2021 sees the launch of an ambitious project from Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz who is set to release 12 albums (or “conversations”) with 12 radically different groups of musicians.
The 1st of this series, recorded from his studio in Basel and accompanied by a feature-length video of the session, features American trumpeter Hermon Mehari and Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras.
Across a career spanning more than 25 years, drummer and percussionist Florian Arbenz has carved out a reputation as not just a skilled musician, but as a creative collaborator.
Whether with the long-standing trio VEIN who have recorded and toured with Greg Osby & Dave Liebman, or with his own project Convergence which brings together musicians from 4 continents, he is not content to sit still.
In 2021, he launches perhaps his most adventurous collaboration yet: a series of 12 albums - or “conversations” - with 12 different line ups.
The thread that joins them all together is his fascination with bringing visionary musicians together and giving them space to express themselves in his studio. Together, they work through a selection of music curated by Florian to suit the individual musical personalities present.
Conversation #1 - subtitled Condensed - sees Florian joined by American trumpeter Hermon Mehari & Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras.
“I’ve known and played with Nelson for several years and am captivated not only by his highly original and virtuoso playing, but also by his unique character and his great sense of humor. He's a complete player both rhythmically & harmonically so it seemed obvious to get him on board for this series. Hermon, on the other hand, I had never met before our recording session. I had, however, admired his warm tone, open-minded musicality & improvisational skills from afar and am so happy to have finally recorded with him!"
This slightly unusual line up of guitar, trumpet & drums might, at first glance, miss a bass instrument. But despite the challenges, the creativity of the musicians involved, as well as Florian’s addition of custom percussion instruments covering this range, make for a fascinating listen which moves from hard-swinging soloing to dreaming soundscapes.
In response to a world struggling with disruption and discord, Tony Tixier has instinctively turned towards his music as a way to re-establish the sundered connections of everyday existence. I Am Human, his latest limited edition release, was created when he returned from a sell-out US tour to find himself locked down in his Paris apartment. An escape route appeared out of a happy combination of chances: a loan of a new piano from Yamaha and an encounter with a neighbour, David Freiss, who turned out to be an expert sound engineer. Tixier conceived a plan to spontaneously record a series of pieces, all in one take, and then send them out across the world to a chosen band of his closest musical accomplices - Scott Tixier, Hermon Mehari, Ben Leifer, Logan Richardson and Adrien Soleiman - musicians with whom he felt so closely in tune that the enforced separation of time and space could be overcome - and invited them to overdub a response to create a series of virtual duet recordings “Each track is dedicated to a friend, someone I feel close to - I sent them the track in the morning, and by the afternoon I had the track back with their parts.”
‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ features Scott Tixier, Tony’s brother and also his twin, playing violin on the tune made famous by Billie Holiday - the level of empathy is otherworldly. “As humans, we all need a special person to watch over us: for me, this is my twin brother, my best friend.” Each track is dedicated to a friend and selected to talk about a different aspect of human emotion: ‘But Beautiful’ was sent to trumpeter Hermon Mehari as the message in the song sat naturally with his optimistic personality, ‘Like Someone In Love’ went all the way to Kansas City and love-struck bassist Ben Leifer and ‘You Know I Care’ elicited a rare, deeply committed performance on tenor sax from Adrien Soleiman. Tony contacted his longtime bandmate Logan Richardson, recalling an original tune over a well-loved sequence that they used to play: ‘When They Happen’ is the spontaneous result, developing into a thrillingly free flowing outro – “Logan is always so creative - like a visionary! We’re all a bunch of crazy guys and we just played what we felt at that moment.”.
Each side of the vinyl release is opened with a performance of an original solo piece by Tixier, both recorded back to back. ‘Leaking Life’ is a meditation on the passing of time and a call to action to make the most of every day. ‘Humain’ is an expression of his own identity “A presentation of myself - I don’t see myself as mixed race - I am 100% black, 100% white, 100% human.”
Tixier has travelled the world with the likes of Christian Scott and Keyon Harrold and performed for audiences across four continents, but this is his most personal, direct work to date. Reaching out across the world, sustained by a network of friends, he has delivered a statement for our times that transcends the limitations of remote recording with the sheer force of its emotional connection.
I am breathing and I feel.
I am an individual with my own set of eyes, my own pair of ears.
With these singularities I am (some)one.
A human being among all.
The addition of each soul breathing around the world is the full name of beauty.
Sábados Porta-Jazz de Junho em parceria com a agenda cultural da Junta da União de Freguesias do Centro Histórico do Porto
Hermon Mehari
16 Junho - 19:00 Rua de João das Regras 305 - à Praça da República
O trompetista norte-americano reside há alguns anos em Paris onde é um músico activo. Vem apresentar o seu disco a Portugal, Bleu, que conta com excelentes músicos e cada vez mais atenção por parte da crítica.
A seu grupo em Portugal contará com Ryan Lee, na bateria, Peter Schlamb no vibrafone e/ou piano, Demian Cabaud no contrabaixo e João Guimarães no saxofone.
“Du jazz acoustique post-bop, techniquement brillant, cherchant autant à creuser la tradition qu’à innover.” - TELERAMA
Hermon Mehari - Trompete
João Guimarães - Saxofone
Peter Schlamb - Vibrafone/Piano
Demian Cabaud - Contrabaixo
Ryan Lee - Bateria
Desde 2016 que a Câmara Municipal da Maia apresenta Jazz no Parque Central com programação da Porta-Jazz. A edição de 2018 vai decorrer de 14 a 16 de Junho, com sessões às 18:30 e 21:30 no Parque Central da Maia.
Próximos Sábados Porta-Jazz
Rua de João das Regras 305 - à Praça da República
23 Junho - 19:00 - CANCELADO
The Nada
30 Junho - 19:00
Ricardo Coelho "Circle"
Sábados Porta-Jazz - Rua de João das Regras 305, 4000-293 Porto
Troisième livraison de ce virtuose qui n’a de cesse de nous surprendre! Il y avait eu “Yuval Amihai Ensemble”, en 2012, suivi de “Longing” trois ans plus tard, en 2015, et voilà aujourd’hui, trois ans plus tard également, son “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues” (“Je n’ai rien d’autre que le Blues”) qui vient faire vibrer notre corde sensible teintée de bleu. Surtout qu’avec “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues”, c’est une véritable autobiographie musicale que nous propose le guitariste virtuose, car chaque morceau évoque un pan de sa propre histoire. Comme si Yuval AMIHAI avait eu un intense besoin bluesy intérieur de se dévoiler, se mettre à nu, musicalement… Un certain nombre de reprises sont interprétées par Yuval AMIHAI et ses deux acolytes: Michel Legrand & Jacques Demy, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, William Henry, Keith Jarrett… et j’en passe. Trois compositions signées Yuval AMIHAI viennent s’ajouter à l’ensemble ainsi créé: “Old New Song”, “Eviatar” et “Yula”, entremêlant habilement émois d’hier et émotions d’aujourd’hui. Le tout constitue un album à l’atmosphère jazzy et bluesy particulièrement riche et variée. Le genre d’album dont on devient accro, plus on l’écoute. Car plus on l’écoute et plus on l’apprécie. Et plus on l’apprécie et plus on l’écoute… Le genre d’album qui finit par devenir un incontournable de votre CD-thèque et que vous aurez plaisir à faire découvrir à vos amis. Les deux compères et énormes complices musicaux de Yuval AMIHAI sont ici Damien Varaillon à la basse et Gautier Garrigue à la batterie, tandis que deux ‘special guests’, deux invités de marque, Hermon Mehari à la tompette et Amit Friedman au saxophone ténor, viennent enrichir trois des titres qui constituent une partie de ce bien bel opus, “Love For Sale” de Porter, “Eviatar” et “So Tender” de Keith Jarrett. Et encore une fois, les instruments à vent sont présents de manière subtile et discrète, pour mieux faire fusionner encore le passé et le présent. Dominique Boulay Paris-Move & Blues Magazine (Fr)
01. De Delphine a Lancien (Legrand-Demy) 4:45
From ther movie "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort"
02. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues (Ellington-George) 4:36
03. Love for Sale (Cole Porter) 4:02
04. Old New Song (Yuval Amihai) 6:37
05. Pizmon La Yakinton (Gvili-Goldberg) 3:59
06. Eviatar (Yuval Amihai) 5:07 *
07. Abide with Me (William Henry Monk) 5:42
08. Stolen Moments (Oliver Nelson) 5:44
09. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Burke-Van Heusen) 6:05
10. So Tender (Keith Jarrett) 4:46
11. Yuli (Yuval Amihai) 6:29
12. You Are Too Beautiful (Rodgers-Hart) 2:19
Yuval Amihai (guitar)
Damien Varaillon (bass)
Gautier Garrigue (drums)
Special Guests on #3, 6 & 11: Hermon Mehari (trumpet), Amit Friedman (tenor sax)
Recorded at Recall Studios. Pompignan, France, May 1,2 & 3, 2017
Hermon Mehari’s anticipated debut album as a leader, “Bleu”, marks a new era in his career. The music covers both the ground of his contemporaries and his own original music in such a way to illustrate his current musical path. “Bleu” includes ECM recording artist Aaron Parks on piano, Blue Note recording artist Logan Richardson on alto saxophone, Peter Schlamb on vibraphone, Ryan J. Lee on drums and Rick Rosato on bass. Mehari was the recent winner of the 2015 Carmine Caruso International Trumpet Competition and a semifinalist in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. In 2014 he released the CD "Our Journey" with Diverse, his second with the group. Mehari maintains a touring schedule around the world with his own group and as a sideman. He was the headliner of the 2014 Jazz en Tête Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, France and was featured on the world-renowned saxophonist Bobby Watson's 2013 release, "Check Cashing Day".
Mehari was also the winner of the 2008 National Trumpet Competition and placed 2nd in the International Trumpet Guild competition in Sydney, Australia. As a founding member of Diverse, whose eponymous debut album on Seattle-based Origin Records reached the Top 40 on the Jazzweek Radio Charts, he has performed professionally with noted saxophonists Jaleel Shaw, Logan Richardson, Bobby Watson, and Ben Van Gelder. He has also performed with Joe Sanders, Hubert Laws, Randy Brecker, Tony Tixier, Dave Pietro, Clay Jenkins and many other great musicians. The band Diverse notably shared a double bill with Roy Haynes' Birds of a Feather band as headliners of the 2008 Gene Harris Jazz Festival.
Hermon Mehari received his BM in Jazz Performance from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2010. In addition to performing, he dedicates himself to being a serious educator and has participated in clinics and panels around the world.
