Daniel Studer (bass) and Dieter Ulrich (drums) are household names in the Leo Records catalogue while for Gabriela Friedli (piano) this is a debut CD. Out of 10 pieces presented here, five pieces each belong to Gabriela and Daniel. Extensive liner notes both in German and English give an idea about the method of playing. These Swiss musicians know each other very well and their music projects the feeling that anything is possible. They are not afraid to surprise each other, their music shines with intelligence that knows no boundaries, yet it is firmly rooted.
Artwork [Cover Art By] – Albert Mauerhofer
Bass – Daniel Studer
Design – Lora Denis
Drums, Bugle – Dieter Ulrich
Liner Notes [German] – Pirmin Bossart
Liner Notes [Translation (English)] – Bill Gillonis
Mixed By, Mastered By – Willy Strehler
Piano – Gabriela Friedli
Producer [Produced By (...) For Radio SRF2] – Peter Bürli
Producer [Produced By] – Studer*, Ulrich*, Friedli*, Leo Feigin
Untold Story is a document of a musical partnership dating back to 2013. Drawing on live recordings of improvisations, it is clear that Poll and MacDonald are entirely comfortable with each other's musicality. There is an uncanny, performative second sense of what the other will do in the very moment of creation. This, in essence, is what makes the music on the album so engaging. Poll's vocal performance is part of a rich trope in much twentieth and twenty-first century art music and free jazz. At the same time, Alistair MacDonald's laptop transformations tap into contemporary.
Second CD produced by Stefano Leonardi (flute, sulittu), with international quintet. Marco Colonna (clarinet, bass clarinet), Antonio Bertoni (cello), Fridolin Blumer (bass), Heinz Geisser (percussion), the first CD being "Conversations About Thomas Chapin" CD LR 702. All the musicians are firmly established in Leo Records catalogue and recorded before in different combinations L'Eterno is the name given to the silvery and dead trunk of an old Swiss pine, the remains of a majestic tree struck by lightning in the Lagorai mountains.
Artwork – Re delle Aringhe
Cello – Antonio Bertoni
Clarinet, Alto Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Marco Colonna
Composed By [All Compositions By] – Antonio Bertoni, Fridolin Blumer, Heinz Geisser, Marco Colonna, Stefano Leonardi (3)
The free improvisations of Watts, Williams, Owens, and Armstrong provide a mixture of intensity, subtlety, lushness, and beauty on Sensoria that will reward repeated listening. Following the critical acclaim of Bright Yellow With Bass (LR 758), Sensoria is Heath Watts' third release on Leo Records and his first release with a quartet. These improvisations are simultaneously delicate and intense. They requiry deep listening, communication, empathy and selflessness. This was a leaderless session; each musician brought her or his experiences, methods and ideas to the summit, but each was willing to compromise instantaneously to make the improvisation stronger.
Design [Cover Design By] – Brandi Watts
Double Bass [Acoustic Double Bass] – Blue Armstrong
Liner Notes [English] – Ann Tappan, Blue Armstrong, Heath Watts
Producer [Produced By] – Heath Watts, Leo Feigin
Recorded By [Recording By], Mixed By [Mixing By], Mastered By [Mastering By] – Dory Ritrovato
Soprano Saxophone, Voice – Heath Watts
Trombone, Piano, Melodica, Voice – M.J. Williams (2)
This is the nineth CD by Mark Harvey and his Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. As Mark writes in his notes, Democratic Vistas is a musical exploration of American socio—political situation. Influences include Charles Ives, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, Sun Ra, and Dada. Focused on America, there are many resonances around the globe. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra now in its 46th season, is one of the longest continuously operating jazz orchestra in the world.
1 Franklin's Wager 8:30
2 Dreaming 4:44
3 Samba313 5:42
4 De-Evolution Blues 8:55
5 March of the Delusional, Dysfunctional Demagogues 2:39
Naked Dance is the child of Stephen Rush which was founded with the idea of playing without a bass. This album is Naked Dance's third attempt and includes a bass player. All compositions are by Stephen Rush and range from New Orleans street music to open graphic scores (Time Cycles). The album includes multiple "realizations" or takes of Stephen's piece "Time Cycles" which is a graphic score study with ovals and circles laid over staves — open to interpretations by musicians. Jeremy Edwards — drums, Andrew Bishop — clarinet and base clarinet, Tim Flood — bass, synthesizer, Davy Lazar — trumpet. Stephen Rush plays piano, rhodes, micromoog, trombone and euphonium.
This old Irish saying is about John Wolf Brennan: "You dont need to be crazy to be an artist — but it helps." This CD is the most ambitious project of his entire life. 16-page booklet in German and English full of colour photos give an idea of what's going on: full-scale wind orchestra, Pago Libre quartet plus three outstanding soloists, plus six guest musicians from Ireland. The big names of the Swiss scene are all there: Arkady Shilkloper, Christy Doran, Christian Zehnder, Patrice Heral. This madness was recorded live at the Alpentone Music Festival and witnessed the standing ovation of a huge crowd.
Alto Saxophone [Alpentöne Blasorchester] – Alexandra Müller (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Laetitia Epp (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10)
Trombone [Alpentöne Blasorchester], Bass Trombone [Alpentöne Blasorchester] – Martin Huser (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Philipp Gisler (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Stefan Christen (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10)
Trumpet [Alpentöne Blasorchester] – Christian Simmen (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Marco Bissig (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Martin Arnold (10) (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10)
Tuba [Alpentöne Blasorchester] – Paul Gisler (2) (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Tobias Zwyer (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10)
The Last Taxi is a transport vehicle. Its routes are many and its Destinations are unknown . You have but one chance to board, as it’s mission is immediate and urgent. Yet you know that you MUST go in, otherwise you will be walking alone in a desolate place Once inside the taxi, you are going home, yet you understand that home is an endless journey. What was your world is now seen through the window as a dream that is passing, an obscure and blurred image. Your life is now lived on the inside. Your travelling compagnions share the experience of the Last Taxi with you, yet each’s preception is different from the other’s. The Taxi is a forum of life stories, sometimes you tell yours at other times you listen, sometimes you discuss the stories with a few travellers, other times they all discuss. Your ride in the Last Taxi is free, you may come and go as you please. Yet, once you have ridden, your life will be forever seen through a different perspective.
“One’s Destination is never a place, but a new way of looking at things” - Henry Miller
The first in the series of duo recordings by Ivo Perelman with bass clarinet specialists. The Brazilian-born saxophonist meets his match in the German bass clarinet wizard Rudi Mahall. Says Ivo: We are both foreigners, we both grew outside of American jazz. I never met anyone quite like Rudi. He has a refined compositional sense, smart counterpoint, rhythmic displacement, harmonic and melodic development. The recording surpassed my wildest expectations. It is a textbook example of how to approach duo improvising by taking chances and fully listening, while still keeping one's identity. Everything is in there, packaged in a groundbreaking way."
Ivo Perelman, Tenor Saxophone
Rudi Mahall, Bass Clarinet
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Parkwest studios, Brooklyn NY, June 2018
With his gruff, gravelly voice, his penchant for hep cat diction, and the serpentine bebop turns of his vocalese creations, the late Eddie Jefferson might not seem the ideal match for a classic romantic crooner like Allan Harris. The Brooklyn-born singer has previously paid homage to the songs of Billy Strayhorn and Nat King Cole, repertoire that seems like a more ideal fit. Until embarking on the project that became The Genius of Eddie Jefferson, Harris would have agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment. “In my wildest dreams I never imagined I’d tackle Eddie Jefferson’s material,” he admits. “But once I started to sit down with his material and delve into what he was singing, it blew all of my stereotypes and prejudices out the window. How wrong I had been over the years not to give this incredible genius credit.” Not only did Harris discover the depth of Jefferson’s estimable talents and innovations, but he found his own way into Jefferson’s idiosyncratic takes on the classic solos of jazz giants like Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins. The Genius of Eddie Jefferson, due out May 4 on Resilience Music Alliance, is an ideal blend of Harris’ rich, beguiling baritone and Jefferson’s bantering cool. The album follows Harris into adventurous new territory, at once embracing the challenge and making these bop classics as embracing and celebratory as his takes on jazz standards and swooning ballads. Harris didn’t take the plunge alone. Though he’d previously covered Jefferson’s most famous piece, “Moody’s Mood For Love,” he needed to plunge deeply into the singer’s catalogue and methodology. Harris worked closely with pianist Eric Reed (Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride) and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Brian Bacchus (Gregory Porter) to immerse himself in the tricky contours of Jefferson’s work. “It was daunting,” Harris says. “Sometimes it seemed like I was taking a master class at MIT. But I wanted to grow as a jazz vocalist -- I’ve done the American Songbook. No one has really tackled a full project of Eddie Jefferson’s with the type of voice that I have, and I wanted to get it exact.” It helps to have a band that can provide the ebullient swing and fierce chops that can drive the tunes that Jefferson built his creations upon, and Reed assembled an ideal one: bassist George DeLancey (Houston Person, Tia Fuller), drummer Willie Jones III (Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval), and tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore (Kevin Eubanks, Freddie Hubbard). The band is joined by special guest saxophonist Richie Cole, who worked closely with Jefferson in the singer’s final years, up to the night of his tragic death outside Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit.
“To have Richie Cole there was a blessing from above,” says Harris. “His knowledge of what Eddie was doing was paramount because he was right there beside him. He not only gave me a pat on the back that was sorely needed, but he gave me a few pointers and a kind of permission to open things up a little bit to what I’m about.” In his liner notes, writer and musician Greg Tate compares Jefferson to such pioneering hip-hop lyricists as KRS One and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, poets of the vernacular who could combine urban jargon and socially pointed messages. Harris agrees, saying, “Eddie Jefferson used the guise of his street language to create some really wonderful English literature on that stuff. Because his voice was so streetwise and rough, until you really listen to him in depth you don't understand that he was very erudite in his lyrical value. He didn't just rely on nursery rhyme rhythms and prose. He really dealt in some really hip street stuff.” He also celebrated the jazz musicians whose work he was repurposing, often painting musical portraits of these legends through his lyrics, as on the album’s opening track, “So What.” Following the lines of Davis’ classic solo, he recounts a famous incident in which both the trumpeter and then-sideman John Coltrane left the stage mid-performance, deciding they needed a bit of extra rehearsal before resuming the show. Harris’ rendition is soulful and warm, vividly capturing the vintage nightclub atmosphere. For all his protestations, Harris has no problem with bringing the grit and funky edge to Horace Silver’s “Sister Sadie” and “Filthy McNasty,” or tearing his way through a blistering Lester Young solo on “Lester’s Trip to the Moon.” At the same time, he brings a heartbreaking tenderness to the classic “Body and Soul” and a down-home blues to “Memphis.” He courses along with bop vitality on Dexter Gordon’s lively “Dexter Digs In” and Charlie Parker’s gymnastic runs on “Billy’s Bounce.” His romantic soul emerges on Duke Pearson’s lament “Jeannine,” while Cole’s “Waltz for a Rainy Bebop Evening” is a wistful reflection on the music’s rich legacy. Despite his initial reluctance, taking on Jefferson’s oeuvre has made an indelible mark on Harris as a singer. “This has tainted me,” he says. “This feels so good, like reaching a high. Doing Eddie Jefferson’s music has taken me out of the arena of being just the guy singing jazz standards in front of a smoking band, to feeling like a part of the band. It would be hard now for me to turn back.”
