Richard Ebert Quartett - Nyx (2016) UNIT RECORDS

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Richard Ebert Quartett - Nyx (2016)

"Nyx" godess of the night that rises from the chaos is the eponym for the debut album of the young german saxophone player Richard Ebert. His compositions deal with sleep as a matter of everyday loss of reality and self control and the visions, images, phantasies and even delusions that come along with it. The sound created by the band moves stilistically from bebop and postbop to modern jazz and even rock and pop music without beeing stereotype – it sounds new an contemporary. Filled with humor, spontaneity and poetry the four musicians combine playful rhythms, impulsive melodies and withdrawn ostinatos. Rapid time shifts go along with heavy grooves and martial riffs.

1. Komm süßer Schlaf

2. Bop chromatique

3. Die Kuh

4. Jaqueline

5. Samstagabend

6. Nyx

7. Zierfische Im Erlebnisbad

8. Gespenster im Zauberwald

Richard Ebert – Saxophone

Mathis Nicolaus – Piano, Keys

Christoph Hutter – Doublebass

Patrick Neumann – Drums

Aufnahmestudio: Echolux Studio, Leipzig DE

All compositions by Richard Ebert

Recorded at Echolux Studio, Leipzig

Recording Date: 1. bis 3. Mai 2015

Studio engineer: Nico Teichmann

Mastering by Tomasz Skluski

Richard Erbert Website

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Acouspace Plus - Tid (2016) GATEWAY MUSIC

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Acouspace Plus - Tid (2016)

Acouspace Plus bevæger sig i et flerdimensionelt akustisk-elektronisk spændingsområde hvor tiden smelter sammen og hvor der leges med musikken i et repertoire der indeholder originalmusik og musik fra jazzens sangbog. Tradition, samtid og fremtid blandes og udforskes af Acouspace Plus - tre akustiske stemmer i et elektronisk univers skabt i nuet.

Claus Waidtløw

1. Snowland

2. Too Young to Go Steady

3. Edith

4. La Belle Dame Sans Regrets

5. Amen

6. Cereal Killer

7. Whisper

8. Song for Her Being Here

9. Exit

Claus Waidtløw (sax)

Jesper Bodilsen (bas)

Spejderrobot (electronics)

Joakim Milder (sax)

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Jacám Manricks Band - Chamber Jazz (2016)

Collection of original compositions and two reinterpretations by New York Jazz artists. Chamber Jazz combines traditions from Jazz with Classical Music and their many sub-genres. In addition, the influence of world music is present. Influence from specific artists such as Miles Davis, Beethoven, Milton Nascimento, Jean Sibelius, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman.

Jazz and Classical hybrid style also drawing from traditional folk and world music.

1. Thread 08:12

2. En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa (Julvisa) I Seek No Power or Glory 06:38

3. ECMish 10:06

4. Wandina 07:53

5. Mood Swing 08:27

6. Jazz, Classical Music, Miles Davis, Beethoven, Milton Nascimento, sibelius, World Music, - Beethoven 06:45

7. Deception 06:33

8. Forbidden Fruit 04:50

9.. Cry 07:10

10.. Cloud Nine 04:43

Released August 7, 2016 

Jacám Manricks, sax / winds and composition 

Kevin Hays, piano and fender rhodes 

Gianluca Renzi, bass 

Ari Hoenig, drums

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Joe Lovano Quartet - Classic! (Live at Newport) 2016 BLUE NOTE RECORDS

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Joe Lovano Quartet - Classic! (Live at Newport) 2016

Joe Lovano adds the 25th album to his remarkable Blue Note catalog with the release of Classic! Live At Newport, which the Grammy-winning saxophonist has dedicated to the memory of both the legendary pianist Hank Jones and longtime Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall. Recorded on August 14, 2005 at the Newport Jazz Festival, the album captures the Joe Lovano Quartet featuring a then 87-year-old Jones, as well as bassist George Mraz, and drummer Lewis Nash.

Lovano first assembled his quartet with Jones, Mraz and drummer Paul Motian for the stunning 2004 ballads album I’m All For You. The album was so well received that the quartet returned to the studio to record the album Joyous Encounter, which was released in May 2005. That summer Lovano took his working quartet (which replaced Motian with Nash on drums) on a European tour during which the band developed an even deeper rapport before returning to the U.S. to perform at Newport. “With Lewis the music took on a much more hard-hitting approach and I felt a need to record us live at Newport, even though I knew it couldn’t be released at the time,” explains Lovano.

“This was truly my Classic Quartet in every sense of the term,” Lovano says. “Hank Jones was clearly one of the modern jazz geniuses of all time and he elevated us all with his imagination and inspiration. His accompaniment and solos were full of love, poetry and searching; he made you feel so good all the time. I played with Hank from when he was in his early 80’s through his 90th year and liked to say he was always fresh as a daisy. I treasured our friendship and collaborations and learned so much from him. His wisdom and knowledge about music and life, his humor, wit, passion and love will always inspire and be with me.”

Classic! Live At Newport captures the quartet’s entire 6-song set, which opened with the swaggering Lovano blues “Big Ben” and featured songs drawn from the band’s studio albums including 2 songs written by Hank’s brother Thad Jones (“Don’t Ever Leave Me” and “Kids Are Pretty People”) before closing with a rollicking performance of Oliver Nelson’s “Six and Four” to wild applause.

Lovano and Jones continued their fruitful collaboration with the 2007 duo album Kids: Live at Dizzy’s Club. Jones passed away in 2010 at the age of 91.

1. Big Ben (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 7:11

2. Bird's Eye View (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 11:05

3. Don't Ever Leave Me (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 10:23

4. I'm All For You (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 9:55

5. Kids Are Pretty People (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 8:09

6. Six and Four (feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash) [Live At Newport] 11:04

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Josh Ison Trio - Perceive React (2016)

PERCEIVE REACT

It was October 2013, and Henry Grimes was playing at Cafe OTO in London with the Marc Ribot group.  Henry had played on some of my favourite jazz recordings of the late 1950's and 60’s.  Albums such as Sonny Meets Hawk, Spirits Rejoice and The Call are a few of the many inspiring recordings, which have informed the conceptualisation of my own music.  I am also just as blown away by Henry's playing since his re-emergence in 2003.  Albums such as Spirits Aloft and the Profound Sound Trio recording Opus De Life have been a significant creative influence on my music.  The music at Café OTO sounded incredible that night and you could feel the energy sparking off the ensemble and infusing the room.

At the time I'd been internalising, listening and working on some of the more dense and chaotic free jazz fire playing and allowing the overall narrative of my improvisations to be dictated by my subconscious reactions.  For me, an important part of improvisation is the process of observing the cycle of perception and reaction from moment to moment, from that place where the ego drops away and the music emerges from the subconscious.  This was what excited me about Henry’s playing it seemed to me that he was always in that place.  After the gig, my friend Mark Lewandowski, also a bassist, and I got talking to Henry and his wife Margaret.  We discussed Henry's musical process and his approach to free improvisation and Henry kindly agreed to have a play with us.  The next day we jammed in the unique OTO Project space next to Café OTO.  The building is constructed out of sacks of earth, sand and rubble with a bare timber trussed roof.  The three of us practised and played together all afternoon and it's an experience I'll never forget.  Henry gave me some insightful ideas about incorporating more melodic lines into my improvisations, which showed me a new way forward with my music.  After the jam I couldn't stop thinking about the music we created. One of the great things about Henry's playing is his ability to make everything you play, no matter what it is, feel legitimate - I was totally free to do what I wanted.  I felt he unlocked something exciting and new in my playing. I had wanted to record a free improvised album for some time, and I couldn’t resist asking Henry if he would agree to be part of the line-up.  To my surprise and delight, he said yes.

I have always enjoyed playing in the classic trio set up of bass, drums and sax.  I was checking out an amazing trio with this configuration featuring Ellery Eskelin, Drew Gress and Gerald Cleaver.  I love the way Gerald plays in an open improvised context; the complex and subtle nuance of his interaction with the rest of the ensemble was mesmerising and constantly propelled the other players in new and interesting directions.  I contacted Gerald and sent him some of my music and was elated when he agreed to be part of the project, although it no doubt helped having Henry on board! 

I arranged for us to record at EastSide Sound Studios in New York with the fantastic recording engineer Marc Urselli.  Save for my jam with Henry in Dalston, none of us had ever played together before.  Nor would we have the chance to jam or rehearse before the day of the recording itself.  Given this was to be my debut album, naturally I was nervous, but improvisation should always be a risk.  And with musicians of the calibre and experience of Henry and Gerald involved, I felt reassured that we could create something exciting on the day. 

On the 6th of June 2014, we all met at the studio.  It was great to see Henry and his wife Margaret again and to meet Gerald in person for the first time.  From the moment Marc pressed the record button all I would focus on doing was perceiving and reacting in the moment to Henry and Gerald's fantastic playing, allowing my subconscious to do the talking.  I've put up a small sample of the first 4 minutes of Perceive- track 1 at the bottom of this page

The album consists of 2 long tracks, Perceive and React.  These were my favourite recordings of the session.  All of us felt that something special happened on that day and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.  If you're interested in purchasing the full album there's a link below.

Thanks

I would like to say a massive thanks to my parents, Michael and Kate, for buying me my first saxophone and for encouraging me all these years.  To Becka, my girlfriend and my old buddy Tom, for being so supportive, helping me to scribe and edit my dyslexic spelling, so I could share this story. To Alex, Sam, Simon and my sister Lily for always being there over the years I couldn’t have done it without you.  To Nisa Ojalvo for some fantastic photos that really captured the day.  

Marc Urselli for his incredible recording skills and Alex Bonnie for his masterful mixing and a massive thanks to Margaret Grimes for her constant and tireless support of this project from start to finish.  To Mark for introducing me to Henry in the first place, without you this project wouldn’t have happened and finally to Henry and Gerald for their outstanding musicianship and giving me an experience beyond words that will stay with me forever.

1. Perceive 16:51

2. React 25:03

Josh Ison, sax

Henry Grimes, bass, violin

Gerald Cleaver, drums

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Cortex - Live in New York (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS

On Cortex second release with Clean Feed Records you’ll find them again in the best context possible: in concert. Considering that the band works in the tradition pioneered by Ornette Coleman, this concert recording has a special significance, because it took place in the world capital of jazz, New York.

The approach may be somewhat European, but the music registered here seemed (and seems) at home. Critics wrote at the occasion that Cortex is walking the same routes where we can find John Zorn’s Masada. This means the music is energetic and robust, with a frenetic rhythm section and a trumpet / sax frontline very exact when delivering unisons and counterpoints and free in the improvised solos. The music is simultaneously heavy and agile, flowing as a bird of prey in open air, and defying gravity. A must have, must listen!

1. Higgs 7:56

2. Fall 7:05

3. Ghost March / Ahead 20:25

Thomas Johansson  trumpet

Kristoffer Alberts  saxophones

Ola Høyer  double bass

Gard Nilssen  drums

All compositions by Thomas Johansson (TONO)

Recorded live by Randy Thaler at IBeam Brooklyn, September 18th 2015 | Mixed by Ingar Hunskaar, February 2016 | Mastered by Fridtjof Lindemann and Ingar Hunskaar at Strype Audio, April 2016

Produced by Cortex  | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos

NEWVELLE RECORDS releases Noah Preminger's "Some Other Time"

Newvelle Records has just released Noah Preminger's Some Other Time, a new ballad record featuring Ben Monder, John Patitucci and Billy Hart!

We are a vinyl only, membership driven label that launched in March with Frank Kimbrough’s Meantime. In April we released Jack DeJohnette’s first solo piano record, Return.  We are extremely proud to present this latest recording of Noah’s, backed by a world-class band.

Artwork by legendary French photographer Bernard Plossu

The eclectic array of songs on Some Other Time includes choice standards ("My Little Brown Book," "A Ghost of A Chance"), Noah's originals, some Bob Dylan and a piece by the turn-of-the-century Paraguayan composer, Agustín Barrios Mangore.  

We are looking forward to hearing what people think of this one. 

John Patitucci, Noah Preminger, Ben Monder and Billy Hart – ©WIlliam Semeraro

“Mr. Preminger designs a different kind of sound for each note, an individual destiny and story.” — The New York Times

Preminger, just 30 years old, has recorded numerous critically acclaimed albums and is currently listed as #2 among Rising Star tenor saxophonists in the annual DownBeat Critics Poll.  Earlier this year Noah released Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, his continued exploration of the Mississippi Delta Blues, in praise of which Ed Enright of DownBeat wrote: "This is storytelling at its very best, and the sincere personal spin Preminger places on the repertoire makes it that much more intense and compelling."

Noah Preminger – ©Jimmy Katz

An exclusive video of Noah and the band recording his original composition “Semenzato”

Please come see what we at Newvelle Records are all about at: 

www.newvelle-records.com

Frank Kimbrough: Meantime

“One of the better-sounding recordings I’ve heard in some time. The perspective is up front and personal – in a good way – and the recording oozes texture and tonal truth…” – The Audio Beat 

“This is surely among the best recorded albums I have heard, but not in a clinical way. Turn it up, close your eyes, and the band is in the room, such is the dynamic range, accuracy and richness of the sound.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

Jack DeJohnette: Return

"The crystalline acoustics feature crisp pedal sustain, and the high register notes are almost piercing in their clarity. This is contemplative music, highly percussive, rhythmic, with deeply felt emotion.” – Audiophile Audition

“…the sound is extraordinary. As his lyrical peregrinations of rediscovery unwrap hidden layers from well-travelled pieces such as Lydia, lovingly dedicated to his wife, and Silver Hollow, celebrating his home in upstate New York, there is an extra depth and warmth to the sound quality that surpasses even the expectation that vinyl brings with it.” – London Jazz News

Coming soon:  A trio record from jazz great Don Friedman;  Ben Allison featuring Ted Nash and Steve Cardenas; and Leo Genovese, featuring Esperanza Spaulding and Jack DeJohnette.

Montreal Hard Bop 5 - Case No5 (2016) THE 270 SESSIONS

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Montreal Hard Bop 5 - Case No5 (2016)

MTL HB5 propose un renouveau du son hard bop à Montréal, par des compositions minutieuses, enlevantes et fignolées au Québec : le quintette vous fait vivre un retour dans le jazz façon 2016.

Le band est né en 2011, à l’occasion du Festival de jazz de Montréal, le temps d’un spectacle au Pub Quartier Latin. Les cinq comparses s’étaient alors réunis afin de célébrer cette grande musique qu’est le hard bop. Gagnés par le plaisir de cette première collaboration et par l’accueil du public, les membres s’enthousiasment; des projets de spectacles se dessinent et se concrétisent.

Puis, en 2012, un album promotionnel est lancé, offrant à un public amateur charmé quelques grands classiques des maîtres hard bop (tels Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley) aux coté de quelques pièces originales. Le son et la qualité des morceaux sont louangés. La scène, qui reconnaît la musicalité et le talent du groupe, espère d’eux qu’ils élargissent leur répertoire original. C’est ce qu’il font avec cet album uniquement garni de pièces originales. Neuf compositions soigneusement choisies parmi le répertoire créatif des membres Cameron Wallis et Jonathan Cayer, ainsi que celui du saxophoniste émérite Montréalais Dave Turner.

Frédéric Grenier – Contrebasse

David Carbonneau – Trompette

Jonathan Cayer – Piano

Alain Bourgeois – Batterie

Cameron Wallis – Saxophones

1. Search Warrant

2. Mr. Hitchens

3. Case No5

4. EST

5. Dual Dimension

6. Ballad in Shenzhen

7. L'espion

8. Expy 40 (Drum song)

9. Maxed Out

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Peter Ponzol & Abbey Rader - It's Time (2016)

Abbey and I have been playing together since the mid-60s, first in Miami, then NYC during the 70s and Europe in the 80s. We got together again in the 90s and this recording is a result of the very special communication we have always had. While a recording of just saxophone and percussion isn’t unusual, I know that there are no other two players who could deliver what is on this album. All pieces are first takes and are based on short themes that were mostly composed in the moment. So called “free or avant-garde jazz” often lacks the beauty and musical development heard here. Peter Ponzol

1. Hunger

2. Opposition

3. Dervish Dance

4. Many Mansions

5. Achievement

6. Ichowa

7. It's Time

8. I've Got Humor

9. Peace

10. Water Fall

11. Hear the Light

Peter Ponzol, sax

Abbey Rader, percussion

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Bojan Z x Julien Lourau - Duo (2016)

After 25 years of lively collaboration and friendship, Bojan Z and Julien Lourau are going to record their duo!

The duo was created at the Pannonica Club in Nantes, France, at the end of last century, in 1997 to be precise. Some of you still remember this perhaps.

17 years later, it seems relevant to us to fix these moments in a club as well – in this case at the Triton in Les Lilas, Paris – in the presence of our audience, in order to offer you this album.

It’s a special area of exploration and creation in which we’ve been able to compose and reinterpret our respective repertoires with great joy.

“But”, you may wonder, “Why appeal to us for help?”

That’s because it entails a new departure, a new way of working and because we would like to share this with all of you who’ve been following us for so many years. It is our wish to redefine the relation that connects us to you since long-time, by involving you in the process of making this album and, for sure, of many more to come. In spite of our experience and reputation, we haven’t been able to find a partner that would permit us to meet the quality requirements that we intend to put into this recording.

Because quality is the issue.

To those who know us, we have always insisted on giving you excellent sound and esthetic quality, both in our individual as in our common projects. 

This implies an important investment starting by the recording itself and later in post-production. With this new approach, we would like to re-establish these quality standards and, at the same time, bring about a change in our way of producing our music, together with you.

Together we can do better, and only the best sounds good! 

The story of Bojan Zulfikarpasic and Julien Lourau is mainly one of friendship, both personal and musical. Combing the Paris jazz clubs in the late eighties, they quickly found each other in the short-lived but legendary underground band called Trash Corporation, a sort of playground for these young mavericks where they would try out new ways and stretch musical boundaries.

During that same period, they both received their first professional awards. In 1990 Bojan wins the soloist’s prize at the Concours National de Jazz de la Défense, the most significant jazz competition in France, and in 1992 it’s Julien’s turn to do the same. It would be the kick-off of two careers filled with adventure, individual successes as well as projects on which they collaborated. Bojan and Julien have more in common than just belonging to the same generation. The same spirit of non-conformity unites them and they can both take pride in having left the straight and narrow during their respective careers, crossing geographical and musical borders, rejecting fixed formats and automatisms.

With a collaboration and friendship that has lasted for over twenty years, concerts are bound to be marked by their musical empathy. The listener is pulled in immediately and gets a real sense of the time that’s passed between them. There is a strong physicality to their playing; their music can be forceful and explosive, yet they leave room for introspection and humour as well. Their music is energetic, fluid, fierce but not brutal and without meaningless exuberance of notes. This is pure friendship, solid and uncompromising.

1. Relaxin@

2. Seeds (Intro)

3. Seeds

4. Fuzzlija

5. Bulgarska

6. Mr. Waits

7. Roumgrois

8. Gradino Kolo

9. Grana Od Bora

10. Zeven

11. Hulio's Blues

Bojan Z (piano)

Julien Lourau (saxophone)

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