Melissa Aldana - 12 Stars (March 4, 2022 Blue Note Records)

GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana joins the Blue Note Records family with the release of 12 Stars, her debut album as a leader for the legendary label following her appearance on the acclaimed 2020 album by the collective ARTEMIS. The Brooklyn-based tenor player from Santiago, Chile has garnered international recognition for her visionary work as a band leader, as well as her deeply meditative interpretation of language and vocabulary. 12 Stars grapples with concepts of childrearing, familial forgiveness, acceptance, and self-love, and was inspired by her deep interest in tarot. The album was produced by guitarist Lage Lund, who also performs as part of a remarkable quintet with Sullivan Fortner on piano and Fender Rhodes, Kush Abadey on drums, and Pablo Menares on bass.

If the digital album is purchased, you will receive the full album via email on March 4th, 2022.

Standard digital downloads are delivered as MP3 44.1khz/24-bit audio files.

Please note, digital downloads are only available in the U.S. 

1. Falling

2. Intuition

3. Intro to Emilia

4. Emilia

5. The Bluest Eye

6. The Fool

7. Los Ojos de Chile

8. 12 Stars

Hi-Res Digital Disclaimer:

FLAC files do NOT work in iTunes/Apple Music players or on most portable music players without additional software. If you’re unfamiliar with FLAC files we suggest that you download the WAV files instead. More information on FLAC can be found here or here.

Melissa Aldana: Tenor Saxophone

Lage Lund: Guitars & Gizmos

Sullivan Fortner: Acoustic Piano; Rhodes 

Pablo Menares: Bass

Kush Abadey: Drums

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Dan Bruce's :Beta Collective - Time To Mind the Mystics (April 29, 2022 Shifting Paradigm Records)

This project explores the interaction between humanity and technology. At its core is the idea that our embrace of technological innovation cannot come at the sacrifice of generational knowledge and ancient wisdom.

1. Time To Mind the Mystics

2. Blueprint

3. Insignificance (A Love Song)

4. Slant

5. The Walk 07:01

6. You vs. You (For Bill Frisell)

7. Not Knowing

8. Moth Flame Blues

Dan Bruce - electric guitar, nylon string guitar, Ableton Live programming

Chris Coles - alto/tenor saxophones, vocoder

Brad Wagner - soprano/tenor saxophones, bass clarinet

Caleb Smith - trombone

Will Wedmedyk - vibraphone

Theron Brown - piano, Fender Rhodes, melodica

Aidan Plank - acoustic bass, electric bass

Anthony Taddeo - drums, percussion

Joel Negus- synthesizers (Mystics and Slant)

Recorded by Ian Anderson a Kent State Stark Studios

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Schwab

Produced by Dan Bruce and Joel Negus

Cover Artwork by Oscar H. Gresh

Layout and Design by Hannah Taddeo

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Gabrielle Ducomble - Les chansons de la Brasserie (April 22, 2022)

Now a firm favourite in her adopted UK, talented vocalist Gabrielle Ducomble brings a special blend of Gallic charm and sophistication to the British jazz scene.

Singing in English and her native French, Gabrielle performs Parisian-style jazz and tango, putting a contemporary spin on songs by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Astor Piazzolla, plus her own original material.

1. Je M'en Fous Pas Mal

2. Les Champs-Élysées

3. La Bicyclette

4. Ménilmontant

5. Syracuse

6. Mon Homme

7. Paroles, Paroles

8. Les Amants D'un Jour

9. Rimes

10. Mon Manège à Moi

Gabrielle Ducomble - Vocals

Rob Updegraff - Guitar

Ben Hazleton - Double Bass

Richard Jones - Violin on Tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Dave Shulman - Clarinet on Tracks 1, 3, 7, 10

Recorded at Slipway Studio Richmond in September 2021

Sound Engineer: Simone Filiali

Mixing and mastering: Simone Filiali

Photography: Michael Garrett

Album release April 22, 2022

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Malcolm Earle Smith - Vocal Intent (April 22, 2022)

Vocal Intent fulfils Malcolm Earle Smith's long held desire to make a vocal album; in contrast to previous releases, where he is also also featured as trombonist. ‘Leaving my horn respectfully in its case this time has given me more space to develop my vocal style', he says. 'In particular, I've always had a passion for scat singing, and for this recording I've explored making a closer connection between vocal improvisation and the mood of the song'. Vocal Intent also makes a strong connection with Malcolm's passion for teaching. Featured alongside him are four of his former students – all now highly respected artists on the UK jazz scene and beyond. 'My students have always inspired me, and working together on this project has been very special, not to mention a lot of fun!'

'....an electrifying vocal performance which is completely captivating’

- Nick Lea, Jazzviews 2020

1. Stompin' at the Savoy

2. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams

3. Confirmation

4. Don't take your Love from Me

5. I Had the Craziest Dream

6. Just in Time

7. Time on my Hands

8. Dream Dancing

9. Old Fashioned Love

Malcolm Earle Smith (vocals, leader, arrangements)

Leo Richardson (saxophone)

Chris Eldred (piano)

Conor Chaplin (bass)

Douglas Marriner (drums)

Recording: Nick Taylor at Porcupine Studios, July 18th 2019

Editing, mixing and mastering: Alex Bonney, November 2012/January 2022

Photography: Hollin Jones

Artwork: Rich Stoney

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Paul Edis announces 1st March vinyl launch show for 'The Still Point of the Turning World

“A brilliant young pianist”

- The Guardian

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

LISTEN TO ‘THE STILL POINT OF THE TURNING WORLD’ HERE

Lateralize Records is proud to announce the long-awaited vinyl release of The Still Point Of The Turning World, the mesmerising new album by British jazz pianist, Paul Edis. The album will be performed in its entirety in a special concert at London’s beautiful Hampstead Parish Church on 1st March.

The second half of the show will feature the premiere of Awakening, a multi-movement work that combines jazz and classical influences and features Adam King (double bass), Matt Home (drums) and the Estilo String Quartet.

Nobody sounds quite like Paul Edis or transports you to the places he travels to with his ethereal music. Simultaneously soothing and stirring, rapturous yet relaxed, at times the melodies almost appear to become subservient to the mood on this dreamlike album.

“There’s a certain meditative quality to The Still Point Of The Turning World,” Edis explains. “Compositions like Start Over, Dig Deep and The Way You Make Me Feel are a mixture of reflection, sadness and love. There’s been so much sadness and loss around whilst working on this record, it’s hardly surprising that it sounds so reflective. When I write, the process often starts with a kind of mood that’s almost a meditation in itself.”

After releasing a string of critically acclaimed independent albums, he signed with London-based Lateralize Records and spent a year composing the music for The Still Point Of The Turning World. With a distinctive style that effortlessly blurs the boundaries between Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau and Claude Debussy, Edis is undoubtedly one of the finest British jazz artists to emerge over the last decade.

“The more accomplished you are as a musician, the more you realise that chops and technical demonstrations don’t necessarily say that much. I’m always trying to find the most elegant, simple message in the music. Simple is not the same as simplistic. Picasso could paint incredible things, but he didn’t need to use his technical ability to articulate his emotions. I’ve always tried to get to the emotional essence of the music, but it feels like something new and exciting has happened with this record.”

The Still Point Of The Turning World is an achingly beautiful, impressionistic album that washes over you like a wave of emotion and wells up from places Wordsworth deemed ‘too deep for tears.’

The Still Point Of The Turning World will be released on CD and Limited Edition Heavyweight 180g vinyl on Lateralize Records on 1st March 2022.

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John Donegan - Siamsa Vol 2 (March 1, 2022 Jayde Records)

John Donegan, UK based and originally from Cork, is a modern jazz pianist and composer. He has worked with a variety of artists incl., Art Blakey, Art Farmer, Barney Kessel and more. Musicians Union Magazine review - “An intriguing combination of classic bebop laced with Irish folk melody, this album from pianist John and his saxophonist friend Tommaso Starace is full of sublime lyrical moments”

1. On The Banks Of The Carrowbeg 03:05

2. Tra An Aonaigh (The Beach OF The Fair) 01:28

3. Five To One 06:36

4. Cascade 04:54

5. At The Mouth Of The Blackwater 03:33

6. Veesta 04:49

7. Fan, Gra Mo Chroi. (Wait, Love OF My Heart) 04:12

8. Rince Jazz Beag (A Little Jazz Dance) 04:02

9. Abhainn Bui ( Yellow River) 02:12

10. My Gentle Dream 06:35

11. Tra An Aonaigh ( The Beach Of The Fair) 01:28

12. Tranquility 01:08

John Donegan - Piano & Composer

Tommaso Storace - Soprano Sax

Bernard O'Neill - Double Bass

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Vasil Hajigrudev Sextet (March 31, 2022)

The album you are about to hear is a work of love. I was composing and/or arranging this music especially for these musicians in mind. It was an immense joy creating those songs, I hope it will be a memorable experience for you too when you spend some time listening to it.

1. Life Is Hard And Then You Die

2. Her And The Sun

3. Котешки живот / Cat Life

4. Дъх / Breath

5. Interlude

6. Цветан / Tzvetan

7. The Girl Who Plays Go

8. Temple

Rossen Zahariev - trumpet

Dimitar Liolev - alto sax

Arnau Garrofè - tenor sax

Vladislav Michev - trombone / bass trumpet

Vasil Hajigrudev - bass / compositions

Borislav Petrov - drums

Recorded and mixed by Konstantin Katzarski

Mastered by Dimitar Bodurov

Artwork by Aleksandra Ventova

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Nicola Pisani - Cypriana (March 1, 2022 Dodicilune / Ird)

Prodotto da Dodicilune, distribuito in Italia e all’estero da IRD e nei migliori store on line da Believe, martedì 1 marzo esce “Cypriana”, concerto per voce solista, voce recitante, jazz/traditional ensemble e coro del sassofonista, compositore e direttore pugliese Nicola Pisani.

In Italia si conosce poco del difficile e durissimo percorso intrapreso da Cipro per raggiungere lo statuto di Repubblica Democratica. Questo avvenne nel 1960 con l'Indipendenza conseguita dall'Inghilterra che, subentrata alla dominazione turca sull'isola, represse con violenza inaudita la ricerca di autonomia e libertà del popolo cipriota. Per celebrare il 50° anniversario della fondazione della Repubblica di Cipro è nata questa partitura originale: composta e diretta dal Nicola Pisani (compositore, sassofonista e  docente di Musica d’Insieme Jazz presso il Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano) è basata su temi musicali selezionati dal repertorio tradizionale cipriota inseriti in un tessuto musicale contemporaneo che si avvale di momenti di composizione estemporanea in scena e include poesie e testi di poeti greci  e ciprioti selezionati ed elaborati in una drammaturgia vocale da Maria Luisa Bigai (regista, attrice, docente di Arte Scenica presso il Conservatorio “San Pietro a Majella” di Napoli).

Il progetto nasce da un'idea di Yiannis Miralis, (docente del Dipartimento delle Arti/Musica dell’Università Europea di Cipro) ed è stato realizzato con la collaborazione, per la prima volta congiunta, di Ministero della Cultura e dell’Educazione di Cipro, Municipio di Strovolos, Progetto Erasmus,  Liceo Musicale di Cipro, Dipartimento delle Arti dell’Università Europea di Cipro con primo debutto assoluto nel marzo 2011 nel Teatro Municipale di Strovolos/Nicosia di Cipro, in occasione del 50° anniversario della fondazione della Repubblica di Cipro. In Italia viene presentato a Roma, nel 2012, in occasione del Semestre di Presidenza della Cultura Europea affidato alla Repubblica di Cipro, e nell'ambito della Settimana della Cultura Cipriota in Italia. Il concerto, eseguito nell’aula magna dell’Università "La Sapienza”, è registrato live e ora pubblicato nel cd “Nicola Pisani – Cypriana” grazie all’etichetta Dodicilune.

«La drammaturgia di Cypriana nasce dall'intersecarsi e giustapporsi di materiali eterogenei raccolti con una ricerca estremamente personale», spiega Maria Luisa Bigai. «Già dal primo impatto avuto con l'Isola di Cipro nel 2009, durante il mio primo viaggio di scambio Erasmus, emerge nella mia esperienza la pluralità di accenti e la frammentazione. La Città è tuttora divisa in due per quella che è detta 'la questione turca'. E girando per le strade e ascoltando le persone parlare si sente un ottimo inglese e un greco fatto di accenti e ritmi differenti, frammenti diversi per uno stesso orgoglio di appartenenza. Questo t erritorio», prosegue, «ha prodotto una cultura frutto di influenze disparate (gli antichi popoli mesopotamici mischiati con la classicità greca, i francesi del medioevo, Riccardo Cuordileone, i Veneziani, i Turchi presenti sin dalla battaglia di Lepanto e poi rimasti per secoli, gli Inglesi e poi quei Turchi piombati nel 1974 in una vera e propria invasione militare ...) una ricchezza incredibile di immagini e suoni, ritmi e accenti diversi. Parlando con un avvocato greco addetto di questioni internazionali ho avuto informazioni sulle tensioni greco-turche, sul protettorato inglese, sul processo di indipendenza che portò nel 1960 a Cipro finalmente riconosciuta come repubblica indipendente, ma attraverso un processo non incruento. E visitando il celebre Liceo Musicale, ho visto immagini di musicisti poi celebri, insieme a strane foto storiche di ragazzi...che furono impiccati nel 1957 e 1958 perché lottarono per l'indipendenza di Cipro. Una tragedia nel cuore dell'Europa modern a, senza che apparentemente nessuno lo sapesse, mentre a Londra già suonavano i Beatles. Tutte queste voci echeggiano attraverso letture di articoli di giornale, frammenti di lettere private, versi di poeti greci e di poeti greco-ciprioti, traduzioni parziali e commentari, echi e deformazioni – anche personali- insieme a informazioni storiche. 

Il lavoro di ricerca e composizione-scomposizione-ricomposizione creato da Nicola Pisani per la parte musicale, a partire anch'egli dall'ascolto e ritrovamento di echi e melismi storici e tradizionali, insieme a gesti precisi di composizione anche improvvisativa, con la sua richiesta di gesti individuali e fortemente personali in veste di solista, da parte di ogni componente del gruppo, mi ha portata a costruire un percorso a monologo, in una forma che restituisse le molte voci e i molti suoni di una narrazione collettiva. Ho voluto costruire una voce di Corifea, interprete e veicolo tra la parola e il suono di quanto narrabile e di quanto inenarrabile di questa vicenda, sviluppando i sentori, le grida e I sussurri che le singole voci orchestrali, il coro e il canto solista esprimono prima e dopo la parola», continua. «Parole dette, in italiano, inglese, greco cipriota, fino alla dissoluzione in sillabe, lallazioni, grida, parole prese da didascalie, informazioni di giornale, note a margine, frammenti di epistola, righe di diario privato, riverberi poetici liberamente tradotti o echeggiati nel loro suono iniziale o in libere riletture, fino a deformarli in suono, ritmo canto, è il percorso che ho voluto produrre perchè l'insieme dei frammenti diventasse l'albero di una nave fatta di palcoscenico e strumenti orchestrali, e i respiri e I canti vela del grande racconto collettivo che è questo momento tragico della nostra Storia contemporanea europea, tragico non solo perché ha visto la morte terribile di ragazzi giovanissimi impiccati per un'opinione e lotta politica, ma anche per lo scarsissimo riconoscimento che tuttora ha questo capitolo della creazione della nostra Europa attuale».

Docente di Musica d’insieme jazz al Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano, Nicola Pisani si è perfezionato in Jazz e direzione con Bruno Tommaso, in Musica Contemporanea con Vinko Globokar, in canto corale e direzione con Marcel Couraud. Primo premio assoluto al Concorso Internazionale di Stresa 1991, nel corso degli anni ha inciso per etichette italiane (Splasch, Dodicilune, Lieto Colle, Squilibri) e straniere (Ogun, Leo Record, Losen Record, Yvp ed Enja). Ha collaborato con John Surman, Pino Minafra, Andrea Centazzo, Michel Godard, Paolo Damiani, Sergey Kuryokhin, Steve Lacy, Keith Tippet, Louis Sclavis e con alcune produzioni Rai. Ha diretto e compos to per le orchestre Dolmen, MultiJazz, Minafric, Assemblage, Tromso University, ICO - Bari, Orchestra Nazionale dell’AMJ, Orchestra Nazionale Docenti di Conservatorio, M.A.O. Orchestra. Suona in tutta Europa, USA, Argentina, Marocco, Arabia Saudita. Ha tenuto stage su Improvvisazione e Conduction in Italia, Danimarca, Norvegia, Estonia e Cipro. Coordinatore scientifico del 1° I.P. Erasmus in U.E. sull’Improvvisazione per i Conservatori di Cosenza, Tromso (N), Esbjerg e Aahrus (DK), Tallin (ES), Nicosia (CY), Vienna (A). È stato Presidente dell’A.M.J, fondatore del sindacato musicisti SIAM-CGIL, coordinatore della Conferenza Nazionale Docenti Jazz – AFAM.
L’etichetta pugliese Dodicilune è attiva dal 1996 e dispone di un catalogo di oltre 300 produzioni discografiche (cd, vinili, dvd) di artisti italiani e stranieri. Grazie a Ird e Believe i dischi sono distribuiti in Italia e all'estero nei migliori negozi di musica, nelle principali catene (Feltrinelli, Fnac, Ricordi, Mondadori, Melbookstore) e su 60 piattaforme di download/streaming digitale in circa 80 paesi in tutto il mondo (iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, AppleMusic, Amazon, Qobuz, Tidal).

1 - Thalasses

2 - Conduction N.52

3 - Insulae

4 - Cypriot Popular Song

5 - Musiki

All compositions by Nicola Pisani

Lyrics by Maria Luisa Bigai (1, 2, 3, 5)

Nicola Pisani, composer, conductor

Maria Luisa Bigai, drammaturgy, narrator

Erica Gagliardi, vocals

Michalis Kouloumis, violin

Piero Gallina, violin, lira calabrese

Ilaria Montenegro, flutes

Yannis Miralis, soprano sax

Elli Michael, alto sax

Alberto La Neve, tenor, baritone sax

Marco Sannini, trumpet, flugelhorn

Giuseppe Oliveto, trombone

Mario Gallo, tuba

Andreas Christodoulou, oud

Massimo Garritano, guitars, bouzouki

Marios Toumbas, piano

Carlo Cimino, double bass, electric bass

Checco Pallone, frame drums

Vassilis Vassilleiou, drums

Alessio Sisca, drums

Giuseppina Conti, choir conductor

Choir “Cantus Vitae"

• PRODUCTION DATA

Total time 54:56 STEREO DDD

(p) 2022 DODICILUNE (Italy)

(c) 2022 DODICILUNE (Italy)

www.dodicilune.it

CD DODICILUNE DISCHI Ed515

8033309695150

• RECORDING DATA

Produced by Nicola Pisani and Maurizio Bizzochetti, Gabriele Rampino, Dodicilune

Label manager Maurizio Bizzochetti (www.dodicilune.it)

Live recorded 1 October 2012 at Aula Magna, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

Sound engineer Fabrizio De Rose

Mixed and mastered 20/27 November 2012 at Dedalus Studio, Cosenza, Italy

Sound engineer Checco Pallone

Cover photo by Fabio Ciminiera

Photos by Donato Anselmi, Raffaella Mastroianni, Pino Ninfa, Paola Scirchio

Contact: nicsax16061962@gmail.com, facebook.com/nicola.pisani.5

• EXTRA NOTES

La musica di questo disco è stata analizzata nel libro “Big Band” (Ferrari editore) di Francesco Caligiuri

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ZKHR - Pieces for Double Bass & Piano (March 1, 2022)

Neo-classical music in which all the power and performance potential of double bass are discovered, accompanied by pianoforte and ambient electronical music.

ZKHR announced release of the LP “Pieces for Double Bass & Piano” on March the 1st of 2022. There are not so many compositions for double bass written. The musician promises to expand the abilities of double bass in a fresh new way, to find experimental images and change listener’s  vision of the very fundamental function of this great musical instrument in this work.

The album consists of 9 compositions. Double bass part is recorded by the author, while pianoforte part is recorded by Kamilla Leonenkova, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music student.

The pieces, presented on the record, slide into one another, creating the feeling of an endless story. The composer transmits emotional experience of the persona with the bow movements, describes the world filled with some special sadness and romanticism with the help of sounds. This romanticism is picturesquely unusual, it violates the conservative form and gets exposed in something that comes to be bulky and massive at first sight.

The sounds of double bass and pianoforte slip into the half-light constrained with meditative silence. These sounds fill the whole room peacefully and confidently, distracting the listener from the routine and ordinary things, inviting to the world of melancholy and contemplation upon something really important.

This is exactly the way one can describe atmosphere created by the talented composer Zakhar Zaitsev, who works under the stage name ZKHR and violates classic composing traditions.

The musician successfully combines solo career with participation in diversified projects. One can hear Zakhar’s bass-guitar on the records of the rock bands Target Audience and Animatronika, double bass – on the acoustic records of Solarburst or in combination with nyckelharpa and harp in the folk band Opletai repertoir, pianoforte – in Natalia Drepina and indie-pop singer Daria Loiter’s (the band LOAD’s frontwoman) songs.

ZKHR’s talent has been noticed far outside of Russia. The composer’s debut album “Ride” was critically acclaimed by the international media: Portugal Threshold Magazine, German Kulturform, French totoromoon. Zakhar cooperates with the mexican artist René Villarreal, recorded soundtrack to the advertisement by the Spanish designer Maria Jose Garcia and the Amerrican designer Lory Sun Artistry. After graduating the Popakademie in Baden-Wurttenberg Zakhar Zaitsev started cooperating with the German musician Jon Darco.

The cover has been created by the artist Anna Mikhailova, well-known for her artworks for the books “Herman” and “Fish don’t melt” published in Samokat publishing house, design of the web media portals «Такие дела» (That’s the way it goes”), «Батенька, да вы трансформер» (Oh, dear! You’re a transformer), cooperation with Alexey Kozlov’s jazz club and participation in the international art festivals (Fumetto comix-festival, Typomania, MorsFest, Non/Fiction).

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Marcos Pin Brass Quintet - PORTRAIT OF A DECADE (Part ONE): The Photographer (February 28, 2022)

Portrait Of A Decade is a concert composition for traditional brass quintet and Jazz guitar.

The music is inspired by a Rafa Pasadas´ photography book, "Mercado".

The concert is built in three parts. Here you´ll enjoy tthe first one suite entitled "The Photographer".

1. Vision 06:55

2. Intuition 06:21

3. Soul 05:18

Marcos Pin - Guitar

Javier Pereiro "GDJazz" - Trumpet & flugelhorn

Fernando Rei - Trumpet & flugelhorn

Álvaro Crego - French horn

Ginés Guerra - Trombone

Rafael de la Torre - Tuba

Mixed & mastered by Cristina Morquillas

Cover art by Donna A. McClay

Music composed & arranged by Malcolm Stilton

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Local Talent, Projectwhatever - REMOTISM (February 2022)

Local Talent combines 3 of Canada’s most eminent instrumentalists performing together for the first time on record in this exciting new experimental jazz project. The group is lead by producer and keyboardist Projectwhatever (aka James Hill), a rising star of the Toronto scene, known best for his work with international jazz and hip hop sensation BADBADNOTGOOD.

1. HOME 100 01:37

2. SMOKE AND PRAY 03:44

3. GREENPOINT 04:29

4. SAKAMOTO 04:22

5. REMOTISM 05:10

6. THE DEVIL MAY CRY 04:08

7. SPIRITS (feat. Autobahn Trio) 02:47

8. CONTROL CENTER (feat. Autobahn Trio) 03:18

Projectwhatever on piano & keyboards

Rich Brown on electric bass

Ian Wright on drums and percussion

Compositions by Projectwhatever

*tracks 7 & 8 co-written by Ian Wright and Jeff LaRochelle

Editing, mixing, mastering by Projectwhatever

Produced by Projectwhatever

Cover art by Klara Vanzella Yang

Engineered by Stephen Koszler

Recorded at Revolution Recording

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Threedom - Conduits (February 2022)

During the summer of 2021 we managed to get two live performances in, including our first public ticketed show which occurred at the legendary Horning’s Hideout in White Plains Oregon. The venerable Northwest String Summit wasn’t able to hold their annual gathering but figured out how to put on a special event called the ‘Peacock Pickin Party’ in early July and we were tapped to open up the night for Yonder Mountain String Band and the Infamous Stringdusters.

Then a few months later in September we travelled down to Navarro California deep in the Redwoods for our first ever out-of-town performance, at the lovely Camp Deep End festival. Joined for a jam by our friend Chris Haugen on lap steel, we played under a tarp while being pummeled with torrential rains as joyous festival-goers danced and cavorted in the mud and it was perfect.

1. Security Please 06:34

2. In The Deep End 04:55

3. Redwood Downpour 03:52

4. Peacock Way 04:08

5. Daydream Sunset 03:47

6. Navarro Tracers 04:03

7. What Was That? 05:29

8. Just As I Remembered 03:30

9. Strength Summit 04:08

Asher Fulero: Keyboards

Brett McConnell: Bass

Matt Butler: Drums

Chris Haugen: Lap Steel (6)

1,2,3,6 recorded live September 18, 2021

at Camp Deep End Festival, Navarro CA

Live Mix/Multitrack Recording by Todd Kushnir

4,5,7,8,9 recorded live July 20, 2021

at Northwest String Summit’s Peacock Pickin’ Party

Horning’s Hideout, White Plains OR

Live Mix/Multitrack Recording by Alan Mekel

Editing, Mixing, Mastering by Asher Fulero

Artwork by Todd Kushnir and Asher Fulero

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Brett Walberg - Walberg Tractor Co. (February 2022)

Over the past few years, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my childhood in rural Massachusetts and how it has affected my approach to work, art and music.

So many seminal moments of my young life were framed by working out in the yard with my Father, doing many of the chores that I composed tunes about. That and the trusty tractor that we had to do everything we need to do.

I hope this record conveys the history and storytelling from my childhood that was only possible with such a spectacular band of dear, trusted friends.

1. Fish Pond/Pond Fish 05:03

2. Pulling Stumps 11:57

3. Showing Off 08:24

4. Wheelhorse 12:10

5. Cutting Trees 09:30

6. Letter to Judy Bailey 11:34

Brett Walberg - Saxophone/Flute/Bass Clarinet

James Heazelwood-Dale - Bass

Tyson Jackson - Drums

Recording Engineer - Sam Gossner

Mixing/Mastering - Gordon Neidinger

Album Art - Ken Calhoun

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Tim Stevens - The beauty of the way and the goodness of the wayfarers (February 2022)

With profoundest love, respect, admiration and gratitude,

this is for Tabitha Halley

‘The less we say about it the better; make it up as we go along,’ – David Byrne, ‘This must be the place (Naïve melody)’

'Think where man's glory most begins and ends,

And say my glory was I had such friends.'

– W. B. Yeats

This is my seventh solo piano album, and they’re fun to make. If you’ve been following, you may have noticed that I move from studio to studio to give each one a slightly different feel and sound; although all three of the church ones were recorded at Pughouse for consistency within a series, the others have been done at various places in Sydney and Melbourne.

Most of the pieces on this album come from that very fruitful year of 2016, although some selections are much older. The daily composition effort in the leap year was, and remains, the only time in my life when I have kept a new year’s resolution, and it showed me some valuable things. Not all the compositions were worth playing again, but the best of them I like, and I wish to preserve. There are also a couple of free improvisations, just to keep things fresh. Making it up as we go along. And (wait, no?!) a standard.

This is a digital-only release, because CDs are expensive to manufacture and people have stopped buying them like they used to and they take up space at home. I’m interested to see how things go with this, so it’s a learning experience. If you want to burn your own CD, obviously you can, if you’ve bought the music.

Composition is a thing that has interested me since childhood; I wrote some dreadful music that was performed when I was in primary school and I’m very pleased to think that it’s been forgotten. But when I started studying improvisation I took leads from people who had written the material they played and that seemed like something for which to aim. Writing the book, as the saying goes, was very attractive to me so when I was a member of Browne – Haywood – Stevens my objective was to make the larger part of the band’s repertoire original. I was lucky to have friends like Al and Nick to deal with what I delivered, and they did so with graciousness and interest that was deeply rewarding.

Some pieces, like 'The Unmistaken', take ages to write because you're a bit young and you've got hold of something that you really want to use but can't quite handle. Yet. Others are a matter of an hour or two, and because you've practised you can see more clearly the possibilities of an idea and the way in which to get from here to there. The effort is always to make something serviceable enough to warrant repeated performance, something that feels extendable, that doesn't suck.

This music is, as I say, for Tabitha, whose company I have enjoyed for over thirty years. Sometimes you meet someone and it feels a bit like you never didn’t know them. Tab and I met in the last years of high school. She is my closest friend in the world after my wife and our kids, and I thank God for her. Mr Byrne more or less nails our relationship.

Now. Thanks are due to some very dear friends. My beloved trio and double trio colleagues: Madeleine Jevons, Phoebe Green, Naomi Wileman, Ben Robertson, Marty Holoubek, Tony Floyd, and Dave Beck. You’re all so ridiculously special, and I love you all like mad. To Myles, my gratitude for a wonderful session. Respect and thanks. To my darling Luci, my honoured thanks for the beautiful paperwork, and to Cheryl Orsini, most serious thanks for making the cover look so fine. Fond thanks to my radio supporters: David Moyle, Andrew Ford, Mal Stanley, and Jessica Nicholas. And everyone else, nation-wide, who broadcast bits of 'There’ll be some changes played'. Dear pals who keep me going: Meg Morley, Alison Lemoh, Mth Mel Clark, Mth Colleen Clayton, Fr John Baldock, Fr Hugh Kempster, Jennifer Mills, Dr Penelope Preston, Gary Warne, Patrick Jaffe, Sophie Allen, Tony Gould, Andrew Ogburn, and Leah Scholes. Blessings on the lot of you; I need you because you're all so important to me. To Tab, the dedicatee, all the stuff I’ve said up top. You’re a totally marvellous friend and a sustaining good influence and I’m so very glad we met. I love you, although you could be in no doubt about that by now. And to my exquisite family, the peerless Sally James, and Oliver, Frederick and Lucinda, my heart, as ever. I am so grateful for your company and your support and your enthusiastic love. You are supreme. 

1. Well, I mostly hide 05:53

2. Try it on 03:44

3. Sweet silent thought 03:10

4. Cocktails before noon 04:13

5. The vault 05:08

6. Yours and mine 02:45

7. This quiet life 03:49

8. Inkling 04:18

9. The new ships 04:03

10. Into cleanness leaping 05:31

11. The unmistaken 04:36

12. How long has this been going on? 07:22

All compositions and improvisations by Tim Stevens, except 'How long has this been going on?' by George and Ira Gershwin (thanks, boys)

Tim Stevens, piano

Produced by Tim Stevens

Recorded by Myles Mumford at Rolling Stock Recording Rooms on 3 February 2022

Edited, mixed and mastered also by Myles, the champ

Executive producer Tim Stevens

Cover by Luci James and Cheryl Orsini

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Charles Goold - Rhythm In Contrast (February 2022)

Charles Goold, is one of New York City's hardest working jazz drummers of his generation.

Goold has performed with a wide variety of acts across varying styles from Wynton Marsalis & JALC, to rap icons Cam’Ron, Talib Kweli, and Ghostface Killah.

Goold uses these experiences to propel the sound of his group NuBopCity, a blend of Hard Bop, Hip Hop, Funk and Afro-Carribean influences.

1. Sequence of Events 05:33

2. Nedistic 06:06

3. Tell Me Something When 04:51

4. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing 03:04

5. Caribbean Fire Dance 04:57

6. Lo's Lament 04:21

7. Head Start 04:45

8. Gettin' Out Blues 05:09

9. Pati's Mood 06:58

10. Resisting Arrest 05:32

Steve Nelson - Vibes

Ned Goold - Sax

Andrew Renfroe - Guitar

Taber Gable - Piano

Noah Jackson - Bass

Charles Goold - Drums

Elio Villafranca - Producer

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Michael Garrick Trio & Sextet - Farnborough Technical College 1965 (February 2022 British Progressive Jazz)

Recorded live at Farnborough Technical College on 23rd October 1965.

From the private collection of Roger Palmer. Previously unheard. Monophonic sound.

'I was an apprentice at RAE Farnborough from 1962-7 and discovered all the things I really wanted to do - music (I'd started playing bass), photography, archaeology - and one of the things that helped the music side were the weekly gigs that Michael organised at The Highwayman where I and a couple of other jazz lovers were regulars. I'd give a lot to be able to revisit those gigs - Michael's trio, trio plus guest (including Joe several times and sometimes with Shake, Ronnie Ross, Don Lamont, etc), Tubby, the early years of Rendell-Carr quintet (or not so early if Michael was on piano). The New Jazz Orchestra squeezed in a few times with some huge sounds and there were other treats, Dudley Moore trio, Johnny Scott quartet, and many I will have forgotten...

An offshoot of my music interest was that I and another apprentice, Derek Wickham, formed a 'music society' at the tech which enabled us to buy the Ferrograph that was used to record Michael's concert and rent records that we could play to members of the society. I did the jazz, Derek did classical - alternate weeks. Derek was also one of the Highwayman crowd and I guess that we hatched up the idea of the concert and asked Michael for a price.

I remember driving to Michael's house late in the morning and everyone was crowded into a room in his house rehearsing. Michael had agreed that we could record it - all from a single mic if I remember correctly... The hall would have been just that - a basic college hall in the 1960s with a stage and not much else. It certainly was not good enough for the annual review that we apprentices put on and used a 'theatre' known as the 'RAE Assembly Hall' (or 'rooms') which even had a couple of lights. I was in the wings on the same side as Coleridge (Goode) where I guess we had the tape recorder too... To an extent, these were musicians we knew slightly from the Highwayman, but I had the opportunity to chat a little with Coleridge...'

Roger Palmer - February 2022 

1. Leprechaun Leap 09:57

2. Promises 06:52

3. Song By The Sea 05:14

4. Parting Is Such 06:50 video

5. Childe Rolande 06:21

6. Requiem 05:07

7. Portrait Of A Young Lady 14:21

8. I Got Rhythm 04:46

9. Webster's Mood 14:15

10. Second Coming 09:25

Michael Garrick - piano

Joe Harriott - alto sax

Tony Coe - tenor sax

Ian Carr - trumpet

Coleridge Goode - bass

Colin Barnes - drums

All tracks composed by Michael Garrick ℗ 1965 except:

8 Gershwin/Gershwin ℗ 1930

Original recording - Roger Palmer

Consultation - Gabriel Garrick

Restored and produced by Matt Parker for British Progressive Jazz

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Patrick Shiroishi & Jeff Tobias (February 2022)

“They're two distinct types of visionaries, it's like fire and ice, basically…” - Spinal Tap

In May 2021, Jeff Tobias traveled to Los Angeles to see friends and get into nature. While there, he met up with Patrick Shiroishi for a first meeting improvisation that saw both multi-instrumentalists exclusively playing sopranino saxophone, the high-pitched instrument made famous by Maurice Ravel’s Boléro.

Nick Tuttle engineered the session, with assistance from Jerry Chinatown. In order to accentuate the registral extremes offered by the paired sopraninos, Tuttle recorded Shiroishi and Tobias in both the largest and smallest spaces available in his studio. The recording was consequently mastered by Ian Wayne; the results speak for themselves. The pair intend to record a follow-up sometime in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-two.

1. A1 10:45

2. A2 04:38

3. B1 16:20

Patrick Shiroishi: sopranino saxophone

Jeff Tobias: sopranino saxophone

Recorded on May 24th 2021 in Los Angeles

Tracked and mixed by Nick Tuttle

Mastered by Ian Wayne

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Hello Cacus! - Happy Thief (February 2022 ears&eyes Records)

During a residency in New York, September 2018, Argentinian drummer Federico Isasti and Norwegian bassist Petter Asbjørnsen met and developed a spontaneous musical connection. As part of the SIM workshop (led by Ralph Alessi), Petter and Federico played together a wide range of compositions with musicians within different ensemble settings. That initial musical connection and the shared way of conceiving composed music with improvisation as the founding core led to the idea of working together in the future. Just a few days later, fate would have it that they also met the Austrian pianist Elias Stemeseder, a musician that Federico and Petter already admired for his work with Jim Black and Nels Cline, among others, and his fresh approach to improvised music. For all these reasons, they decided they would have to record an album before they disappeared to different corners of the world.

The following days were spent intensively composing and exploring musical concepts and material to play in a piano trio setting. The central pieces of these explorations were a polished work of rhythm and a subtle approach to harmonies. As a result of that work, the musicians arrived at Happy Thief. Both the names of the album and the trio (Hello Cacus!) were chosen after a sour experience. Just a few weeks after the recording, Petter was back in Europe where his personal bag was stolen, containing the hard drive with the original copy of the album’s recording session. Fortunately the recordings were still stored on sound technician Luis Bacqué’s hard-drive in his studio in New Jersey, where the album was recorded. On the one hand, Hello Cacus! references to the fire-breathing roman god Cacus, son of Vulcan, killer of innocents and perpetrator of all kinds of crimes. On the other hand, Happy Thief is a plain citation to that man that almost made this album impossible to be released.

Federico Isasti

The album contains seven compositions written especially for this record. Ideas and inspiration for each piece comes from a wide range of places: the idea of distorting the notion of time by working with rhythmic displacements (Federico’s Idea), a train travel in Italy (Tren a Formia), the coexistence of diverse melodic motives in a narrow space (N° 3), exploring the nuances between contrasts through intervallic ambiguous harmony, while still anchored in a sense of tonality (Great title), the vastness of a deserted warehouse (Lagerbygning), finishing unfinished old ideas (Gammel idé), using the notes of an arpeggio to derive a subdivision, harmonic and melodic material and form (For Petter).

The music in this album is founded on three fundamental pillars: precise rhythmic ideas, a spacious sense of the harmonic field and the blurring of the frontier between written and improvised music. The formal aspect of the tunes is in the majority of the cases pretty straight forward: exposition of the main theme, improvisation with that material and re-exposition of the theme. Even though this is a common characteristic of the traditional jazz way of improvising, the music finds its identity in the nuances in timber, dynamics, rhythm and harmonies, strongly influenced by Petter and Federico’s conception of improvised music. 

1. For Petter 06:18

2. N° 3 06:44

3. Tren a Formia 04:41

4. Great Title 08:27

5. Lagerbygning 05:41

6. Gammal Ide 05:44

7. Federico's Idea 05:00

Elias Stemeseder | piano

Petter Absjørnsen | upright bass & composition

Federico Isasti | drums & composition

Recorded by Luis Bacqué at Bacqué Recording in New Jersey USA

Mixed and mastered by Florencio Justo at Estudio Dr. F in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Produced by Petter Absjørnsen and Federico Isasti

Original art by Leo Cullari

Design by Nicolas Gaggero

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Ari Giancaterino - Chapters (February 2021)

The second studio jazz album released by Ari Giancaterino, this album is inspired by the works of jazz legends including Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. It also features instrumental features including one of Herbie Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage' as well as 90's punk-rock band "Fugazi" with their ballad, 'I'm So Tired'. All other works are original compositions by Ari Giancaterino including "Get Real" and "One for Wayne" (an homage to Wayne Shorter)

The album features incredible performances by the following artists:

1. One for Wayne 05:07

2. Black Cat 04:30

3. Get Real 06:54

4. Maiden Voyage 08:06

5. Hallowed Ground 05:11

6. I'm so Tired 04:07

All compositions are originals by Ari Giancaterino, except for Maiden Voyage (Herbie Hancock) and I'm So Tired (Fugazi)

Sara Sithi-Amnuai - trumpet/flugel

Aaron Shaw - tenor sax

Omree Gal-Oz - piano

Zev Shearn-nance - drums

Luca Ferrara - guitar

Ari Giancaterino - bass

Recorded @ Tritone Studios in Burbank, CA (2021)

Engineer: Talley Sherwood

Mix/Mastering: Maurice Gainen

Album Artwork: Vinnie Corbo

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Ra Kalam Bob Moses / Damon Smith duo - Purecircle (February 2022 Balance Point Acoustics)

Dip your fingers in the boiling water.

Scald your fingers.

Let your fingers sing the pain.

From "Sounds" (Klänge) Wassily Kandinsky 1912

1. Let Your Fingers Sing The Pain 06:40

2. Radiated Violet 04:59

3. Purecircle 1 01:02

4. Sound Hangs Hopelessly in the Sky 09:13

5. Wild Foam 03:34

6. True Mortar 07:09

7. Purecircle 2 01:02

8. Heavy Earth 07:27

9. Invisible Bell 05:12

10. Speaking Windows 09:47

11. Purecircle 3 01:04

12. The Blueish Wavelet Tosses 06:46

13. Cooled off Flash 03:37

14. Who Led You in Deeper 09:17

Ra Kalam Bob Moses - drums, percussion, gongs, spring drum

Damon Smith - double bass, Voice (track 2)

Design by Alan Anzalone

Cover art by Ra-Kalam Bob Moses

Mixed and Mastered by Weasel Walter

David J. Sullivan - recording engineer

Recorded at Native Pulse on October 14th 2021, in Quincy, Massachusetts

Double bass parts for Purecircles 1-3 recorded by Ryan Wasbo at Birdcloud studios on January 28th

Purecircles 1-3 mixed by Ryan Wasoba

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