Mohannad Nasser - Al Hamra

Al Hamra is a musical journey that started at the moment I left Syria. The name of the album reflects a hidden intersection between two places that influenced me: Al Hamra street in Beirut, Lebanon, The symbol of pluralism and diversity, and Al Hamra castle in Granada, Spain, which is one of the most magnificent representations of the arabic cultural influence in Spain and Europe.

The music is based on three main musical directions, The Arabic music, expressed by the Oud, the Arabic lyrics and traditional music elements. The flamenco music brought by the grand flutist Jorge Pardo, the distinguished name in the flamenco scene, and the percussionist Sergio Martinez who twists the flamenco with groovy vibes, The Jazz music, introduced by the delicate pianist Albert Sanz through his rich harmonics, and the unique double bassist Masa Kamaguchi. 

1. Al Hamra 05:39

2. Sacromonte 05:09

3. Schengen 06:28

4. Moonless Night 06:44

5. Sonbati 06:19

6. Dabke in Jaffa 05:04

7. Ajebto Menka 06:20

8. Badwen Jazz 03:27

9. Huzzam Taksim 03:36

Mohannad Nasser: Oud & Voice & Composition

Jorge Pardo: Flute

Albert Sanz: Piano & Keys

Sergio Martinez: Percussion

Masa Kamaguchi: Double Bass

PREORDER

Matthew Halpin - Agreements (May 14, 2021)

When I first put on Matthew’s record, I felt like a kid again—lying on the floor of the living room, dreading the moment when a song would end. Matthew and his band of musicians—Kit Downes on organ, Hanno Busch on guitar, Sean Carpio on drums, and Sergio Martinez on percussion—embody present, past, and future. They expand and contract, maneuver past impossible hairpin turns, and interact with kaleidoscopic intricacy.

The result is a glimpse into Halpin’s vertiginous inner life. On “Dancing with the Devil,” Downes’s organ shrieks above the fray as the band builds into a Boschian orgy. On “To Do,” the same organ paints planar surfaces and hallucinatory shapes, weaving a retrofuturist fugue state in the song's second half. Martinez and Carpio propel “The Beach'' forward with a groove at once relentless and weightless, scintillating like the light that reflects off the water on a perfect summer’s day. In “Treetown,” Halpin and Busch’s electroacoustic bird calls remind me of the Brooklyn mockingbirds that have learned to imitate car alarms: nature adapting to technology. The track recedes like the natural world it represents, increasingly silent in the wake of destruction.

1. To-Do Today, To-Do Dismay

2. Dancing with the Devil

3. Dog Day Afternoon

4. The Beach

5. Swings and Roundabouts

6. Sit Up and Shut Down

7. Awkward Handshakes

8. Pop Fiction

9. Treetown

10. Sigh For Sam

11. Sleep

Matthew Halpin - tenor saxophone, composition

Kit Downes - hammond organ

Hanno Busch - electric guitar

Sergio Martinez - percussion

Sean Carpio - drums 

Veronika Morscher, Rebekka Salomea Ziegler, Laura Totenhagen - voices on “Sleep"

Recorded at Riverside Studios, Cologne

Engineered by Julian David

Mixed and mastered by Oliver Bergner

Artwork by Janet Cruise Halpin

Graphic design by Daniel F. Hirth

Released with Frutex Tracks

Distribution by Hey!Blau

Supported by Generations Jazz Festival and SRF

Pre-order