple Spells: V. Ballad 01:41

14. I'll Keep Loving You 05:46

15. Nobile Paradisco 11:10

16. Un Poco Loco 06:22

Ingrid Jensen - trumpet

Dayna Stephens - tenor saxophone

Ethan Iverson - piano, conduction (Tracks 1 & 16)

Ben Street - bass

Lewis Nash - drums

Giovanni Hoffer - French horn (Track 16)

Daniele Tittarelli - alto saxophone

Manuele Morbidini - alto saxophone, conduction (Tracks 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14)

Pedro Spallati - tenor saxophone

Rossano Emili - baritone saxophone

Mirco Rubegni - trumpet

Francesco Lento - trumpet

Francesco Fratini - trumpet

Massimo Morganti - trombone

Roberto Rossi - trombone

Federico Pierantoni - trombone

Rosario Liberti - bass trombone

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Kristiana Roemer - House of Mirrors (Sunnyside Records)

Every individual has the opportunity to forge her own path through life making decisions based on internal and external factors. One’s intuitions, lessons learned, relationships and experiences inform the path one takes. Once the course has been taken, there is always reflection on the choices made and on what other choices may have yielded, and what they both may tell about one’s self.

Vocalist/composer Kristiana Roemer likens these wide-ranging deliberations to a disorienting, ever-changing array of looking glasses, thus, the title of her new recording, House of Mirrors. Roemer’s recording debut finds the vocalist at an exciting time in her promising career, navigating her unique path, where she is ready to introduce her fabulously broad musical approach and singular experience to the world.

Born to an American mother and a German father, Roemer grew up in a bi-lingual household in Frankfurt, Germany. Her mother instilled the importance of integrating her American with her German culture, namely through attending their English-speaking church and making long summer visits to North Dakota. Music was an important part of Roemer’s life from early on. She began piano lessons at six and then began singing in church and with a traveling choir; her first efforts at songwriting took place by the age of nine.

Roemer was taking classical voice lessons as a teenager when she met a professional pianist who invited her to sing popular tunes and standards with him at a local lounge, and soon they were performing together regularly. Choosing to continue her music education, Roemer received a scholarship to attend Concordia College in Minnesota for a year before she returned to Germany to care for her mother, who had fallen ill and passed away soon thereafter. During this time, Roemer had enrolled for her bachelor of science at Frankfurt University but soon impulse led her to move to Paris, where she spent three years performing regularly at cabarets and clubs and hosting a jam session, along with studying vocal jazz at the Paris Conservatory and completing her bachelor’s degree from abroad. In Paris, she formed a quartet and began performing her original compositions.

On a summer trip to New York, she fell in love with the City. Though Paris had been instrumental in solidifying her love and pursuit of jazz, the openness of New York’s scene made Roemer feel free to truly spread her musical wings and provided the nurturing ground that allowed her to define her musical voice. While writing music had become second nature to her, she felt that to truly express herself in her storytelling she had to broaden her approach, including her introduction of German lyrics along with English.

Roemer moved to New York soon thereafter and dove directly into the jazz scene there, performing regularly at Rockwood Music Hall, Jazz at Kitano Hotel and Cornelia St. Café, and completing her Master of Music in jazz studies at Queens College. Roemer was anxious to record as soon as she arrived. One of the many musicians she met was bassist Alex Claffy, whose enthusiasm for collaboration motivated Roemer to push through the production of House of Mirrors. Roemer set up recording dates and they brought on pianist Addison Frei and drummer Adam Arruda.

The original pieces on her stylistically diverse and explorative recording were selected with the intention of taking the listener on a journey and telling the story in a direct and honest way. These are compositions that Roemer felt needed to come out so that she could continue her growth and explore new pathways. The pieces span from her time in Paris to her time in New York, many having been written with her ensemble and special guest artists in mind. Many of the lyrics, hers and otherwise, began as poetry.

The story is introduced by the title track, a meditative piece exploring decisions made and paths taken, that’s mood is amplified by guest Gilad Hekselman’s sensitive but spacious guitar. The haunting “Beauty Is a Wound” is a tribute to Roemer’s mother, the music going straight to the heart with stripped-down, minimalist but emotionally charged accompaniment by percussionist Rogerio Boccato. The intrepidly upbeat “Virgin Soil” is an benison given to a sister to go out and find one’s own way; gorgeous solos from Dayna Stephens and Frei emphasize Roemer’s message.

Roemer intentionally includes German language in her music, as there has not been much use of the language in contemporary jazz, which she delivers in a natural, relatable way. In seeking German poetry, she discovered Felice Schragenheim’s “Deine Hände,” an uplifting love poem, written by a courageous woman who knew misfortune and died young at the hands of the Nazis, that Roemer arranged exquisitely for the quartet. The intensely persistent “Dark Night of the Soul” utilizes St. John of the Cross’s poem for content but really shines with Roemer’s brazen recitation of her own writing accompanied by Ben Monder’s guitar exploration. Hermann Hesse’s “Manchmal” is a blue-tinged appeal for humans to see our reflection in nature and mend our relationship with it.

Monder’s shimmering guitar tones provide a gorgeous, enveloping soundscape for Roemer’s “Lullaby for N.,” a thoughtful piece echoing the parting of a friend. Roemer adapted Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar” into a metrically intriguing arrangement, the paramour’s message of love heightened by Stephens’s brilliant tenor, Frei’s rhapsodic piano and Claffy’s expressive bass. The recording concludes with Charles Mingus’s “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love,” a tremendous song about the love of music that brings us back to the journey’s true essence and its ultimate goal, the music.

The music of Kristiana Roemer comes from an honest place, a place of appraisals of actions and embracing all potential paths, whether taken or not. Her House of Mirrors is a diverse and brilliantly devised program of music that illustrates where Roemer has been and where she will go in her bright future.

1. House of Mirrors 03:02

2. Beauty Is A Wound 04:14

3. Virgin Soil 04:46

4. Deine Hände 02:01

5. Dark Night of The Soul 04:57

6. Manchmal 03:03

7. Lullaby for N. 03:56

8. Sugar 05:54

9. Duke Ellington's Sound of Love 04:53

Kristiana Roemer - vocals

Addison Frei - piano

Alex Claffy - bass

Adam Arruda - drums

Gilar Hekselman - guitar (1)

Ben Monder - guitar (5, 6, 7)

Dayna Stephens - saxophone (3, 8)

Rogerio Boccato - percussion (2)

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Johannes Wallmann - Day and Night (SHIFTING PARADIGM RECORDS November 2, 2018)

1. Press Briefing

2. Think of One

3. Nocturne

4. Night and Day

5. No Blues For No One

6. What Now?

7. All Or Nothing At All

8. Toddlin'

9. Solitude

10. Bright Mississippi

11. What Now?

Johannes Wallman - piano 

Brian Lynch - trumpet, flugelhorn 

Dayna Stephens - tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone 

Matt Pavolka - bass 

Colin Stranahan - drums 

Recorded at Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY 

Engineered by John Davis 

Mixing and Mastering by Mark Whitcomb, DNA Music Labs, Madison, WI 

Photography by Eric Schirtzinger, Bascom Brothers, Madison, WI 

Design by Jamie Breiwick, B-Side Graphics, Milwaukee, WI 

Produced by Johannes Wallmann

Jeff Denson - Outside My Window (RIDGEWAY RECORDS 2018)

The exceptional bassist is an expressive vocalist in both his own compositions and interpretations of Jeff Buckley, Peter Gabriel, Abbey Lincoln and Chris Cornell

At first glance, bassist Jeff Denson seems to be reinventing himself with each of his albums, and his twelfth album Outside My Window also represents a departure in a new direction. With his powerful tone and lyrical-compositional vision, this versatile musician has come to life Over the past 15 years, he has earned recognition as one of the key bassists of his generation. This album recalibrates the range of its creative expressive possibilities by attaching equal importance to his singing voice. Working with an outstanding international quartet, Denson provides an emotional and exciting program, interweaving surprising interpretations of iconic songs and deeply felt original compositions.

That Denson turns out in the middle of his career as a sensitive and enthusiastic singer is not so surprising. The 2012 released "Secret World", the first under his own name, featured two original compositions featuring Denson's vocals, establishing a pattern that continues on most of his solo albums. Last year, Sgt. Pepper's memory album "May I Introduce to You," in collaboration with the San Francisco String Trio, featured his vocal interpretation of "Fixing a Hole" as one of the highlights. Denson's music covers a wide stylistic range, "but my voice is the thread running through everything, whether I sing or not," he says. "I was a singer before I became a bassist. With my entry into the jazz world, I had to put my voice down for a long time. But that I use the voice more from year to year is a logical step for me. This is the first time I sing on an entire album and the songs are a direct continuation of the music I compose and arrange. "

Denson's arrangements of the four pieces by other artists are not so much a reinvention of the works but a new view through the filter of his rich sonic palette. The first is a version of "Grace," a piece inspired by the Negative Press Project album "Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds," which Denson produced for Ridgeway Records last year. This is followed by a simple yet touching version of Abbey Lincoln's "Bird Alone", a reharmonized version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" in 6/8 time scale and an arrangement of "Fell On Black Days" by Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell; a tribute to one of the bands that provided the soundtrack to Denson's schooldays.

"In my opinion he is the best singer of the rock / grunge generation," says Denson. "I wanted to pay tribute to him and his art. And Abbey is one of my favorite singers. I've always liked how she sings, how she pulls the beat; like Billie Holiday. She has such a full, intense sound and in particular this title has always touched me. I wanted to see what I can do with it. "

Denson's four original compositions need not hide from the cover pieces, neither "For a Brand New Day" with Beatle-like optimism nor the "We Have Really Gone This Far" clanking with a prepared piano to "Through the Mist", a melancholy piece The Denson has been fundamentally reworked with Minsarah since its original version in 2006, and sounds as if it had just been beamed across from Miles Davis' Next Universe in "In a Silent Way." The vocalist contributes a wordless vocal solo. The final piece, titled Outside My Window, is a wistful invitation to the rich musical world of Jeff Denson.

The album is based on deep musical friendships. Dayna Stephens and Denson met at Boston's Berkelee School of Music and have since played together in different constellations. Israeli-born drummer Ronen Itzig is also a Berkelee pupil, and they have built a close connection through their interplay in the rhythm section of Joe Lovano's 21st Century Ensemble. Both have their degrees at the Florida State University, where they worked together daily, recording three albums with pianist Bill Peterson and one with singer Inga Swearingen over the course of two years. The highly esteemed Finnish pianist Kari Ikonen is a relative newcomer to Denson's musical world and quickly became indispensable. Denson hired icons for a tour with legendary alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and "noted with pleasure that this was my trio with Itzig. Everything fit together and was inspiring. The next few tours with Lee Konitz were always with them. "

Konitz played a key role in rediscovering Denson's vocal voice through his encouragement after hearing Denson sing on "Secret World." During a joint performance at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, the saxophonist made the surprising announcement "Jeff is going to sing," recalls Denson. "They did not even have a microphone on stage, but I sang the tune. Then I booked a West Coast tour with him and we sang spontaneously together every night. It felt great to play the jazz standard repertoire and then sing with him on stage. On the other hand, I also knew that I wanted to make my own music and sing like I was singing; without restrictions."

Denson, born December 20, 1976 in Arlington, Virginia, grew up around Washington DC. He played alto saxophone from the third grade, but he gave up in the middle school, but the music had him back soon after as school friends committed him as a singer for rock bands. When one of these groups also needed a bassist, he also took over this role and it was not long before he discovered the divine world of electric bass players in jazz and funk. "Bassists like Jaco, Bootsy Collins, and Stanley Clarke were my entry," recalls Denson. "The virtuoso electric bass in the fusion opened the door to jazz for me." The music of Miles Davis then led him to the double bass, but it was Mingus who inspired him to hang up the Fender. "On 'Haitian Fight Song', he plays this incredible introduction. That was the key moment, "says Denson. "It was clear to me that I could never produce such sounds on the electric bass."

During his studies at Northern Virginia Community College, he earned his living as a freelance musician by playing jazz, orchestral music, rock covers, and being head of his own funk combo as bassist and singer in Greater DC. Shortly after receiving a scholarship to Berklee College of Music he made acquaintance with the German pianist Florian Weber and the Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz, two fellow students with whom founded the Minsarah. The collective trio released their debut album on Hubermusic in 2003, and in 2006 they released an eponymous, critically acclaimed album on Enja Records. In addition to international concert tours with this group, Denson managed to pursue a rigorous academic career.

Hired by Florida State University, he earned a Master of Music title in Jazz and discovered his penchant for teaching. After graduating from Magna Cum Laude in 2005 and preparing to move to New York City, he happened to meet bass guru Mark Dresser. He had just accepted a professorship at the University of California in San Diego and convinced Denson to relocate to Southern California. There he got, again with full scholarship, the doctorate in Contemporary Music Performance with a focus on composition. During his stay in San Diego Denson also toured extensively with Minsarah. Lee Konitz heard the band in 2006 on a concert series in Germany. "The beginning of a great adventure," says Denson.

With Minsarah in the role of his band, the critically acclaimed 2007 Lee Konitz New Quartet released his first album, Deep Lee. This was followed in 2009 by the album Live at the Village Vanguard, which won the 2010 Album of the Year award from French Jazzman Magazine, and 2014 standards Live: At the Village Vanguard (all on Enja). In 2012, Denson debuted as a bandleader with his album Secret World and demonstrated his versatility with the simultaneous release of two duo albums: I'll Fly Away, inventing American hymns and spirituals from scratch with San Diego-based pianist Joshua White The Swiss clarinet virtuoso Claudio Puntin freely improvised dialogues on the album Two.

In 2011, Denson moved to San Francisco and accepted the appointment to full professorship at the California Jazz Conservatory. In the following years, he worked closely with some of the best musicians in San Francisco Bay, including bassoon virtuoso Paul Hanson, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, guitarist Mimi Fox, and violinist Mads Tolling (his fellow San Francisco String Quartet) , Denson is also a prolific composer and arranger whose work includes a whole range of different jazz formats, as well as string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera.

With the unveiling of Ridgeway Arts, a nonprofit organization, he has united his diverse fields of activity under one roof. Ridgway Arts aims to expand and strengthen the San Francisco metropolitan area and make a significant contribution to the American jazz landscape and art in general through a focus on four approaches: expression, education, presentation and documentation. He introduced the initiative with The Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz and subsequently Arctic from Alan Hall's critically acclaimed Ensemble Ratatet. Meanwhile, the label has developed into an important channel of connection to a roster of international musicians and serves as a portal to Denson's multifaceted musical imagination.

"Artists are always fantasizing about new projects," he says. "My clear goal has always been to create my own musical world."

Grace

In Your Eyes

For a Brand New Day

Have We Really Gone This Far?

Through the Mist

Bird Alone

Fell On Black Days

Outside My Window

Jeff Denson - vocals & double bass

Dayna Stephens - tenor, soprano & bari saxophones & EWI

Kari Ikonen - piano, Fender Rhodes & Moog Synthesizer

Ronen Itzik - drum set & percussion

SHOWS

• May 24 – The Sound Room, Oakland, CA

• May 25 & 26 – Moody’s Bistro, Bar & Beats, Truckee, CA

• May 27 – 30 – Black Cat, San Francisco, CA

• May 31 – SoHo Restaurant & Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA

• June 1 – Dizzy’s, San Diego, CA

• June 2 – Alvas Showroom, Los Angeles/San Pedro, CA

• June 3 – D’Anbino Vineyards & Cellars, Paso Robles, CA

• August 11 San Jose Jazz Festival, San Jose, CA

• September 7 & 8 – The Velvet Note, Atlanta, GA

• October 12 – Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC

• October 13 – An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD

• October 26 – California Jazz Conservatory, Berkeley, CA

• October 27 – North Coast Brewery, Fort Bragg, CA

Román Filiú - Quarteria (SUNNYSIDE RECORDS May 11, 2018)

Six buildings in close proximity with families living one on top of another within a constant melee of sound, including music of all sorts. This is the public housing of Santiago de Cuba, known locally as cuartería. These apartments and their confederation of people and sounds serve as the inspiration to saxophonist and composer Román Filiú’s new musical suite and subsequent recording, Quarteria. 

Growing up in the far eastern province of Cuba, Filiú was aware of music all around him. His father was a music theory teacher who encouraged his son to explore classical music scores. Filiú’s own musical studies began with classical piano before he focused on the saxophone. While visiting his friends who lived in the local cuartería, the budding musician was exposed to a wide variety of sounds of Cuban extraction, including liturgical music for Bembé, conga oriental, tumba francesa, classical, jazz, and popular music, the cuartería was Filiú’s own musical Tower of Babel. 

Filiú left Santiago de Cuba some time ago. He continued his studies in Camagüey and at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. He lived and played locally in Havana, including a stint in jazz super group Irakere, before he moved to Madrid, where he lived for seven years. Filiú has been in New York since 2011 and has made his mark on the jazz scene as a bandleader, composer, instrumentalist and collaborator of note, playing alongside well-known musicians like Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman and Dafnis Prieto. 

Upon receiving a commissioning and residency grant from The Jazz Gallery of New York City, Filiú was able to compose his Quarteria. His goal was to create a suite of music that involved an eclectic range of musical styles performed by a diverse group of musicians. In composing, Filiú utilized a number of methods, including writing by transcribing piano improvisations, playing his saxophone, singing the melody or even without the influence of an instrument, putting his thoughts straight to paper. Through the entire process, Filiú made sure that the pieces served improvisation. 

The ensemble grew out of Filiú’s intention to have as full a sound as possible with as compact an assemblage as he could muster. The ensemble ended up as a septet with an additional horn on two pieces, all members being brilliant stylists and improvisers well-versed in a variety of musical traditions.

Trumpeter Ralph Alessi has been a frequent collaborator with Filiú in Dafnis Prieto’s band, the two having originally met while the trumpeter traveled with Steve Coleman to Havana. Dayna Stephens’ s sonorous tenor saxophone is a perfect foil for Filiú’s alto. Also from Santiago de Cuba, pianist David Virelles has been a long time collaborator and is responsible here for widening the ensemble’s panoramic sound. Bassist Matt Brewer was a must for his steady rhythm and expert time, while drummer Craig Weinrib is equally adept in support and widely steeped in rhythmic traditions from all over the world. 

The suite begins with the staggering “Fulcanelli,” the piece inspired by its namesake’s study of the sacred geometry of cathedrals and which utilizes symmetry within its compositional makeup. Olivier Messiaen’s compositional style informed “Grass,” which was written away from the piano and utilizes expanded voicings between the three horns and the piano. The title of “Harina Con Arena” refers to the period of Russian withdrawal from Cuba in the 1990s and the food crisis that followed where there developed a common practice of adding sand to the cornmeal sold to the population. The piece is meant to have the jilting feeling of biting into that unexpected texture. 

Utilizing hints from his choir director brother, Filiú wrote the beautiful “Choral” with formal voice leading, lending to the shifting harmonies within the instruments. On his week long Jazz Gallery residency at the Pocantico Center in Tarrytown, New York, Filiú composed three danzas at the piano: the improvised “Danza #5,” the Messiaen influenced “Danza #1,” and “Danza #3,” which was inspired by the rhythms of his childhood neighborhood comparsa ensemble, San Pedrito. The wonderfully disjointed “Glass” uses one melody, which is delayed a half beat between the parts, creating a unique counterpoint. 

The stately “Imperator” mirrors the walk of an old Haitian refugee who lived near Filiú’s childhood home and who used to help the young saxophonist carry his horn home from school. Saxophonist Maria Grand appears on “For Horns and Bells,” which is a chorale and an experiment in conduction and voice leading. The final two pieces came from an idea to create crazy names and then write music for them. “Tursten” is a mysteriously laconic piece, while “Kaijufrem” is aggressive and utilizes a compositional system devised by Filiú in which he assigns a note to each letter of the name but then allows the structure to mutate from there. 

The metaphor of a large edifice with people from of all walks of life comingling with the soundtrack of the music of Cuba is fitting for Roman Filiú’s Quarteria, which is an exceptional example of a lifetime’s exposure and dedication to the study of music in all its forms, coalescing into a moving musical experience. 

1. Fulcanelli

2. Grass

3. Harina Con Arena

4. Choral

5. Danza 5

6. Danza 1

7. Glass

8. Danza 3

9. Imperator

10. For Horns and Bells

11. Tursten

12. Kaijufrem

Román Filiú - alto saxophone

Ralph Alessi - trumpet

Dayna Stephens - tenor saxophone

Maria Grand - tenor saxophone (10 & 11)

David Virelles - piano

Matt Brewer - bass

Craig Weinrib - drums

Yusnier Sanchez - percussion

Kenny Barron Quintet - Concentric Circles (BLUE NOTE May 4, 2018)

On his last two on impulses! Records released albums provided Kenny Barron with small casts for magical moments. In 2014, the pianist demonstrated "The Art Of Conversation" in intimate musical dialogues with bassist Dave Holland. The recording was named the album of the year by the Jazz Journalists Association. His "Book Of Intuition" he played in 2016 again in a trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake. The extensive discography of Kenny Barron is paved with such high-profile duo and trio recordings abundantly. Following his move to Blue Note Records, Barron is back on Kitagawa and Blake on his latest album "Concentric Circles". However, the sonic palette will be greatly enhanced this time by the addition of saxophonist Dayna Stephens and trumpeter Mike Rodriguez. "I've always wanted to record with a quintet because it gives me the opportunity to compose more," Barron notes soberly.

Of course, "Concentric Circles" is by no means Barron's first album in this format. Both the 1968 published album "You Had Better Listen", on which he was named alongside the trumpeter Jimmy Owens as a co-leader, as well as his 1973 launched solo debut album "Sunset To Dawn" he had already recorded with quintet ensembles. In the 1980s he directed another quintet with saxophonist John Stubblefield, trumpeter Wallace Roney, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Victor Lewis, who recorded the critically acclaimed 1986 album "What If". Two years later, with only a slightly changed line-up (Eddie Henderson replaced Roney), the no less excellent album "Live At Fat Tuesdays".

Barron's quintet from the late 1990s, made up of Henderson, saxophonist David Sánchez, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Billy Hart, also formed the core of the ensemble, with which Barron recorded "Spirit Song" in 2000. For "Images", he completely reorganized his quintet four years later, occupying it with vibraphonist Stefon Harris, flutist Anne Drummond, Kitagawa, and drummer Kim Thompson. Concentric Circles is now Barron's first true quintet publication since Images.

Kenny Barron presents not only his latest quintet, but also some of his own original compositions never before recorded by him. He opens with "DPW", a brisk hard-bop number, in which he pays tribute to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park West, where he is at home today. With the melody and its urban harmonies played in unison by trumpet and tenorsax, this 2013 song is reminiscent of the classics known from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers or the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-sixties. Through a first-class groove that moves between straight hard-bop and Afro-Latin rhythms, Barron beats a crystalline, yet lyrical, improvisation into the keys that makes it clear what a master of touch, phrasing and harmonic finesse he is is.

The title track "Concentric Circles" is followed by a tantalizing waltz, which is carried by the flickering rubato of the rhythm section and embellished with smooth solos by Barron, Stephens and Rodriguez. Blake's urging 6/8 rhythms drive "Blue Waters," another new Barron composition that is peppered with smart, blues-laden passages. After that, the sunny atmosphere of the first pieces in "A Short Journey" gives way to a more subdued timbre. The underworld ballad is characterized by casual brass melodies, pensive piano lines, floating cymbals and pulsating bass accompaniment.

But the mood cheers up in the next issue again. Barron surprises here with a charming reworking of Caetano Veloso and Cézar Mendes' "Aquele Frevo Axé". With this lithe samba jewel that Barron became aware of through a recording by Gal Costa, the pianist continues his ongoing love affair with Brazilian music. The contemplative mood contrasts sharply with the unpredictable nature of Barron's next original "Von Hangman," in which the piano, trumpet, and saxophone navigate through a maze of zig-zagging phrases, while the rhythm section propels them forward in a stirring gait.

Contemplatively, it is again in Barron's heartbreaking play "In The Dark", which he had originally composed in 2009 for the soundtrack of the movie "Another Harvest Moon". The song reveals Barron's talent for composing scenic music. He indulges in his penchant for Latin American rhythms again in the lively original "Baile". "L's Bop" was written by the drummer Lenny White and offers the two brass players and the leader an ideal opportunity to let off steam. In "I'm Just Sayin '", Barron provides a funky bass line that Kitagawa soon picks up before the piece hits an implied Crescent City groove.

The mind of Thelonious Monk is always present on Barron's recordings in one way or another. Here, he pays tribute to the jazz icon, which has influenced and inspired him so much, with a grand piano solo interpretation of the classic "Reflections". The pianist had recorded the number several times before, the first time in 1982 with the Monk tribute band Sphere for the album "Four In One", the - macabre coincidence! - just recorded the day Thelonious Monk died.

With "Concentric Circles," Kenny Barron, who turns 75 in June, underscores that he does not intend to rest on his laurels. Because as he shows on this album with eight own compositions and three fabulous interpretations, he still has a lot to tell his audience.

01 DPW

02 Concentric Circles

03 Blue Waters

04 A Short Journey

05 Aquele Frevo Axé

06 Von Hangman

07 In the Dark

08 Baile

09 L's Bop

10 I'm Just Sayin'

11 Reflections

Kenny Barron, piano

Dayna Stephens, saxophone

Mike Rodriguez, trumpet bugle

Kiyoshi Kitagawa, bass

Johnathan Blake, drums

Danny Grissett - Remembrance (SAVANT RECORDS 2017)

Danny Grissett is definitely one of today's most exciting and respected pianists. For his first recording as a leader for Savant, Grissett and company offer a varied and interesting set-list which mixes jazz standards and some of the pianist's own compositions.

The go-to keyboard man for the likes of Tom Harrell, Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Escoffey and others, Grissett also finds time to lead his own groups and is a composer of considerable merit. A rare artist who grips and holds attention, Grissett handles the classics of the American songbook with an aplomb equal to the way he deals with the rather complex structures of his own intricate compositions. A gifted improviser with splendid technique, the pianist can also offer warmth and affection in melodic lines, the balance of fine taste, pungent swing and a jubilant approach inevitably generating audience cheer.

1. Woody'n You

2. Lament for Bobby

3. Prelude to a Kiss

4. Gallop's Gallop

5. Renatus

6. Just Enough

7. A Friend Indeed

8. Digital Big Foot

9. Detour Ahead

Danny Grissett (piano, Fender Rhodes)

Dayna Stephens (saxophones)

Vicente Archer (bass)

Bill Stewart (drums)

Nick Vayenas - Flow Motion (2017)

Nick Vayenas - trumpet, trombone

Dayna Stephens  tenor sax

Patrick Cornelius - alto sax

Glenn Zaleski - piano

Peter Slavov - bass

Colin Stranahan - drums

1. Flow Motion

2. Premonition

3. Red Stripe

4. Velvet Mystery

5. Anarchy

6. The Final Frontier

7. Sunny Side Up

8. Change

Trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and educator Nick Vayenas has been a mainstay on the music scene for the past 15 years. Based in New York City, Nick has worked in a variety of settings both as a sideman and leader. In 2009, Vayenas released his acclaimed debut album, 'Synesthesia', on drummer Kendrick Scott’s World Culture Music label. "A well conceived album and more than casually ambitious", wrote Nate Chinen of the New York Times.

The album featured some of the finest young musicians on the jazz scene today (Kendrick Scott - drums, Aaron Parks - piano, Matt Brewer - bass, Gretchen Parlato - voice, and Patrick Cornelius - alto sax). In 2012, he returned with his sophomore release, 'Nick Vayenas', on Whirlwind Recordings. 

The recording displayed his astonishing breadth of skills on trombone, trumpet, and vocals as well as his unique composing and arranging style. "One of the most impressive of Whirlwind issues, showcasing a multi-talented individual likely to appeal to a wide constituency of jazz fans, 4 stars", said Jazz Journal.

Nick’s latest album, 'Flow Motion' features a set of all original compositions written by Nick and performed by a stellar line-up of musicians. Joining Nick is his fellow Thelonious Monk Institute class member Dayna Stephens on tenor sax, Cornelius on alto, pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Peter Slavov, and drummer Colin Stranahan. The band performs brilliantly, providing expressive interpretations of Nicks melodic modern jazz compositions.

Dayna Stephens - Gratitude (2017)

Featuring Dayna Stephens (tenor & baritone saxophones, EWI, synthesizer, bass-on trk 9), Brad Mehldau (piano, tack piano-trk 4), Julian Lage (guitar), Larry Grenadier (bass) & Eric Harland (drums & cymbals).

Available on Contagious Music on April 7, 2017

“Tenorist Stephens emerges as an artist full of composure and imagination” – DownBeat Magazine 

“Within the expanse of the jazz landscape, a limited handful of stunning newcomers emerge as exciting harbingers of the growing edge of jazz.” “Everything flows with unusual fluency and makes you feel rewarded. The aesthetic catalyst is tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, an intensely organic player” – Dr. Herb Wong 

“He’s a total genius!” – Tom Harrell 

“Dayna is one of the people who will move music to a new place. He drives the band as he drives himself. He puts us all to a different level.” – Taylor Eigsti 

“A saxophone star ready to go nova” – Jerry Karp (Freelance journalist)

Gratitude, saxophonist/composer/bandleader Dayna Stephens’ eighth album as a leader, is a gift from Stephens to the world, and to himself; simply an album of beautiful music played by a group of master musicians, led by one of the scene’s leading artists, that can be enjoyed by the connoisseur or the casual listener. And, on a deeper level, an expression of gratitude from the saxophonist, for the warmth, love, peace and strong connections he has shared with friends, family and fellow musicians, as he climbed his way back to health after fighting Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSG), a rare kidney disease. 

Stephens elaborates, “one thing that unites every song on this record is they were all at one time or another ear worms that stuck around for a while, and often returned for lengthy stays. Another uniting factor is that they all have to my ear enchanting, beautiful singable melodies, and give me a strong sense of sentiment. When we recorded these songs I was conflictingly full of hope, peace and uncertainty. Hope that my years would be extended, peace that I was lucky to have made it that far with lots a great moments and experiences, despite the circumstances, and yet, uncertainty, because it wasn’t yet clear how the journey was going to continue. Now after receiving so much love and support from so many people in my life, I am saturated with immense gratitude, perhaps completing a circle that started with those ingredients. This collection of songs serves as an expression of that deep-seated gratitude.”  

Gratitude, featuring Dayna Stephens (tenor & baritone saxophones, EWI, synthesizer, bass-trk 9), Brad Mehldau (piano, tack piano-trk 4), Julian Lage (guitar), Larry Grenadier (bass) and Eric Harland (drums & cymbals), will be released on April 7, 2017 on Stephens’ new label, Contagious Music.


Gratitude was masterfully produced by legendary producer, Matt Pierson, and Stephens and his band were guided by music from a number of incredible composers, such as Aaron Parks, Michelle Amador, Rebecca Martin, Billy Strayhorn, Louis Cole, Massimo Biolcati, Pat Metheny, Olivier Manchon and Julian Lage.

More About The Music on Gratitude With Dayna Stephens:

Emilie was introduced to me by violinist/composer Olivier Manchon. He dedicates it to his sister Emilie and its got a nice, simple melody that when combined with the pleasantly unexpected harmony creates a beautiful song to connect with.

A dear friend, pianist Aaron Parks, wrote In A Garden. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the composition with him on several occasions and it often paints scenes for me one would find in a fantasy movie. Some of the visuals in the Robin Williams movie, What Dreams May Come, come to mind. 

Amber Is Falling (Red and Yellow) was written by vocalist/composer Michelle Amador, and has been on my list of favorites since the mid 2000s when we played it in San Francisco with her group, Michelle Amador and the True Believers. 

The Timbre of Gratitude is the only original song of mine on Gratitude. In a loose way the happy sounding beginnings of each new section represent the many positive moments of encouragement I have received throughout my journey thus far. 

Don’t Mean a Thing at All is a song written by the wonderful vocalist/songwriter, Rebecca Martin. I first heard her sing it in a duo setting with our bassist, and her husband, Larry Grenadier, and immediately fell in love with its melody and lyric. 

Woodside Waltz refers to a city in Northern California called Woodside, which has tons of scenic views of the SF Bay through tall redwood trees. While recording it we discovered that the recording studio (The Club House in Rhinebeck, NY) had a tack piano, which was perfect for bringing out the essence of this gem written by our guitarist, Julian Lage. The entire band was even willing to tune down our instruments, a dozen cents flat or so, to match the tuning of the piano, which hadn’t been given any TLC in some time.

We Had A Sister is a hauntingly beautiful song by Pat Metheny.  I first heard this tune, as a young, fledgling saxophone student, on Joshua Redman’s second release, Wish. Since that time it’s remained a song I’ve wanted to record. 

Isfahan is one of many masterpieces by the great Billy Strayhorn. I’m reminded of Joe Henderson’s version he recorded on his album, Lush Life-The Music of Billy Strayhorn. I really admire how personal and intimate Henderson’s playing was, which is why I felt it was a good idea to do this one as a trio with Larry and Julian.

Clouds is one title for two songs written by two composers, bassist/composer Massimo Biolcati and drummer/producer/composer Louis Cole. Biolcati’s melody, a tune I’ve played many times while we were both in the Monk Institute, is full of nice, intricate surprises. Cole’s version was my introduction to his unique, magical sonic world, which I have since become a huge fan off.

1) Emilie (Olivier Manchon) 

2) In A Garden (Aaron Parks) 

3) Amber Is Falling (Michelle Amador) 

4) Woodside Waltz (Julian Lage) 

5) We Had A Sister (Pat Metheny) 

6) The Timbre Of Gratitude (Dayna Stephens) 

7) Isfahan (Billy Strayhorn) 

8) Don't Mean A Thing At All (Rebecca Martin) 

9) Clouds (Massimo Biolcati) & Clouds (Louis Cole)