Republic of Jazz

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Significant Time with Hayden Powell & André Roligheten - Regnbueponniens Significante Påskesang (2016) PERISKOP RECORDS

PRESENT

Significant Time - Regnbueponniens Significante Påskesang (2016)

Newcomers Significant Time have recently been gaining attention in Norway for their blistering and humorous concerts, not least at last years’ Maijazz festival. For their debut album the quartet are joined by Hayden Powell on trumpet and André Roligheten on woodwinds.

Regnbueponniens Significante Påskesang is a collection of songs by vocalist Signe Irene Time and pianist Øyvind Gjelsten Dale, with the latter providing arrangements for sextet. The nine originals are inspired by jazz greats such as Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, but also offer references to classical composers such as Maurice Ravel and Frédéric Chopin. There’s even a tribute to recently deceased saxophonist Ornette Coleman, with strong contributions from bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and drummer Raymond Storaunet Lavik.

The idea for the band came about in 2010 after Øyvind heard Signe perform the song T.G.T.T. from Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert. An absence of lyrics gives this piece it’s very own tone and mood, something Øyvind found greatly inspiring.

The quartet aims to give Signe Irene’s vocals an integrated and varied role similar to that of a melodic instrument, rather than simply the usual foreground placement. The non-sense album title alludes to the playfulness and joyful exploration of tradition and freedom that characterizes this band.

In 2015, Significant Time was commissioned to write new music for a concert at Stavanger’s jazz festival Maijazz. Aiming to underline their orchestral approach they invited saxophonist André Roligheten and trumpeter Hayden Powell to supplement the band, further broadening their palate. The two musicans are among Norway’s most active jazz instrumentalists, figuring in bands such Hayden Powell Trio, Albatrosh and Eyolf Dale’s new octet Wolf Valley.

As with other albums on Periskop, the artwork is by designer Jens Jørgen Carelius Krogsveen. This recording was made in October 2015 at Propeller studios in Oslo by Hans Andreas Horntvedt Jahnsen, mixed by David Alexander Sjølie and mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Mastering.

01. Bonding with my body (Time)

02. Ornette – spending time with you is okay (Dale)

03. Motorsykkelklubben (Dale)

04. Bonding with my brain (Time)

05. Ravelblues (Dale)

06. Regnbueponniens significante påskesang (Dale)

07. October – the bells (Dale)

08. Pepsi Max og fløte i kaffien (Time)

09. Fra mor (Time)

Signe Irene Time: vocals

Øyvind Gjelsten Dale: piano

Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson: bass

Raymond Storaunet Lavik: drums

André Roligheten: saxophones, bass clarinet

Hayden Powell: trumpet

Credits

All music arranged by Øyvind Gjelsten Dale.

Recorded by Hans Andreas Horntveth Jahnsen at Propeller Studios, Oslo, on October 31th & November 1st 2015.

Mixed by David Alexander Sjølie.

Mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Mastering, Oslo.

Artwork by Jens Jørgen Carelius Krogsveen.

Administrative producer: Hayden Powell

Cd, download, streaming

Digital release May 12th

Physical release: May 20th

Catalogue: PSK106

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Bonding with my body (Time)

Monday, May 16, 2016

Megumi Yonezawa Trio - A Result of the Colors (2016)

Label:

Source: Megumi Yonezawa

Megumi Yonezawa is from Hokkaido, Japan. She began learning classical piano at the age of six. Megumi graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Bachelor of Music. During her time at Berklee, she pursued dual majors in performance and jazz composition. Megumi is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as the Jazz Performance Awards, Clare Fisher Award and Techniques Endowed Scholarship. After her graduation from Berklee, Megumi received a scholarship from Japan as a trainee of the Hokkaido Cultural Foundation Overseas Artist Training. With her scholarship, Megumi had the opportunity to further her research of jazz music in the United States.

And Megumi received a recommendation from Jason Moran (Blue Note Recording Artist) and became the regular pianist for Greg Osby (Blue Note Recording Artist). She acquired countless performance experiences while playing piano for Greg Osby and his band. She had the opportunity to perform in prominent venues such as The Village Vanguard, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Jazz Standard, Sweet Rhythm, Symphony Space, Blues Alley, Cornelia Street Cafe, Montreal Jazz Festival, Northsea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival and many others.

Megumi has recording experiences with Greg Osby and renowned jazz artist; Nicholas Payton, Robert Harst, Rodney Green and Joan Osborne in the album titled, “Public" (Blue Note Records). And as other projects as a sideman, Megumi performs with vibraphonist Mike Pinto’s group “Little Green Men", a group that is released their first album on Steeplechase Records in 2010. Also she plays in Fresh Sound Recording Artist, Jostein Gulbrandsen group with grammy award winning bassit Phil Palombi and former Jean Luc Ponty sideman Thierry Arpino. Additionally, Megumi also had been an Artist in Residence at Wildacres in North Carolina in 2010 and 2011.

Megumi has her recording debut as leader in Fresh Sound New Talent with her own trio that includes bassist John Herbert, and Eric McPherson on drums. It will be out on April 30th, 2016.

01. A Result of the Colors 6:05
02. Children of the Sun 5:27
03. Untitled 6:07
04. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 3:18
05. Sketch 2:59
06. For Heaven's Sake 9:08
07. Nor Dear or Fear 5:01
08. A Letter from Stillness 5:48
09. Epilogue 3:41

Megumi Yonezawa (p)

John Hebert (b)

Eric McPherson (d)

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Eden Bareket Trio - Choice (2016)

Label:

Source: Eden Bareket

Although a relative newcomer to New York's scene, the Argentina-born Israeli baritone saxophonist Eden Bareket quickly gained notice and esteem as an in-demand Sideman. Indeed Bareket's collaborative projects show an eclectic streak, as is horn playing ranges from modern classic Eyal Vilner Big-Band, to the adventurous Ari Hoenig Nonet, to even the Ethiopian jazz inspired grooves of Anbessa Orchestra. As his star has continued to rise, Bareket has also woven these disparate musical strands together in his own leader project , a trio featuring bassist Or Bareket and drummer Felix Lecaros. This notably minimalist and unfussy instrumentation is utilized to the group's advantage as the trio unveils a set of sparsely funky, often dark-hued to grooves, all while stretching out their positions into very open territory.
- Hot House Jazz Guide

01. Jenga 3:40
02. Raccoon 5:24
03. Choice 6:43
04. Unfinished Business 5:11
05. Arguing with Myself 3:32
06. The Last One 5:23
07. Camel 4:30
08. Diphthong 6:23
09. Don’t Give Up 6:57

Eden Bareket (bs)
Or Bareket (b)
Felix Lecaros (d)

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Chicago Reed Quartet - Western Automatic (2015) AEROPHONIC RECORDS

Chicago Reed Quartet - Western Automatic (2015)

Four generations of Chicago saxophonists join forces in this collaborative quartet, each one separated in age by almost exactly ten years. This wasn’t a calculated decision when Rempis and Vandermark first brainstormed the idea of the group in late 2013. The lineup came together based purely on the musical affinity of the personalities involved. (Oddly enough, Mazzarella and Williams had also been discussing the idea of forming a saxophone quartet at that time). However, the complex web of musical collaborations between these four musicians in countless combinations dating back twenty-five years, as well as their differing perspectives on composition, improvisation, and the instruments themselves, combine to reveal a truly cross-sectional perspective on the Chicago improvised music scene. Although an unintended consequence of the lineup that Rempis and Vandermark initiated, this accidental result may be one of the most intriguing perspectives from which to look at the quartet’s music.

These eight pieces, two compositions from each of the band members, were workshopped extensively in 2014, with regular rehearsals and concerts in Chicago throughout the winter and spring. This recording was made mostly in one day, all in single takes, on a laid-back, closed-door, summer afternoon session at Chicago’s Hungry Brain. And within these eight pieces, one can hear an ongoing artistic dialogue that stretches back for decades.

Released June 23, 2015

01. Burn Unit (Williams) 7:24

02. Remnant (Mazzarella) 5:01

03. Broken Record Fugue (Vandermark) 8:57

04. The Rush (Rempis) 9:00

05. Camera Obscura (Mazzarella) 6:43

06. P.O.P. (Williams) 11:47

07. Hotsy Totsy (Rempis) 8:03

08. Detroit Fields (Vandermark) 7:05

Nick Mazzarella, alto saxophone

Dave Rempis, alto/tenor/baritone saxophone

Mars Williams, sopranino/soprano/alto/tenor saxophone

Ken Vandermark, clarinet/bass clarinet, tenor/baritone saxophone

All tracks recorded August 10th, 2014 at the Hungry Brain, Chicago except for Track 6 recorded June 21st, 2014 at the Sugar Maple, Milwaukee during Okka Fest 6.

All compositions by Mazzarella (BMI), Rempis (ASCAP), Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP), and Williams (Music from Mars/BMI) as noted.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Dave Zuchowski

Design by Johnathan Crawford

Produced by Dave Rempis

Special thanks to Janice White, Dan Morrizo, Adrienne Pierluissi, and Bruno Johnson

DEMY

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Tony Malaby Paloma Recio - Incantation Suite (feat. Ben Monder, Eivind Opsvik & Nasheet Waits) 2016

Tony Malaby, tenor sax, soprano sax

Ben Monder, guitar

Eivind Opsvik, double bass

Nasheet Waits, drums

1. Glass 9:16

2. Artifact 10:30

3. Hive 10:30

4. Procedure 17:37

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Samuel Muntlin Group - Samuel Muntlin Group (2016)

Mitt namn är Samuel Muntlin. Jag jobbar som frilansande musiker, med min bas i Stockholms län. Jag är född och uppväxt i Nordmaling, som ligger 5 mil söder om Umeå. Hela mitt liv har jag vart intresserad av musik. När jag var 10 år började jag spela saxofon i Nordmalings kommunala musikskola, för en lärare vid namn Esbjörn Mörtzell.

Efter grundskolan vidare till gymnasiet där jag började på Midgårdskolans musiklinje i Umeå. Här fick jag träffa likasinnade människor där alla hade ett brinnande intresse för musik. Det blev en hel del jammande på rasterna och på kvällarna efter skoltid. Ett år in i skoltiden så bildades bandet Fristad. Fristad var en grupp som vi spelade mycket med, var med i olika tävlingar och vann faktiskt riksfinalen i Musikdirekt 2009. Under gymnasietiden så spelade jag även med i Umeås mest omtalade storband "Renhornen".

Efter gymnasiet så började jag på Framnäs Jazzlinje i Öjebyn, Piteå. Här studerade jag 2 år för en lärare vid namn Robert Nordmark. Under mina 2 år på Framnäs fick jag chansen att spela med fantastiska människor. Framnäs var en enorm utvecklande-fas för mig. Det var här jag började på riktigt intressera mig för Jazzen. Det var här jag skrev mina första låtar, och det var här mitt brinnande intresse för komponering och arrangering föddes.

Efter Framnäs så flyttade jag till Stockholm för att börja studera på Kungliga Musikhögskolan. På KMH blev det mycket fokus på egen komponering och jag skapade här Samuel Muntlin Kvintett. Under mina 4 år på KMH har jag haft äran att studera för Karl-Martin Almqvist, Jerker Lindström, Robert Nordmark, Joakim Milder och Fredrik Ljungkvist för att nämna några.

Idag jobbar jag som frilansande musiker och kompositör, där mitt huvudinstrument är tenorsaxofon. Jag har sedan 2013 jobbat som musiker på Astrid Lindgrens Värld i Vimmerby, där jag sedan 2015 jobbar som Kapellmästare.

Vill du ha musik till ditt event eller din fest? Tveka in att höra av dig. Jag har ett stort kontaktnät av proffessionella musiker, och sätter gärna ihop ett paket som passar för just er! Jazzmingel, coverband, tributekonserter, storband etc. Allt är möjligt!

Samuel Muntlin Group

Samuel Muntlin-Saxofon, Flöjt

Joel Karlsson-Saxofon, Flöjt, Klarinett

Albin Grahn-Trumpet

Arvid Ingberg-Trombon

Emma Josefsson-Barytonsaxofon

Gaianeh Pilossian-Violin 1

Terese Lien Evenstad-Violin 2

Knapp Karin Norrfors-Viola

Agnes Magnusson-Cello

Malin Gunnarsson-Sång

Simon Reinikainen-Sång

Rasmus Lindelöw-Piano

Simon Löfstedt-Gitarr

Björn Lundén-Bas

Hannes Sigfridsson-Trummor

Maria Ohlsson-Percussion

1. Early Morning

2. Suddenly

3. The Sun

4. Londonderry Air Oh Danny Boy

5. Norrland

6. Pulse of Freedom (Live)

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Thilo Seevers Ensemble - Dancing Lights (2016) UNIT RECORDS

PRESENT

Thilo Seevers Ensemble - Dancing Lights (2016)

It was in 2013, when three creative minds found to each other, at the University of Arts in Graz, Austria.

The influences of this international band reach from the rich harmonic world of Maurice Ravel to the strong attitude of people like Charles Mingus or Kendrick Lamar.

Centered in the tradition of jazz language, young composer Thilo Seevers deduces his pieces from this variety of inspirations.

The result: Modern Jazz tunes, that combine subtle complexity and simple beauty.

Thilo Seevers - Piano

Ivar Krizic - Bass

David Dresler - Drums

1. Quintessence

2. Dancing Lights

3. Hyperactive Mango

4. All the Things You Are

5. Fighting the Fear

6. Trust

7. Maximum 4 Minutes

8. Mas Que Nada

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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Alchemy Sound Project - Further Explorations (2016)

The excellent new project from Alchemy Sound Project featuring five extraordinary composer/performers: Sumi Tonooka, Erica Lindsay, Samantha Boshnack, David Arend, and Salim Washington.

The five core members of Alchemy Sound Project were brought together by the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, a program initiated by the American Composers Orchestra and the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University to encourage jazz composers to explore writing music for the symphony orchestra. Directed by composer/trombonist/educator George Lewis, JCOI selects 38 jazz composers at various stages of their careers, chosen from a competitive national pool of applicants, for a one-week summer intensive with leading composers, conductors and performers.

Ensemble's debut release explores the common ground between two diverse traditions, giving rise to innovative, breathtaking new sounds

Works by Erica Lindsay, Sumi Tonooka, Samantha Boshnack, David Arend, and Salim Washington, composers brought together by Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute.

"Alchemy Sound Project is speaking with confidence, creating art that is bold, art that speaks from the soul. Here, in this collective approach, these musicians share in musical discovery and hear their own ideas expertly executed. What jumps out and above the powerful, nuanced performances is the fresh writing." - Music Documentary Producer Steve Rowland

Medieval alchemists were known to have sought a way to turn lead into gold, but the actual purpose of their experiments was to transform the very soul of the alchemist. Alchemy Sound Project follows a similar course, experimenting with combinations and distillations of jazz, African traditions and Western classical music in an effort to transform themselves and their audience. On Further Explorations, the band's debut due out May 27, 2016 on Artists Recording Collective, five composer-musicians and their invited guests find a way to meld their distinctive approaches and voices to create a unique sound with the lushness and intricacy of a symphony orchestra combined with the spontaneity and interplay of a small jazz group. Alchemy, indeed.

Tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay attended the first JCOI session in 2010; at her encouragement, both pianist Sumi Tonooka (a frequent collaborator) and trumpet player Samantha Boshnack (a former student of Lindsay's at Bard College) enrolled in the second round in 2012. There, Tonooka and Boshnack met and bonded with bassist David Arend and multi-reedist Salim Washington. By day they studied aspects of music history and the orchestral palette, while by night they shared inspiration over dinners and walks around the UCLA campus. A year later, the five reconnected at Tonooka's behest to further explore the ideas they'd studied in the program.

"It was a very intense experience," Tonooka says of JCOI. "It got me really excited about being able to apply my own experiences to the instrument that is the orchestra."

For their debut release, each composer was encouraged to bring in two new pieces for the group, supplemented for the recording by trombonist Willem de Koch and drummer Max Wood. The result is an artful and boundary-stretching amalgam of jazz and classical ideas that shows off the chemistry formed during the bandmates' brief but enlightening time studying together. "The JCOI concept is about blurring these lines, hybridizing jazz elements with classical music," Arend says. "It's up to us to figure out what that means, but the synergy of the band is awesome - we're inspiring each other, teaching each other, pushing each other, and it feels like new territory even though we're drawing on centuries-old traditions."

The connection between the Alchemy participants is exemplified by Washington's "Charcoal, Clear, Beautiful All Over," which opens the album. The title is taken from the English translation of the Japanese name "Sumi," while the piece itself was penned to spotlight the bass clarinet, Tonooka's favorite instrument. Washington, a Professor of Music at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal and a collaborator with jazz visionaries like the late Fred Ho, also contributed the closing track, "The Call." The tune was written in tribute to Solodeen Muhammad, whom the composer calls "one of the hipsters of my father's generation. This piece is in his honor and in appreciation of the psychic and spiritual support, the cultural continuity that he represents in my life as a musician. It attempts to channel the hipness and the energy that this streetwise, musically savvy father figure has passed on to me."

Lindsay, an artist-in-residence and teacher at Bard College who has performed and recorded with artists ranging from McCoy Tyner and Oliver Lake to Frank Zappa and Melba Liston, says that her piece "Further Explorations" is intended to "connote a journey of discovery" that parallels the creative act. The richly-hued piece, which slowly builds from a tense alto flute theme over a bass/drum pulse to accumulating horns, contrasts moments of free improvisation with lush composed sections. The piece, Lindsay explains, "explores the balance and necessary tension between the unknown and the known that exist within the creative mind. As one sets out to leave the known world and fall into unknown territory, there is a certain wonder and innocence involved as well as the courage to let go of the known." Lindsay's second piece, the sprightly "Beta," is more through-composed, though it carries the playful dodge-and-weave energy of the written lines into its solo sections.

"I was listening to a lot of orchestral works as I was writing," says Boshnack, "and trying to incorporate and highlight classical counterpoint and grandeur in my music. I was listening to and inspired by the music of my colleagues and trying to give them a space in which to shine." A mainstay of the Seattle jazz scene with her own B'Shnorkestra and as co-leader of Reptet. Boshnack begins her first piece, "Alchemical," with a fanfare of classical counterpoint for the horns and drums before bursting into a heavy groove, prompting intense solos from Tonooka and Lindsay. "Divergency" sets up a tension between light and dark, with airy melodies and starker rhythms. Both reflect the hybrid nature of the ensemble in their apt mash-up titles, combining alchemy and chemistry in the first, diversity and urgency in the second.

Tonooka, a Philadelphia native now based in Seattle who has written symphonic and chamber works and film soundtracks in addition to working with jazz greats from Philly Joe Jones to Rufus Reid, set out to write two entirely different compositions for the band. The stunning, crystalline-then-jarring "Waiting" was born from a difficult personal situation, while the celebratory "Joie de Vivre" combines the composer's love of Malian music and the contrapuntal approach of composers like Bach.

The most classically-oriented member of the ensemble, Arend is a longtime member of the Oakland Symphony as well as a composer and performer in jazz, electronic, avant-garde, and singer-songwriter contexts. He adapted "Her Name Is Love" from a piano piece by Czech composer Leo_ Janá_ek, reharmonized with piano removed from the equation entirely. The title of Arend's second contribution to this recording, "Archetype," refers to one of the most archetypal formats in jazz, the big band, the sound of which Arend recreates with the band's seven pieces.

Each of these pieces is striking in its own right, but together Alchemy Sound Project provides thrilling new avenues for exploration - which its members are eager and committed to explore. "You could think of it like a dinner," Tonooka muses. "Everybody brings different dishes to the table and we're all enjoying and tasting and delving in and creating something new out of it. That makes it fun for us and interesting to the listener because it's not just one flavor. It's all of us."

www.alchemysoundproject.com