World Music Mix: Andrew Dow(USA) – In Motian (ears&eyes Records (2022)

Andrew Dow - In Motian

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

ears&eyes Records

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World Music Mix: Sanfeliu(Australia)-Album: To Absent Friends(4000 Records, 2022)

Sanfeliu-To Absent Friends

Sanfeliu(Australia)-Album: To Absent Friends(4000 Records, 2022)

Sanfeliu-Leopardi

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]

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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Stefano Travaglini and Achille Succi-Book of Innocence

Stefano Travaglini & 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.

Stefano Travaglini & Achille Succi- Bauci

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

website

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022

World Music Mix: (sic)Trio(Argentina) – Album: Jerga(2022)

(sic)Trio - Jerga

(sic)Trio(Argentina) – Noosa
Composer: Adolfo Trepiana
Album: Jerga( ears&eyes Records, 2022)

‘Noosa’ (4:59): The final track starts with a piano intro and samples. It draws inspiration from a psychedelic experience that turned out not the way it was expected. This also happened traveling far from home days before the pandemic outbreak. This unfortunate event put a stop on that journey.

Charles Gorczynski (bandoneonist, saxist, composer and of Colorlist, Redwood Tango) says this and sums it up best: “(sic)Trio is a contemporary jazz group that integrates widespread elements from Argentine tango and Scandinavian instrumental music. Their sound is free-flowing and impressionistic, focused on exploring melodies inside of carefully crafted rhythmic environments. Tango influence is clear with both the sound of the bandoneon and the melodic focus, but tango lives in the lifeblood of the music instead of taking precedence. Instead the direction is akin to other genre-bending trio jazz projects like The Bad Plus, Dawn of Midi, Little North, Tord Gustavsen, or Girls In Airports.”

‘Jerga’ is (sic)Trio’s debut album. Just as their name suggests, there is no mistake in this trio. ‘Jerga’ comes to us as a special slang at the middle of many possible crossroads. A contemporary manifest that breaks physical barriers and unifies new expressions with a new code.
Adolfo Trepiana (bandoneon) and Noel Morroni (piano) met at the beginning of their musical careers as a part of the boiling scene of the New Tango in Buenos Aires, and have come together again, more than a decade later to record their own original music. Each established in their own composer’s path, they have joined tango expression with jazz, rock, and avant-garde with the help of the third musician in this band: drummer Nacho Coppolecchia.
Listening to this music we think of shadows that stalk us, shadows that return to us a melancholic hip hop filled with lots of air and waves of rhythm. This music lets us dive deep into the depths of watery and atemporal surfaces. We sink in the shiny eye of a Río de la Plata ‘maelström’. Inside we see a whirlpool of free reeds saying farewell to the buttons of the glowing bandoneon. The piano attacks every corner of the music staff finally flying free hand in hand with the intuitive drum-kit maneuvers.

It’s interesting to recall that many of these compositions were written aboard different cruise ships while working in the house band, battling the rigor of the seas and spanning great distances across the world.
Like Ulysses in his ever-returning odyssey, we feel suspended in air and water. We are halfway between coming back home or staying offshore. We don’t know what’s next. We are held expectant almost on trial about what is going to happen with (sic)Trio. What new metric modulation or timbre will this trio use? Maybe the track ‘Noosa’ does this best. This track makes reference to the Australian region by the sea. A beautiful journey that can go wrong and even strange. We can remember the unheimlich sense of being in a place that Freud explains in his essays. But this time, instead of a suit and tie Freud, we have an ‘arrabal’ version of him with a Nik Bärtsch shirt.
These musical waters that come vice-versa from Europe to Argentina embrace in unity. They unite in a faraway, distant, and dark echo although we can’t figure it out. There is a pure black scenario that resists the flashing lights. In it, we can find a time of presence, dialogue, and debate. This acoustic nucleus is the x in (sic)Trio’s map. A present time with a musical stereo. Past and its tradition on one side, futuristic hype (alas! the pandemic) on the other.
‘Jerga’ stands as a self-spiraled record that calls to us even when it’s talking to itself. It’s difficult to resist this fatal attraction, hard not to throw oneself in the water and risk it all. The music feels like a deus ex machina that propels us into a harmonic and melodic triangle constructed by these three Argentinians.
We can welcome this, or we can say goodbye to what we see: a purified original nostalgia.

Personnel:

Adolfo Trepiana – Bandoneon
Noel Morroni – Piano
Ignacio Coppolecchia – Drums

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World Music Mix: The B Roads(UK)-Anywhere You Want(2022)

The B Roads(UK)-One Way Trip
Composer: Paul O’Hara
Label: Manse music
Album : Anywhere You Want(2022)

A noir Jazz night road trip, to a 70’s soundtrack in a movie that doesn’t exist. Inspired by the roadmap of the UK, The B Roads is the alias of multi-instrumentalist John Paul Turner, mixing jazz, folk, blues and minimal to create reflections of middle age middle England. Ivor Novello winner Joris de Man calls The B Roads “Off-kilter, original and refreshing”, while the BBC Late Junction show named their ‘Senseless acts of beauty’ album ‘one of the most ear catching records of the year’

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World Music Mix: Russ Hewitt(USA)-Chasing Horizons(2022)

Russ Hewitt(USA)-Chasing Horizons(2022)

Russ Hewitt(USA)-Chasing Horizons(2022)

On Chasing Horizons virtuoso Texas-based guitarist Russ Hewitt integrates a diverse palette of Latin and world music in a selection of ten original compositions that define his entire artistic career to date. The album’s beauty stems from an extraordinary synthesis of sensitivities and abilities that speaks directly to the listener’s heart and leaves an enduring impact.

Beyond the technical mastery and distinctive melodicism Russ displayed on his previous three albums, lies a genuine inventiveness he infuses to every track of the new album. The Latin-Flamenco vibe that permeates his music is skilfully infused into each song in a unique way, giving the album the appearance of a collection of hits.

In addition to a band composed of high-class musicians, the present album features a couple of famous guest guitarists, the end result being a cohesive concept where every component fits together perfectly.

The album takes off with Allende on a Spanish Rumba Flamenca notesetting the stage for the exciting program that follows. Hewitt playing is concise and sharp, building the melody with what can be called “refined clarity”.

The title track Chasing Horizons, features guest guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) playing in full synergy with Hewitt on an energised composition with a nouveau flamenco tinge with outstanding bass work from Bob Parr.

On Vivir Libre, the guitarist shares the spotlight with Marty Friedman(ex-Megadeth), a real joy to hear both musicians interpolate their skills through dazzling solos.

Amor Perdido is a beautiful merging of guitar and strings thanks to the participation of the Bucharest All-Star Orchestra. Interesting how the symphonic dimension enhances the emotional touch of the guitar.

The contemplative Luminous features the guitarist weaving an unforgettable bright and shiny melody. 

Gently swinging, Sunset Samba welcomes the guest musician Jorge Strunz (Strunz & Farah), the Brazilian breeze emerges with delicacy, we hear a fiesta of joyous spirits.

Luna is a composition of sheer beauty where sadness and joy mix together in a timeless cinematic narrative.

Cubalia Cafe with guest Ardeshir Farah (Strunz & Farah) spreads a Cuban perfume delicately fused in the texture of the song.

Serein-a nicely well-structured piece with a reflective, dreamy side with a superb arrangement.

Ending the album, Return to Simitai reveals an intricate melodic line flowing along the fusion between the guitar and the exotic sonority of the zither performed by the Vietnamese virtuoso Tri Nguyen.

All in all, Chasing Horizons is one of those refreshing albums to uplift the spirit, a real gem to delight the soul and beneficial for any music therapy!

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Russ Hewitt @ JazzWorldQuest


World Music Mix: Kimya Ensemble(France)-Album: Between Mist and Sky

Kimya Ensemble-Between Mist and Sky

Kimya Ensemble(France)-Maramaros
Album: Between Mist and Sky
Label: Urborigène Records(2022)

1er album Between Mist and Sky

Sortie le 21/10/2022 chez Urborigène Records

En concert le 09 novembre 2022 au Studio de l’Ermitage

L’Ensemble Kimya nous offre le 21/10/2022 son premier album, Between Mist and Sky, sur lequel les cordes et les percussions mêlent leurs sonorités entre jazz, world et classique, entre Orient et Occident, jusque des univers inexploreìs.

L’Ensemble Kimya (alchimie en arabe) rassemble quatre musiciens d’horizons divers, et file la métaphore de l’alchimiste à travers une musique faite de sonorités transfigurées. Composé d’Amir Amiri (Santour), Olivier Marin (Alto & Viole d’amour) rejoints par Roméo Monteiro (Percussions indiennes) et Andrew Briggs (Violoncelle), le Kimya Ensemble tisse des ponts entre les cultures anciennes et le temps présent. Leur dialogue musical mêle musique classique persane, indienne et occidentale dans l’esprit des musiciens aventuriers comme Jordi Savall, Garth Knox ou Vincent Ségal.

Premier extrait, voici le titre Maramaros (inspiré de Béla Bartok) à découvrir en vidéo, avant de retrouver le quatuor en concert le 5/11/2022 au Vollore Festival et le 09/11/2022 au Studio de L’Ermitage à Paris.

L’Ensemble Kimya (alchimie en arabe) réalise son premier album Between Mist and Sky alliant musique classique et contemporaine d’Europe, du Moyen-Orient et d’Inde, fruit d’une rencontre entre santour, alto, violoncelle et percussions.

Porté par Olivier Marin (alto, viole d’amour), Amir Amiri (santour), Andrew Briggs (violoncelle) et Roméo Monteiro (percussions indiennes et orientales), l’Ensemble Kimya étend ses recherches au monde des quarts de tons propre à la musique orientale, mais aussi aux cycles rythmiques issus de la musique indienne. Les quatre musiciens puisent également leur inspiration dans le répertoire occidental proposant des arrangements originaux des Folies d’Espagne de Marin Marais / Garth Knox en passant par des duos de Béla Bartók ou des pièces de Monteverdi.

L’ensemble s’est produit ces dernières années, aussi bien dans des festivals de musique classique comme les “Concerts de Vollore”, que dans des festivals de musiques « nomades » comme les “Détours de Babel” ou les “Traversées de Tatihou”.

Le premier album de l’Ensemble Kimya offre une musique exceptionnelle, riche en couleurs où les cultures se rencontrent, s’enrichissent et se transforment mutuellement.

En concert :

5 novembre : Vollore Festival, Vollore
09 novembre : Studio de L’Ermitage, Paris

On 10/21/2022, the Kimya Ensemble releases Between Mist and Sky, its debut album, on which the strings and percussions blend their sounds with jazz, world, and classical music, with East and West, and even with uncharted cosmologies.

The Kimya Ensemble (alchemy in Arabic) brings together four musicians from diverse backgrounds who spin the alchemist metaphor through music constructed of altered sounds. The Kimya Ensemble, which consists of Amir Amiri (Santour), Olivier Marin (Viola and Viole d’amour), Roméo Monteiro (Indian percussions), and Andrew Briggs (Cello), builds links between ancient and modern cultures. In the style of adventurous musicians like Jordi Savall, Garth Knox, or Vincent Ségal, their musical discourse combines Persian, Indian, and Western classical music.

The debut album by Ensemble Kimya features outstanding music with vibrant colours where civilizations converge, exchange ideas, and transform one another.

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World Music Mix: Les Chacrobates(France)-Album: L’amour qu’on sème (2022)

Les chacrobates-L'amour qu'on seme

Les Chacrobates(France)-Raw Love
Composer: Jérémy Tridera
Album: L’amour qu’on sème (2022)

Les Chacrobates est un groupe jazzy ne reniant pas ses affinités avec la pop et la bossa.
Composé de 6 musiciens et fondé à l’été 2021, ils écument les routes au long de l’année 2022 pour affûter leur répertoire en jouant en de nombreux endroits. Aujourd’hui, ils sortent leur premier EP 6 titres et propose des mélodies entêtantes en une palette éclectique mêlant les influences de chacun.

Les Chacrobates is a jazzy group, their members don’t hide their pop and bossa affinities.
Composed of 6 musicians and founded in the summer of 2021, throughout the year 2022 they hit the road to play many different venues and hone their repertoire. Their debut six-track EP, which features appealing tunes in an eclectic palette that combines the inspirations of each performer, was just released.


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Hakim Jamal-In Blue--200

Hakim Jamal(UK)-Album: In Blue
The new album from Hakim Jamal ‘In Blue’ contains the single Mr. Lichfield, a song dedicated to the fashion and society photographer of the 1960s. The album is mainly influenced by Jamaican sounds and uses a range of Jamaican vocal artists. The imagery on the cover represents the Indian Festival of Colour, Holi. All the songs were originally given the names of shades of blue and a couple have remained as song titles.
Label: TalkingHead TV Recordings
Streaming Tracks:
Mr. Lichfield
Reasons To Fly
Like Butterflies

Composer: Paul Ashley Wheatcroft
More info