Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet - Carpe Diem (Tǔk Music 2018)

A breakthrough and acoustic turning point for this wonderful band, that explores new roads, from soap opera to Rimbaud...a crazy journey for this evil quartet!!!

1 Home 4:35

2 Carpe Diem 3:51

3 In minore 4:15

4 Enero 4:35

5 Dum Loquimur, Fugerit Invida Aetas 3:02

6 Lines 3:39

7 Secret Love 5:34

8 Ballata per Rimbaud 4:57

9 Ottobre 4:18

10 Un tema per Roma 5:39

11 Human Requiem 3:09

12 Quam Minimum Credula Postero 2:03

13 Giulio Libano 3:47

14 Un posto al sole 3:28

Paolo Fresu : Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Bebo Ferra : Acoustic Guitar

Paolino Dalla Porta : Double Bass

Stefano Bagnoli : Drums

Akira Tana - JAZZaNOVA (March 1, 2018)

Born and raised in California, Akira Tana earned degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Tana has worked with among others,SONNY ROLLINS, ZOOT SIMS, HUBERT LAWS, , JIM HALL, ART FARMER, THE PAUL WINTER CONSORT, PAQUITO D'RIVERA, JAMES MOODY, J.J. JOHNSON, LENA HORNE, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER, RUTH BROWN. More info: www.akiratana.com

1. Aguas de Marco

2. Love Dance

3. Chega de Saudade

4. Bilhete

5. Corcovado

6. Condename a Callar

7. Waiting for Angela

8. Jangada

9. Carminhos Cruzados

10. Aquele Frevo Axe

11. Por Causa De Voce

12. Diride

13. La Gloria Eres Tu

Christopher Ali Solidarity Quartet - To Those Who Walked Before Us (2018)

To those who walked before us

Always look back, always look forward

In the struggle, in the music

Always in solidarity

1. To Those Who Walked Before Us 06:37

2. Gaza 02:05

3. Al-Maghrib 04:28

4. Looking Back 01:15

5. Güzel aşık 07:45

6. Maqam Hijazz 01:19

7. Jan 25th 07:56

8. Looking Forward 01:37

9. 3° 03:40

10. To Those Who Come Next 06:57

Christopher Ali Thorén - tenor & soprano saxophone 

Filip Bagewitz - oud & fretless electric guitar 

Alfred Lorinius - double bass 

Anton Davidsson Norén - drums 

Produced by Christopher Ali Thorén and Mappe Persson 

Recorded and mixed by Mappe Persson at Elementstudion, Göteborg 

Mastered by Linus Andersson at Elementstudion, Göteborg 

Cover art by #studiocutup (instagram) 

Graphic design by Ronja Svenning Berge 

Cover art post production Sebastian Thorén 

© 2018 Christopher Ali Solidarity Quartet, all rights reserved

Peter Kuhn Trio – Intention (FMR RECORDS 2018)

The Peter Kuhn Trio is back with Intention, in this exciting new release on FMR Records.

In this music, Kuhn, Motl, and Hubbard display an ever-deepening rapport and nuanced communication that reflects their clear commitment to musical excellence as individuals and a working trio.

Firmly grounded in a number of traditions, musical and otherwise, the music on this record develops from the seed of intention. Every stroke, breath, or pluck is placed just so; with meaning and purpose: to honestly reflect the fragility, resilience and grandeur of our human experience, expressing the inexpressible tapestry of life and our collective capacity for spiritual awakening. This music is a cry for our planet and all beings, encouraging us to embrace the moment with an ever-deepening intention.

May this music aid listeners in achieving freedom from duality through the opening of the ears and softening of the heart. Released from attachment, may we harmonize with all; growing our compassion, helping one another to find freedom from afflictions.

Peter Kuhn is a survivor of the NYC Loft scene where he played and performed with the likes of William Parker, Billy Bang, Frank Lowe, Lester Bowie and Denis Charles. After well-received albums on Hat Hut and Soul Note records he found his career derailed by drug addiction.

With decades of recovery and a dedicated Zen practice Kuhn’s return has been marked by a vibrancy and depth that bears the mark of his life experiences unencumbered by aspirations of fame or fortune. “The music insists on being played”, he explains. Recent recordings and performances include collaborations with Alex Cline, Abbey Rader, Eddie Gale, Dave Sewelson, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver.

In this trio Kuhn has found stalwart collaborators in master musicians Motl and Hubbard; both prolific composers and bandleaders in their own right. The trio’s years of experience playing and performing together is evident in the deep listening, dynamic chemistry and development of their music in this offering.

Their much heralded debut release, The Other Shore on NoBusiness Records, was a triumphant return for Mr. Kuhn and included on “Best of 2016” lists by a number of prominent Jazz reviewers including Cisco Bradley of Jazz Right Now, Paul Acquaro of The Free Jazz Collective, Derek Taylor of Dusted Magazine, Robert Bush’s Sound San Diego and Tom Hull – On The Web.

“Kuhn’s every bit as vibrant as he was as a force on the avant scene of the late 70’s and early 80’s! As before, Kuhn handles a lot of -flat and bass clarinet- but he also blows a bit of tenor and alto too – shaping sounds in very open territory, in a trio with Kyle Motl on bass and Nathan Hubbard on drums, in a mix of freedom and spirituality...” - Dusty Groove, Jazz Chill

“Kuhn’s present work on The Other Shore is relaxed and assured. His bass clarinet is capable of languid insouciance or corkscrew runs. His tenor can be as slack as a junkie on the nod, as on “unstrung heroes,” or hard-edged. Nathan Hubbard’s drums push against Kuhn, while bassist Kyle Motl is both percussive and harmonically challenging to the horns.” - Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat

1 Intention 4:33

2 ChaWang 6:31

3 The Stream 4:47

4 Perception Deception 5:45

5 The Path 5:11

6 Arise 4:49

7 Gift In The Wound 5:46

8 Resilience 8:00

9 Disaster And After 4:19

Bass – Kyle Motl

Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Peter Kuhn

Drums – Nathan Hubbard

Susana Santos Silva - All The Rivers (Live at Panteão Nacional) CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018

Every solo album with a horn is a difficult task, and that’s the reason why so few are released on record or played on the stage. No-one else is there to give you cues, to challenge you: your creativity and your technical skills are the only resources available. Or so it seems, because in a solo situation you’re dueling with two presences: one, of course, is the audience, and as Derek Bailey used to say, a solo is a duo with the people who listens, but the other is even more determinant, the space around you, sometimes acting very much like there’s another musician around.

“All the Rivers – Live at Panteão Nacional” is a solo indeed, but in this recording trumpeter Susana Santos Silva is improvising with the architecture of the National Pantheon / Santa Engrácia’s Church in Lisbon, namely with its marble acoustics and huge reverberation – each phrasing, each texture is molded by the building, adding other elements to the original sound of the trumpet.

Santos Silva works with her knowledge of the instrument and its possibilities, reacting to the transformations resulting from the harmonic action of the space. She’s rediscovering the exploratory, experimental side of free improvisation, somewhat lost during decades of gradually fixed procedures.

1. All The Rivers

Susana Santos Silva  trumpet, tin whistle, bells

All music by Susana Santos Silva

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Cristiano Nunes at Panteão Nacional, Lisbon, as part of Rescaldo Festival on February 12th, 2016.

Produced by Susana Santos Silva | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photo by Aloísio Brito | Liner notes by Gonçalo Falcão

Roscoe Mitchell and Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra - Ride The Wind (NESSA RECORDS 2018)

Steve Lacy once posited that the difference between an improviser and a composer is that the latter has abundant time to decide what to communicate musically with ten seconds whereas the former simply has ten seconds. It remains a pithy rejoinder to a strawman conundrum that’s dogged the intersection between the two idioms for decades. But what of the scenarios where improvisation actually serves as the basis for composition? Roscoe Mitchell explores that compelling overlap on Ride the Wind, a second document of investigations following last year’s at once similar and yet wholly separate Discussions on the Wide Hive label.

For the previous project Mitchell balanced orchestral transcriptions of earlier improvisations with new collective improvisations for the assembled large ensemble. The results revealed a captivating merger of the forms, although his own incendiary playing was limited to just several of the contexts leaving flautist Wilfrido Terrazas the welcome latitude to almost steal the show. Here, he exercises even more restraint on the playing end, appearing only in an extended, frenzied sopranino salvo on “They Rode for Them – Part Two” and leaving the disc’s remaining six pieces to the nineteen-piece Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra. The deference is another indication of how seriously he takes the ensemble focus of the work.

Essayist Stuart Broomer drafts an edifying accounting of the session details in the accompanying notes and it’s immediately apparent that Mitchell’s canvas is different even though it pulls primarily from the same provenance as its predecessor, the series of recorded improvisations he engaged in with pianist Craig Taborn and percussionist Kikanju Baku from 2013 and later transcribed by a cadre of close colleagues. Mitchell handles the majority of orchestrations himself starting with swelling fugue-like waves of “They Rode for Them” that give way to an feathery improvisation by altoist Yves Charuest over shimmer color field conjured by the orchestra in sections.

“Splatter” builds from forceful collisions between percussion, strings, reeds and brass, which roil and swirl together in a textured centripetal spin. The title piece erupts with fanfare expansiveness before receding and dispersing into a succession of individual voices. Flimsy idiomatic descriptors like jazz, classical and the like are irrelevant to the proceedings, replaced by the umbrella adjectival phrase of organized and energized sound. The arboreal murmurings of “RUB” recall the Art Ensemble’s expeditions with “little instruments” while “Shards and Lemons” brings a delightful measure of dry humor in the timbre juxtaposition of disparate orchestral constituencies.

The disc caps with a quartet arrangement of the pivotal “Nonaah”, a piece Mitchell first performed nearly forty-five years ago. It’s one of the anchors of his oeuvre and the assembled team of three reedists and single bassist makes the rondo theme at the piece’s center both sing and shout before switching tacks to layered legato drones and icy overtones. As is the Nessa label hallmark, accompanying packaging and content is top-notch with copious session photos and the aforementioned deep dive annotations. Temporal considerations both immediate and indefinite converge to make this set another memorable entry in Mitchell’s copious catalog of momentous achievements.

Derek Taylor / Dusted Magazine

01 They Rode For Them - part 1 [12:51]

02 Splatter [04:34]

03 Ride The Wind [07:12]

04 They Rode For Them - part 2 [06:02]

05 Rub [07:06]

06 Shards And Lemons [12:34]

07 Nonaah [05:27]

NESSA RECORDS

Mary Halvorson - Code Girl (FIREHOUSE 12 RECORDS 2018)

Code Girl is the latest project of guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson, and her first project for which she has composed both lyrics and music. The band has already been described as “...a bold experiment in song form” by The New York Times. Deftly interpreted by Amirtha Kidambi (vocals), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), the music synthesizes influences of jazz, folk and improvisation to create an original take on songwriting. The debut album will be released on Firehouse 12 Records March 2018.

“Halvorson has set her sights high with Code Girl. It is the first time she has worked with a vocalist, not to mention writing lyrics for another member of an ensemble. The group exhibited some characteristic features of a Halvorson ensemble—tight associations between members where each musician develops their voice, responds directly and confidently with each other, connects at multiple points simultaneously. Meanwhile, the compositions also brew a rare cohesion that never feels forced and draws each member toward their greatest potential. Trumpet and voice mixed quite profoundly, at times, and the vocal styling of Kidambi—drawing from a broad range of influences ranging from the Carnatic tradition to old blues—created a haunting and emotionally rich panorama of colors, shapes, and images that made for both tangible and abstract consumption by the attentive audience.”

Mary Halvorson, guitar

Amirtha Kidambi, vocals

Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet

Michael Formanek, bass

Tomas Fujiwara, drums

Slagr - Dirr (HUBRO MUSIC 2018)

The meditative music of Slagr – whose latest album, ‘DIRR’, was recorded and mixed by Andreas Mjøs of Jaga Jazzist, the producer of two previous Slagr albums – provides a portal for the imagination to roam free: a magical sound-world whose simple melodies and drones combine with an audio-palette of austere yet beautiful instrumental textures to provoke an infinite sense of openness capable of conveying a myriad of meanings.

The instruments themselves – Hardanger fiddle, cello, vibraphone and glass harmonica – imply a measure of the music’s reach, from the folk tradition to renaissance polyphony to the contemporary avant-garde. It’s an aesthetic where the humble, home-spun legacy of Nordic fiddle tunes and church music meets the reticent yet sensuous minimalism of Morton Feldman amid a mysterious liminal soundscape where what is heard sometimes seems like it’s on the very edge of consciousness, as if one is half awake and half in dreams, the music half there and half not.

While it may be reductive to see Slagr’s music as quintessentially northern or Nordic, it does fit the Danish artist Asger Jorn’s conception of the north as “the dream centre of Europe”. This is music that drifts along like clouds, changing shape almost imperceptively as it goes. It also requires very careful attention from the listener, as one adapts one’s ears to a microscopic rate of change where the slow drag of a horsehair bow across bare strings can suggest the harmonic flutter of a Mongolian throat singer’s music of the spheres, and where the disturbance of air around the lip of a glass half-filled with water creates a spectral hum that seems to become part of the very atmosphere, like sonic weather.

But while the music of this very environmentally-aware trio (who in 2016 contributed to ‘Melting’, Amund Sjølie Sveen’s theatrical performance piece on the theme of global warming), inevitably carries strong associations of the natural world – one thinks, say, of a vast forest or tundra landscape whose open spaces represent a logical imaginative response to the wide open spaces of the music itself – there are important cultural associations too, not least with cinema and the filmic.

On the present album’s wonderfully pliant opening track, aur, Amund Sjølie Sveen’s glass harmonica drones can suggest the distressed piano-shimmers of Roy Budd’s introductory theme to the cult thriller ‘Get Carter’, or John Barry’s iconic cimbalon-strings on ‘The Ipcress File’, together with their well-attested mutual influence on the creepy Theremin opening to Portishead’s ‘Glory Box’. Indeed, one of the great attractions of Slagr’s imaginative open-ness is the potential it holds for hearing allusive echoes of all sorts of things, from sleigh bells to seances. And the idea of a seance – the conjuring up of a particular spirit or atmosphere – might be a relevant reference point. There is an inescapable sense of the uncanny here, a Gothic evocation of rituals in the dark that is very effective whether the music is listened to attentively or used as a kind of subtle ambient ectoplasm floating in the background.

‘DIRR’, while maintaining a satisfying aesthetic unity that allows the album to be perceived as a thematic whole, like a suite or a cycle of related pieces, is also remarkably various. The interweaving of the respective instruments’ at times strikingly similar-sounding timbres, the wide range of noises each instrument makes, and the constant alteration or exchange between the ‘lead’ voice or voices from track to track creates a continual sense of adventure and surprise that is very appealing. We may not know what the music of Slagr is about – if music can be said to be ‘about’ anything – but it conveys a powerful atmospheric presence, a sort of aural spirit-photograph or record of the spaces – both internal and external – the music seems to move you through as it plays.

1 Aur 2:46

2 Strimesong 4:43

3 Flimmer 6:07

4 Hel 7:01

5 Varle 4:46

6 Eir 3:07

7 September 4:15

8 Øyr 2:40

Cello – Katrine Schiøtt

Design – Aslak Gurholt*, Thomas Nordby, Yokoland

Hardingfele [Hardanger Fiddle] – Anne Hytta

Mastered By – Morgan Nicolaysen

Mixed By – Andreas Mjøs

Music By [All Music By] – Anne Hytta, Slagr

Photography By [Photo] – Amund Sjølie Sveen

Producer [Produced By] – Slagr

Recorded By – Andreas Mjøs, Espen Høydalsvik

Vibraphone, Performer [Tuned Glasses] – Amund Sjølie Sveen

Tour:

07. March – Oslo, Nynorskens hus

08. March – Notodden

14. March – Trondheim

We Out Here - We Out Here (BROWNSWOOD RECORDINGS 2018)

A primer on London’s bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Surveying the album’s running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of London’s most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years. Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the results speak for themselves: they’re a window into the wide-eyed future of London’s musical underground. 

The album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. A reflection of how London’s jazz-influenced music has reached outward into new spaces, the sound of the record draws from a wide pool. There’s plenty of crossover between each of the groups, too, speaking to the close-knit circles which make up the scene; shared line-ups reflect the mutual cooperation and DIY spirit which are second-nature. 

Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the project’s musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility that’s shared through all the players on the record. 

Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maisha’s ‘Inside The Acorn’ is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. Ezra Collective – whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch – run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on ‘Pure Shade’, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch. 

On Moses Boyd’s ‘The Balance’, the drummer – who co-produced Zara McFarlane’s recent, critically-lauded album, as well as touring with the likes of Sampha – builds a steadily-paced, atmospheric creation, loosening up the rhythm and intensity as it progresses. Theon Cross – who’s part of Hutchings’ Sons of Kemet – starts his track, ‘Brockley’, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. 

Showing a similarly controlled approach, Nubya Garcia’s ‘Once’ is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. Shabaka Hutchings’ ‘Black Skin, Black Masks’ is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases – mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet – shape the track with an alluring hue. 

Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Brown’s languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove. Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on ‘Go See’, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Finally, taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko – whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material – spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on ‘Abusey Junction’, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.

1. Maisha - Inside The Acorn

2. Ezra Collective - Pure Shade

3. Moses Boyd - The Balance

4. Theon Cross - Brockley

5. Nubya Garcia - Once

6. Shabaka Hutchings - Black Skin, Black Masks

7. Triforce - Walls

8. Joe Armon-Jones - Go See

9. Kokoroko - Abusey Junction

The Fulcrum Ensemble - Tim Daisy's Fulcrum Ensemble 'Animation' (RELAY RECORDINGS 2018)

The Fulcrum Ensemble is an experimental music sextet organized by Chicago based percussionist and composer Tim Daisy and is a primary vehicle for his compositional style which mixes intricate orchestration with spirited improvisation. 

The three compositions on the group’s latest release “Animation” take inspiration from a range of contemporary musical ideas including: the innovative performance and compositional techniques pioneered by the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, structural and textural innovations connected to contemporary composers including Earle Brown, Anthony Braxton and Terry Riley, as well as the energy and spirit generated by the American “free jazz” movement of the 1960’s and 70's, notably the work of Julius Hemphill, Marion Brown, and Don Cherry. 

The intention of the Fulcrum Ensemble’s music lies in the assimilation of these multiple influences with the hopes of creating something new and unique. Utilizing some of the leading lights of today’s improvised music scene, the realization of these compositions would not be possible without the strong personalities, shared experience, good humor, inventiveness and collaborative spirit of the ensemble members. 

‘Animation’ is the second recorded document from the Fulcrum Ensemble (formerly called the Celebration Sextet – see relay records 016) and the group has every intention to keep creating these unique collaborative sounds together well into the future.

1. Corner Counter 11:10

2. Glass And Lead 08:52

3. Means To An End 16:33

James Falzone: Clarinet

Steve Swell: Trombone

Josh Berman: Cornet

Fred Lonberg - Holm: Cello

Dave Rempis: Alto and Baritone Saxophones

Tim Daisy: Drums/Marimba/Metronomes/Califone/Composer

The second release from composer/percussionist Tim Daisy's latest ensemble, (formerly known as the Celebration sextet.) Three brand new compositions mix intricate orchestration with spirited improvisation, performed by a cast of world-class improvisers. Recorded at the Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago, IL

All Compositions by Tim Daisy (Split Music/ASCAP)

Recorded on August 8th, 2017 at the Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago Il

Recorded by Dave Zuchowski / One Room Studio

Mixed/Mastered by Alex Inglizian at Experimental Sound Studio

Artwork/layout by Fede Peñalva

Robert Muller - Peregrination (2018)

I recorded this in April of 2014 in the recording studio at Santa Fe University of Art and Design with then-student Willa Snow as the engineer. 

I didn't have anything too specific in mind, just to track a few loosely planned sketches. The arrangements are spontaneous, a combination of modern jazz and pop and classical and whatever else happened to be bouncing around this brainhole of mine. It's got some of the introspective vibe of the rainy Pacific Northwest where I grew up, some of the intensity of my time in New York City, and maybe some of the space and solitude of my current life in New Mexico. 

It was probably kind of a funny way to work; very little planning and one or two takes per track. It was an interesting challenge, and it inevitably comes with some inevitable imperfect moments. It also allows things to happen that would never happen in a carefully notated, extensively rehearsed kind of session. 

There's a certain kind of intensity or feeling that I hope to come across when I'm listening or playing music, and this little project documents the process of me trying to find "that thing" in a couple different ways. It's not perfect, but it's human and it's honest.

1. Papa Dog 07:36

2. The Black Sun Riseth 04:54

3. Count Shebula 04:56

4. Nixie 08:28

5. The Fifth Thing 09:09

6. Ool Blues 06:00

7. Stacks 09:29

8. Vilhelm's Revenge 08:05

Robert Muller, piano and composition 

Willa Snow, engineer

Giacomo Zanus Trio - Searching for the North (2018)

This Italian project was born in 2016 and it features Giacomo Zanus on guitar and compositions, the international doublebass player Mattia Magatelli (European Jazz Motion, Kaja Draksler, DUMItRIO, Sri Hanuraga, Filippo Vignato Quartet, Vitale/Magatelli/Windfeld Trio,ecc..) and the venetian drummer Max Trabucco (Oirquartett, Trabucco Bros, Max Trabucco 4th).

The result is a music inspired by contemporary jazz languages, which combines a lyrical writing approach founded on open spaces and more rhythmical ideas with a tension towards free improvisations too, maintaining dialogue and reciprocate interplay that converges in a well balanced musical conception.

The Trio is led towards a narrative dimension made of silences and densities, simple melodies from where create a compelling highly interactive sound space.

1. Prelude to the nature 01:33

2. Travenanzes 07:05

3. Searching for the North - Departure 07:03

4. To the Universe 05:30

5. One Way (feat. D.Boato) 09:13

6. Tre Cime (feat. D.Boato) 10:53

7. Scent of spring 05:37

8. In front of mountains 06:59

9. A glimpse from the top (feat. D.Boato) 06:36

10. This love 04:32

11. Searching for the North - Arrival (feat. D.Boato) 04:31

Giacomo Zanus: electric and classical guitar, effects, loops

Mattia Magatelli: doublebass

Max Trabucco: drums, percussions

Special Guest:

David Boato: trumpet, flugelhorn

All compositions by Giacomo Zanus except n°4 by Mattia Magatelli and n°9, a collective free improvisation.

Recorded at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavallico (UD), Italy

Sound Engineer: Stefano Amerio

Mixed and Mastered by Stefano Amerio

Produced by Giacomo Zanus

Baydog - Dry Land (2018)

With the arrival of the third album, this time a few friends were invited to take a guest part in the project Baydog by Bart Bajda. 

Jacek Niziol - bass (Pitz, Straszydle, Flat Battery Sound Collective) musician associated with Polish avant-garde jazz scene, Danish-born jazz singer, composer, producer Astrid Engberg (Hugo Kant, Mattic, Berry Weight) and Kamil Klama - Polish guitarist and producer (Wolnosc Ptakow Drazni Drzewa). 

Dry Land is an album born from a fascination/love of perpetual sound structures coming from acoustic instruments as well as digital music devices resulting in a laid back yet disturbed body of a cinematic soulful blend.

1. Particles (ft Astrid Engberg) 03:12

2. Grit In My Eyes 02:41

3. Rise Up (ft Astrid Engberg) 04:16

4. Perhaps 03:33

5. Cluff Court 03:07

6. Noise Above My Head (ft Astrid Engberg) 03:17

7. Slow Traffic 03:16

8. Stay Dreaming 02:54

Astrid Engberg : astridengberg.bandcamp.com

Jacek Niziol : pitz1.bandcamp.com

Kamil Klama : wolnoscptakowdraznidrzewa.bandcamp.com

Mastered Minoo Krakow 2017

William Flynn and Tim Fischer - Cross Country (2018)

  

Cross Country (2018, Artists Recording Collective) 

represents another facet of the musical partnership 

between guitarists William Flynn and Tim Fischer, a 

partnership that has spanned over four years and 

multiple states. The shared aesthetics and priorities that 

have guided their previous teaching, writing, presenting, 

and playing are present on Cross Country’s eight tracks. 

Never living in the same state, Flynn and Fischer have 

maintained their collaborations through regular phone 

meetings and annual in-person collaborations. The 

album receives its title from these meetings. Cross 

Country’s music is the result of a 1,300+ miles trip in 2017 

between Kansas and South Carolina. Both are jazz guitar 

educators at colleges (Flynn at Wichita State University, 

Fischer at Coastal Carolina University) and have cowritten 

a book on the subject of guitar duets (Jazz Guitar 

Duets, Mel Bay 2016). 

Cross Country eschews the traditional jazz rhythm section 

of bass and drums in favor of the more intimate and 

interactive guitar duet format, a rich tradition that dates 

back to the beginnings of jazz guitar. Flynn and Fischer 

have taken a conversational approach to performing this 

material, while still presenting plenty of opportunities for 

their guitar pyrotechnics. The album consists exclusively 

of original compositions, equally representing the 

writing of each performer. The album’s compositions 

reference bebop, samba, modern jazz, vand even 

classical counterpoint, helping to frame the performer’s 

improvisations in a variety of settings. Fans of jazz guitar 

and composition are sure to enjoy William Flynn and Tim 

Fischer’s Cross Country. 

1. Dawn 05:42

2. Wildacres 06:32

3. Rose Creek 05:43

4. Prince's Waltz 05:42

5. Stargazing 06:27

6. Winter Ballad 06:16

7. Anacapa 05:16

8. Homecoming (for Colleen) 05:32

William Flynn - guitar (left channel)

Tim Fischer - guitar (left channel)

Engineering - Tim Fischer

Mixing/Mastering - Cynthea Kelley

Compositions by:

Tim Fischer - tracks 1, 4, 6 & 7

William Flynn - tracks 2, 3, 5 & 8

Recorded July 17, 2017 - Wheelwright Recording Studio at Coastal Carolina University

Peripheral Vision - More Songs About Error and Shame (2018)

JUNO-nominated Canadian jazz quartet, Peripheral Vision launches their fourth album, More Songs About Error And Shame. "A rules-breaking quartet made up of some of the best modern players around" (CBC), Peripheral Vision extends their no-holds-barred performance aesthetic into the production concept on this album. Once again, they have teamed up with mad-scientist engineer, Jean Martin (Barnyard Records) to orchestrate a bigger sound for the record, adding layers of overdubs and studio treatments to the live-off-the-floor recordings. Peripheral Vision has always been a live show band, and the seven new Herring and Scott originals on More Songs About Error And Shame show what can be gained from years of touring, including three recent tours throughout Europe as well as many trips across Canada.

Co-leaders Michael Herring (bass) and Don Scott (guitar) delve into their own neurotic psyches, finding inspiration not only in music, but also in art, literature and standup comedy. The album title is a reference to the iconic album by famously neurotic band, Talking Heads, and this cross genre nod is indicative of how they like to mix genres and themes, blending classic and modern jazz, the rock music of their youth, and non-musical influences such as the Catalonian artist Miró, and British comedian Stewart Lee. 

This is a working band with a long-time rapport - Herring and Scott have been joined by drummer Nick Fraser and tenor saxophonist Trevor Hogg since the band’s inception in 2008. Peripheral Vision is fuelled by this long-time musical friendship, bringing years of tour van talks about music and life to the stage and studio, and this dynamic group interaction creates the provocative sound of More Songs About Error And Shame.

1. The Blunder 08:02

2. Syntax Error 07:40

3. "And the metaphysical concept of shame." 07:46

4. Portrait of a Man in a Late Nineteenth-Century Frame 05:57

5. Chubby Cello 06:19

6. Mycelium Running 07:25

7. Click Bait 09:31

The recording was made possible through a grant from the Ontario Arts Council 

Produced by Michael Herring and Don Scott with Jean Martin 

Recorded at Canterbury Studios by Jeremy Darby 

Mixing & Additional Recording at the Farm by Jean Martin 

Mastered by Fedge 

Art & Design by Howie Shia & Leo Shia 

© 2018 Don Scott & Michael Herring (SOCAN)

Raphaël Imbert - Music Is My Hope (JAZZ VILLAGE PIAS 2018)

Music Is My Hope, le nouvel album de Raphaël Imbert chez Jazz Village, est un combat d’espérance. Après Music Is My Home en 2016, le saxophoniste et compositeur livre ici un témoignage intime tout autant qu’une flamboyante invitation au partage.

Entre actualité planétaire et vécu intime, c’est bien d’espoir dont il est question ici. À une époque où il semble tant manquer, il se dévoile partout dans ce disque : dans le prêche habité de Marion Rampal de Show Boat To Delphi, dans l’introspection poétique d’Aurore Imbert sur Lady On Earth, dans un chant populaire provençal radicalement revisité par la voix de Manu Barthélémy et bien sûr un peu partout dans les volutes de saxophone de Raphaël Imbert.

Music Is My Hope nous emmène à cet endroit où la musique est essentielle et brûlante, et réunit dans un même geste la protestation, la prière, l’activisme, l’amour, le sacré et le profane. Une musique qui ravive les flammes de nos espérances amoureuses, politiques, universelles ou personnelles. Une musique qui peut, par sa force salvatrice, nous remettre en mouvement et nous rassembler.

Au-delà du blues des origines, Raphaël Imbert invoque ici les appels du spiritual, les revendications de la soul et des protest songs, les introspections du folk et des chants populaires qui font œuvre commune et collective. En retrouvant ses sources, la musique réveille la fraternité, la contestation, l’affirmation, le désir et l’allégresse.

L’album s’ouvre sur la voix de Paul Robeson lisant le dernier monologue d’Othello de Shakespeare. Destin hors-norme animé par une conscience universelle et humaniste, Paul Robeson représente d’emblée notre quête d’espoir. Un fil conducteur de Music Is My Hope que l’on retrouve dans Peat Bog Soldiers chant antifasciste, dans Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel un spiritual de l’émancipation, dans le si profond Blue Prelude.

1 Peat Bog Soldiers 7:31

2 A Letter to the Muse 3:45

3 Blue Prelude 8:11

4 Lady on Earth 4:34

5 Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel 2:20

6 Turn! Turn! Turn! 6:18

7 Vaqui Lo Polit Mes De Mai 5:46

8 Eastern Queen 5:04

9 Here's a Song 5:07

10 The Circle Game 8:01

11 Show Boat to Delphi 6:11

12 Play Your Cards Right 2:55

13 Shenandoah 5:12

14 Christ Iag In Todesbanden (Bonus Track) 1:52

Raphaël Imbert : saxophones, clarinette basse

Pierre-François Blanchard : claviers

Thomas Weirich : guitares

Pierre Durand : guitares

Jean-Luc Difraya : batterie

Aurore Imbert : chant

Marion Rampal : chant

guests: 

Manu Barthelemy : chant

Big Ron Hunter : chant

Luca Lo Bianco - Ear Catcher (FITZCARRALDO RECORDS 2018)

The focus that animates the music of the band is the continuous expressive exploration in a creative synthesis with no aesthetic limitations, the result of a natural superposition of musical languages. The repertoire is mainly based on original compositions written by the leader, but there is also space for the music of Suzanne Vega (Language) or Massive Attack (Tear Drop), in a daring alchemy of sound enlivened by contrasts of timbre and articulated arrangements focused on choral execution.

Migrants abandon a place which has become inhospitable, nomads invent the lands in which they move and learn new languages, superimposing them with memories of a land that they have never had. The nomad, for what he has seen or heard, could go back home with red eyes or perforated ear drums. He could forget. He could even escape. Or else, he could look at all the spaces and extensions and transform them into intentions. Nomad music is like this: it transforms landscapes into escape routes, into new tangled streets, into a weapon. Great geographical adventures are escape routes, from which new forms of music are born. With long trips, Luca Lo Bianco travelled unpredictable paths, he transformed the intensity of the world into his own way of speaking.

Far from definitions, this music has spoken thousands of languages, it has been contaminated, it has lain traps for the open spaces of the city it portrays, in which deserts and urban steppe grow, in which the sound takes on the colour of the streets. He invented nomadism as an answer. Like the necessity to lose control of your own language to put something with an unpredictable life into the world, but in order to follow this route we need to know how to listen and capture the vibrations of the air with our ears.

1. Girl with a red bike 03:31

2. Tear drop 06:35

3. Overnight 04:46

4. They are still watching us 04:05

5. Oop 07:13

6. Language 04:00

7. Zulu dream 05:29

8. Bar code 07:38

9. Afternoon...a kind of 04:08

Francesco Guaiana - electric guitar

Gaspare Palazzolo - soprano, tenor sax, clarinet

Marco Di Fonte - cello

Luca Lo Bianco - acoustic & electric bass

Fabrizio Giambanco - drums

guest: 

Fabio Rizzo - lapsteel guitar

All compositions by Luca Lo Bianco except:

N.2 by Del Naja, Marshall, Volles, Fraser

N.6 by Susanne Vega

N.8 by F. Guaiana

N.9 by J. Giuffre/L. Lo Bianco

Recorded at Music Box Studio in Palermo, April 2008

Sound engineer Enzo Puccio

Mixed at Lab Music Recording Studio by Antonio Zarcone and Luca Lo Bianco

Published by Fitzcarraldo Records