Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Thursday, November 24, 2022
World Music Mix: Andrew Dow(USA) – In Motian (ears&eyes Records (2022)
Andrew Dow is a multidisciplinary artist living in New York City. Bass player, composer, photographer and videographer, Andrew has long been developing his personal sound and vision on the electric bass guitar. Inspired by jazz musicians, classical composers, rock music and songwriters alike, he has been following a singular vision, one that he hopes is felt throughout his first recording as a leader, In Motian.
From our very first breath to our last, we’re faced each and every day with navigating an ever changing world. In Motian is an attempt to acknowledge those every day changes; changes that we sometimes accept with grace, and sometimes we meet kicking and screaming. Andrew has composed a beautiful album of personal reflections on time; both lived and lost, personal and collective. A musically poetic weaving of memories, of hopes and dreams, of our shared human experiences.
Time is at the heart of the album; time and motion. In Motian is a play on words, giving a nod to the great drummer/composer Paul Motian, whose own sense of time, and artistic vision, has long been an inspiration of mine. However, In Motian is my own story, the story of my life. It’s the people that I’ve met, and the music that I’ve lived, learned and played. Singing classical music through college, my time playing with great songwriters, and later, all of my experience playing jazz and avant-garde music, both around Boston and then in New York City. Simply put, this is the debut presentation of my artistic DNA.
- Andrew Dow – electric bass guitar, compositions, poetry, spoken word
- Michaël Attias – alto sax
- Matt Hull – trumpet
- Sumner Thompson – voice
- Santiago Leibson – piano
- Max Goldman – drums
Thursday, November 17, 2022
JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band – ARCEOLOGY
JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band – ARCEOLOGY
Album: ARCEOLOGY The Music of MSM Schmidt
Label: Blue Canoe Records
For the past several years, former Yellowjackets bassist and prolific producer Jimmy Haslip has enjoyed an ongoing working relationship with the Bremen, Germany-based jazz fusion keyboardist and composer Michael Schmidt (aka MSM Schmidt). While Haslip played on Schmidt’s 2007 album Transit and 2009’s Destination, he ended up coproducing 2012’s Evolution, 2015’s Utopia and 2017’s Life. They take their chemistry to new heights on ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt.
This dynamic offering finds Haslip and members of his ARC Trio (keyboardist Scott Kinsey and Hungarian drummer Gergö Borlai) joining forces with the GRAMMY® Award-winning John Daversa Big Band on greatly expanded versions of previously recorded Schmidt material, along with two brand new pieces composed by Kinsey and Schmidt. The result is a powerhouse collection of polished, swaggering big band fusion along the lines of the Jaco Pastorius Big Band or The Brecker Brothers’ 2003 collaboration with the WDR Big Band Köln on Some Skunk Funk.
“I wanted to see if I could make this a big band record but somehow make it different,” said Haslip. “I didn’t think it should sound like a vintage big band recording. I wanted it to sound modern and have more of an edge, which is what led me to include guest soloists like Nguyên Lê, Mike Miller, Steve Khan, Oz Noy and others. They bring progressive elements into the big band setting and add compelling ideas to each song.”
Out of the eight songs that appear on ARCeology, six were previously recorded on other Michael Schmidt records. The two brand new compositions here are Schmidt’s “Mirrors” and Kinsey’s “Quartet.” And as Haslip noted, “In approaching this project, there was the thought that if you’re going to redo songs that have already been recorded, what can be done to make them sound like new compositions? And I think with Scott’s rhythm arrangements and John’s input on the horn parts, we came up with some creative solutions.”
Haslip also credited Kinsey, who became de facto co-producer of ARCeology. “Originally, I was the point producer on this whole thing, but as time went on I just knew that Scott needed to be a part of the production team,” he recalled. “We weren’t far into the project when I approached Scott and said, ‘I want you to be my co-producer on this because you’re contributing so much great work and it’s only fair that we do this together.’ He was up for that, so I am happy to say that Scott and I co-produced the record. I can’t take full credit for what’s happened here, as Scott was the real workhorse. He played most of the keyboard and synth parts and did all the keyboard solos, of course. Also, Scott’s rhythm arrangements had a big hand in influencing John’s horn arrangements. There was a lot of cool stuff already in place for John to just embellish. But then again, John has his own unique voice for orchestration. Everything he wrote after the fact was fantastic.”
Monday, November 14, 2022
JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Stefano Travaglini and Achille Succi-Book of Innocence
“With their new recording, Book of Innocence, Stefano Travaglini and Achille Succi have released an inspired recording and it is something quite beyond convention.
Stefano came to my attention in 2017 with his extraordinarily wide-ranging solo album Ellipse (Notami Jazz, 2017), his first leader recording. Another outstanding solo outing came in 2020 with Monk – Fifteen Piano Reflections (Notami Jazz). A multi-instrumentalist and composer, Stefano’s primary focus, on his recordings, is the piano. He won first prize at the International Piano Competition for Composers “G. Canciani” and Book of Innocence is Stefano’s fifth album as a leader or co-leader. As on two of his previous releases, The Hungarian Songbook (Terre Sommerse, 2013), and The Long Line (Odradek Records, 2019), Book of Innocence is a duo recording with fellow Italian, Achille Succi. He is a multiple award-winning musician, principally self-taught, on alto, and bass clarinet. Achille has performed with Louis Sclavis, Ab Baars and Ernst Rejiseger, among others.
Piano/clarinet duos are rare but the Travaglini-Succi duo presents a captivating interchange, based on visual arts, literature, and a myriad of further stimuli. The album opens with “Rothko”, inspired by the Russian-born abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. The artist has been celebrated in music before; most notably with Morton Feldman’s chamber work, “Rothko Chapel” and the dark alternative rock of Peter Gabriel in “Fourteen Black Paintings”. In its context, the Book of Innocence tribute is truer to Rothko’s artistic vision with its surreal churning of direction and timbre.
“Bauci” takes its inspiration from the novel “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino. The musical piece more than does justice to the fanciful tale that ponders on notions of recollection and place. Achille, here on bass clarinet, plays a beautiful, unassuming melody over the intricate harmony of the piano. “Silent Moon” and “Turning Tables” each exude a nocturnal serenity without limiting the possibilities of their individual instruments as Stefano and Achille switch places at the forefront. In these pieces, the duo excels in a creative interaction that is both fragile and impervious.
Pat Metheny’s “Travels” is the single cover on an album of Travaglini compositions and improvisations. The duo gives us an inspiring and imaginative take on the guitarist’s 1983 original, retaining Metheny’s evocative feeling while immersing themselves in their heartfelt version of the piece. On “Blues for Days to Come”, the lead is given over to Achille while Stefano supplies circular rhythm. As the piece progresses, Achille’s playing opens up and his excellent improvising puts the “blues” in a more modern context.
Book of Innocence closes with the extended title track, bringing the album to a thematic full circle. “Book of Innocence” has something of a spiritual connection to Henri Matisse’s The Red Studio. That 1911 creation by the French artist was less than universally embraced initially, but went on to influence other great artists including Rothko. It is a survey of some of the artist’s work consisting of paintings sculptures, and ceramics, within a single painting. With great resourcefulness, Stefano and Achille incorporate six of the pianist’s shorter compositions into a single unified grouping. The transition is almost seamless and the music is, by turns, poignant, cerebral, or reflective.
It is no surprise that Book of Innocence finds inspiration, in part, from the works of masters of the visual arts. Stefano and Achille paint vivid pictures with their music establishing a meeting ground for diverse artistic expressions. The duo plunges themselves into the full extent of their imaginations; their playing is neither predictable nor pretentious and not a note is wasted.
The Museum of Modern Art describes the centerpiece of Matisse’s The Red Studio as a grandfather clock with no hands. They suggest that the visual work exists in an environment where time is put on hold. It can be said that this exceptional work of art, Book of Innocence, lies in a similar place. These two virtuoso musicians have given us a collection that warrants repeated and complete attention. It is an exceptionally rewarding listening experience.”
Karl Ackermann All About Jazz.
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Studio Sequenza (Paris)
sound engineer, Thomas Vingtrinier
Cover art “Tactile memory 144” by Natasha Zupan
Photo & video by Vicente Ocho
Sunday, November 13, 2022
World Music Mix: Sanfeliu(Australia)-Album: To Absent Friends(4000 Records, 2022)
Sanfeliu(Australia)-Album: To Absent Friends(4000 Records, 2022)
Sanfeliu’s sophomore album To Absent Friends is a collection of songs and sound-collages about the people that make us who we are: friendships, relationships based on the free sharing and exchanging of care, nurture, pleasure and knowledge in different times and places.
Like each friend, each song presents different patterns, and a different relationship or exchange model: some friends you see every week, some every summer, some sporadically, some regularly, but they all share a focus on self-reflection, awareness, cooperation, collection creative pursuits, shared passions that bring you together.
Similarly to friendships, these songs show an interest in change, growth, transience, willingness to embrace change and to grow. Some pieces have a clear pop-song structure with verse, bridge and chorus. Others have a ballad structure, and rely on the repetition and contrast between vocal and instrumental parts. Some are entirely built on repetition, whereas others explore development and change, with slowly shifting harmonic sequences.
“In most of the pieces,” says Sanfeliu, “working with very minimal rhythmic and melodic motifs and presenting these across both piano and subtle synth layers helped me integrate the writing into something that allowed for more complex arrangements, whilst feeling still natural, seamless, organic.”
The album’s opening track, ‘To Absent Friends’, is a simple note addressed to all our dear friends: perhaps a letter, or a postcard, a message that travels through space and place between oneself and another, bridging that distance and using it as a strength to build a process of active exchange and communication.
Several of the songs in the album refer to actual people: friends, relatives, writers, philosophers, thinkers and activists that have been influential in Carles’ life.
For example, ‘Leopardi’ is dedicated to the 19th century Romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi, possibly the founding father of emo-core music/poetry, and draws heavily on his own lyrics.
‘El Rey y la Reina de los Desamparados’ is dedicated to Kurt Cobain and its lyrics are an adaptation/mechanical translation of his diaries.
In contrast with Sanfeliu’s debut album (Flores – Colores), To Absent Friends has perhaps a brighter sound, and more uplifting songs with a clear pop structure, whilst continuing their exploration of melodic variety from different musical traditions.
Recorded at Moon Room with Nell Forster and mastered by Marly Lüske at Alchemix Studios, several friends also joined the creative and recording process: Isabel Torres plays flute on 4 songs, Paco Johnson-Cash contributes guitar and lap-steel guitar on 2 songs and Nell Forster herself contributed sound-collaging, drums and percussion.
To Absent Friends tracklist:
1. To Absent Friends [3:22]
2. Leopardi [5:11]
3. Lonely Village [3:57]
4. Bicycles [6:04]
5. Digital [2:30]
6. El Rey y La Reina de Los Descastados [8:11]
7. La Maga Fina [2:47]
8. Grassy Patch [5:40]
9. To Dear Friends [2:55]
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022 : Roberto Magris Duo & Trio Featuring Mark Colby
Album: Roberto Magris Duo & Trio Featuring Mark Colby
Label: JMood Records
Roberto Magris at JMood Records
Italian pianist Roberto Magris has developed his career in synergy with the best of American jazz, the proof is his work of great diversity and inventiveness where experimentation has always played an important role. His collaborations with American jazz personalities have proved to be not only inspiring but also a basis for a creative dialogue that has made its mark on all the albums he has released, his latest album is one of them.
Roberto Magris Duo & Trio brings to the fore the collaboration with late saxophonist Mark Colby present on six of the album’s eleven tracks. It is worth mentioning that the two musicians played together on “Sun Stone” released in 2019.
The other songs are performed by Magris accompanied by a trio with whom the pianist has collaborated many times in the past: Elisa Pruett, bass, acoustic, Brian Steever, drums, Pablo Sanhueza, congas.
Right from the first composition, the mastery of the two performers is evident and the balance of forces is remarkable. We listen to two musicians at the height of their creative powers combining their personalities with a naturalness of great finesse.
The trio gives us superb versions of familiar standards, each filtered through the creative mastery of the pianist.
The album contains four originals in which Magris’s compositional mastery is complimented by Colby’s clear, soulful phrasing.
Considering that Colby passed away two years ago, this album is a historic recording, and here we have to thank both Roberto Magris and his friend Paul Colins at JMood records for giving us the opportunity to listen to such a collection of jazz gems.
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Igor Willcox feat. Daniel Santiago, Erik Escobar(Brazil) – Message From Another Dimension (Single)
Igor Willcox feat. Daniel Santiago, Erik Escobar(Brazil) – Message From Another Dimension (Single)
Composer/Drums/Synth Bass/Keys: Igor Willcox
Daniel Santiago-guitar
Erik Escobar-rhodes
Label: Room 73 Records
Igor Willcox’s latest composition, a beautiful, lush jazz-rock song with a new age edge, written in the trio format.
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