On this weeks show a selection of new releases from Pedway, Nabou, Eduardo Elia, Marcin Wasilewski, Noam Lemish, Leandro Giménez & Friends, Ed Petterson and the Jazzlab Orchestra and a look back at Emma Famin’s album from 2019.
- Pedway “Personal Floatation Device” from Vitalic (ears&eyes) 00:00
- Nabou “Black Light” from You Know (Outnote Records) 08:10
- Eduardo Elia “I” from The art of not falling – Improvisations on Schoenberg’s Op19 piano pieces (Orbit 577) 15:26
- Marcin Wasilewski Trio “In Motion (Part I)” from En attendant (ECM) 22:43
- Emma Famin “Centro” from Epilogo (ears&eyes) 28:45
- Noam Lemish “Erlebnis 9” from Erlebnisse (Self Released) 35:35
- Leandro Giménez, Wenchi Lazo, Fernando Moran, Mario Mocho “Pleno” Ante El Espejo (Numeral) 40:03
- Pedway “Home of Levi Coffin” from Vitalic (ears&eyes) 45:49
- Nabou “Chill” from You Know (Outnote Records) 49:53
- Eduardo Elia “IV” from The art of not falling – Improvisations on Schoenberg’s Op19 piano pieces (Orbit 577) 54:54
- Marcin Wasilewski Trio “Vashkar” from En attendant (ECM) 1:00:00
- Emma Famin “Sevilla” from Epilogo (ears&eyes) 1:04:42
- Ed Petterson “The Problem With Livia” from The Problem With Livia (Orbit 577) 1:10:16
- Noam Lemish “Erlebnis 1” from Erlebnisse (Self Released) 1:13:49
- Jazzlab Orchestra “La Grande Sauve Majeure” from Loguslabusmuzikus (Effendi Records) 1:17:26
- Leandro Giménez, Wenchi Lazo, Fernando Moran, Mario Mocho “Coriolis” Ante El Espejo (Numeral) 1:28:00
- Marcin Wasilewski Trio “Riders On The Storm” from En attendant (ECM) 1:32:02
- Nabou “We Will Remember You” from You Know (Outnote Records) 1:37:57
- Eduardo Elia “The art of not falling” from The art of not falling – Improvisations on Schoenberg’s Op19 piano pieces (Orbit 577) 1:42:57
- Pedway “The Infrared” from Vitalic (ears&eyes) 1:46:44
- Emma Famin “I keep going back at Joe’s” from Epilogo (ears&eyes) 1:53:31
- Noam Lemish “Erlebnis 15” from Erlebnisse (Self Released) 1:58:06
Pedway
Pedway is a musical collaboration with its roots in Chicago: Caroline Davis (alto saxophone), Matthew Golombisky (bass), and Quin Kirchner (drums). Steeped in the traditions of jazz, rock, and whatever else has entered their consciousness, this group explores unchartered territory each time they perform. Their improvisations are inspired by many local Chicago groups and act as a bridge connecting a range of musical styles. Vitalic is their 3rd full-length album, following Subventure (2008) and Passion Ball (2013).
Nabou
Thanks to their original line-up of trombone, electric guitar, double bass and drums, NΔBOU is a breath of fresh air on the Belgian jazz scene. On the trombone, band leader and composer Nabou Claerhout is looking for a sound all her own: by means of all sorts of electronic effects, she creates a dreamy musical framework with a strong atmospheric and melancholic resonance.
After their first outing with debut EP ‘Hubert’ – for which Claerhout got nominated for the Sabam For Culture Award ‘Jazz Composer 2019’ – the band is refining that special sound further on their first full album ‘You Know’.
Lush and intimate sounds are alternated with strongly rhythmically based compositions, while groovy bass riffs from Trui Amerlinck, Mathias Vercammen’s elaborated drum patterns and the modern, virtuoso guitar play of Roeland Celis play their part as well in this musical adventure full of highlights – all created in combination with Claerhout’s distinctive trombone playing “that sings, cries, pulsates, tells and knows how to make many hearts week through well-constructed contemporary pieces”.
Eduardo Elia
Eduardo Elia’s new project, a vivid solo piano project, pays homage to Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, inspired by and grounded in Schoenberg’s proclamation that, “The expression ‘atonal music’ is most unfortunate, it is on a par with calling flying ‘the art of not falling.” In 1911, Schoenberg composed his now-renowned “6 Little Piano Pieces Op19,” a project that challenged the parameters established until then. He was searching for a spontaneous sound that would emulate a free association of ideas, especially as they were produced by improvisation, “an expression of the feeling as if it were really the feeling.” A century later, Eduardo Elia used these six short pieces as an initial point to improvise, by rereading the written material and, once presented, improvising on it. To close the recording, in ‘The Art of Not Falling,’ a freely improvised take pays homage to the music developed by Schoenberg during that era. The resulting project is an elegant and simple series of compositions that simultaneously draws on the music of the Austrian composer, but reveals the personal voice of the contemporary Argentinian pianist.
Marcin Wasilewski Trio
Marcin Wasilewski: piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double bass; Michal Miskiewicz: drums
Recorded just prior to their Arctic Riff collaboration with Joe Lovano, En attendant finds Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz in thoughtful, exploratory mood. The multifaceted Polish group illuminates a characteristically wide span of music, the scope extending from Bach to group improvisation. On En attendant, collectively created pieces are juxtaposed with Wasilewski’s malleable “Glimmer of Hope”, Carla Bley’s timeless “Vashkar”, The Doors’ hypnotic “Riders on the Storm” and a selection from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, transformed in the context. Fluidity is the hallmark, allied to the deep listening made possible by more than a quarter-century of collaborative music-making.
Emma Famin
released September 20, 2019
Emma Famin: alto & soprano sax
Damien Poots: guitar
Juan Bayón: bass
Andrés Elstein: drums
Noam Lemish
Toronto based pianist Noam Lemish celebrates the release of Erlebnisse, a piano solo album of improvisations that blurs the lines between jazz, western art music, Eastern European Jewish music and Israeli popular song. It may be that Lemish’s hyphenated identity as an Israeli-American-Canadian has helped inspire his multiplicity and general disinclination to follow stylistic guidelines. In Erlebnisse we encounter an artist who clearly enjoys living “in between” genre boundaries and embraces the liminality inherent in improvisation. Each note is an affirmation of the present moment, each moment of silence and pause an inviting space vibrating with possibility.
Erlebnisse is German for “deeply felt experiences”. Each piece is completely improvised, recorded in a single take, and played in “real time”.
Leandro Giménez, Wenchi Lazo, Fernando Moran, Mario Mocho
Fernando Moran // saxo alto y saxo soprano.
Wenchi Lazo // guitarra y objetos.
Mario Mocho // piano y objetos.
Leandro Gimenez // guitarra.
Recorded in in February 2021 at Home Town. Mar del Plata. Argentina.
Mix and master Wenchi Lazo
Cover art Fernando Moran
About “ANTE EL ESPEJO”:
Before the mirror is the result of the articulation of sound materials in an unfinished continuum, which
are built in time and in permanent dialogue with each other. Each piece that makes up this album
seeks the integration of a part to a whole, transforming itself, containing multiple readings, constituting
an unlimited musical object through time and space.
Ed Pettersen
In 2019, guitarist Ed Pettersen was given the opportunity to explore the incredible acoustic space of the Emmanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo, Norway, a dark room covered in frescos of naked figures, with his electric lap steel guitar. As something that had mainly been a bucket list experience, the opportunity represented both a satisfying accomplishment and a deeply spiritual, haunting experience. The freedom of the mausoleum’s arching, hallowed space is paralleled in the exploratory wandering of Pettersen’s guitar, moving with confidence and curiosity through the abstract. The tracks, played on his 8-string Weissenborn guitar, keyboards and modular synth are both relaxed and intense, making equal uses of silence and clarity of sound. Pettersen is not usually drawn to playing solo, preferring the energy of collaboration—and hadn’t been planning to play again until French improvisor Christian Vasseur asked me to contribute to his weekly pandemic collaborations in November 2020. After recording for Christian, Pettersen let the tape roll, and this project documents the winding and wistful improvisations created in memory of his experience at the mausoleum.
Jazzlab Orchestra
Mario Allard – Soprano & Alto Sax, Clarinet
Benjamin Deschamps – Soprano & Tenor Sax, Flute
Samuel Blais – Soprano Sax & Bass Clarinet
Jacques Kuba Séguin – Trumpet
Thomas Morelli-Bernard – Trombone
Félix Stüssi – Piano
Alain Bédard – Double Bass
Michel Lambert – Drums
Montreal’s JAZZLAB ORCHESTRA has been a Canadian jazz institution since 2004. For over 15
years, the multi-generational ensemble of Montreal’s finest improvisors has explored a wide variety of musical styles and approaches to writing and playing.
LOGUSLABUSMUZIKUS – Jazzlab’s newest opus – features nine new pieces by bassist and composer Auguste Le Prez, all of which reflect the spirit of modern jazz today. It’s an exciting and dynamic record executed masterfully by the band. Each member manages to simultaneously lift the band up while also staking out their place as a distinct individual voice in the group. As Jazzlab Orchestra continues to evolve, the temperature continues to rise…
Different Noises 