TO THE LIGHT

TIME BEING TRIO 3

ZURICH CONCERTS

DEEP MEMORY

After relocating to Brooklyn in 2008 Ingrid Laubrock soon became a creative epicenter in the New York jazz scene, and is now one of the most significant voices in contemporary jazz. The new album 'Serpentines' fits in Laubrock's musical cosmos, in which improvisational furore and compositional rigor, calculation and freedom, are intermingled. Laubrock grounded this formation with the unusual line-up having been given a carte blanche for the 2015 Vision Festival. Florian Keller writes in the liner notes: "If we take the title's suggestion and use snake paths as graphs for the movement of this music, various distinctive characteristics can be determined. Via the crafty compositional and improvisational about-turns, the music spirals upwards, peaking in airy flights. Changes of direction, and rhythmic, melodic turning points drive the music on, and release dramatic potential."

ZENTRAL QUARTETT PLIE

BACKSCATTER BRIGHT BLUE

SECRET KEEPER & EMERGE

With Untucked in Hannover, Tom Rainey's top-notch quintet Obbligato presents a third album of a collection of jazz standards - with Jacob Sacks on piano replacing regular pianist Kris Davis for this live recording. Wonderful jazz tunes like Stella by Starlight or I Fall in Love Too Easily are interpreted in an open dialogue with stunning joy of playing and improvisation. And though standards are the modus operandi of Obbligato, their approach is intended to be less conventional, less reverential and certainly less solo-centric than many other bands that tackles with Standards. Obbligato sometimes plays with the essences of famous jazz standards in an implied way, sometimes in a teasing and mysterious way, but always in a tantalizing way. "Close your eyes, imagine sitting in the front row of your favorite jazz club, sit back and enjoy Obbligato playing pieces from the Great American Songbook in a way you've never heard them before: and by one of the most inventive and inspiring live bands of the last decade," writes Laurence Donohue-Greene in the liner notes.

MOIRE MUSIC TRIO

Broken Shadows brings together four luminaries of the American jazz scene: Tim Berne, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson and Dave King. Broken Shadows has very strong connections, in twos. Saxophonists Tim Berne and Chris Speed have been playing together since 1992; Bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King - two thirds of the legendary band The Bad Plus - have been playing together for over 35 years. Named after an Ornette Coleman composition, this all-star project honors the legacy of the music of their idols and mentors Ornette Coleman, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Julius Hemphill. "Most all of the songs have melodies; infectious and singable. Songs you would want to put in your pocket and take them home. In a time of songs treated as vehicles for improvisation, with this band, the vehicle is the song", writes Branford Marsalis in the liner notes, celebrating the emotional power and impact of Broken Shadows: "Harmonic data does not create emotion; the ability to change color in ones sound does. This is something that Broken Shadows understand, be it explicit or implicit. The twelve tracks range from lamentation, or insouciant swagger, to utter joy, and all the colors in between."

Chris Speed, a driving force of modern jazz for decades, presents Light Line, an impressive solo statement on the clarinet. The repertoire of this musical legacy includes his own pieces and short improvisations, as well as compositions by inspiring luminaries such as John Coltrane, Julius Hemphill, Eric Dolphy and Paul Motion. In addition, there are compositions by friends and long-time musical companions such as Andrew D'Angelo, Sk�li Sverrisson and Hilmar Jensson. There is "an implicit guiding light through the whole project: the commitment to reduction, to finding the power in taking things away, the power in trusting that there is still a lot there once you do take the surface layers away, and above all an undying commitment to melody in some elemental sense as the primary element in music", writes Anthony Burr in the liner notes.

WILLISAU CONCERT

2021 release.

Over the past few years Dave Gisler has earned himself an impressive reputation in the free-thinking force field of contemporary jazz as a maverick sound architect on the electric guitar. With Lionel Friedli, the impulsive style-busting force of nature on the drums, and the agile bassist Raffaele Bossard, with his earthy tone, Gisler brought two of the most sought after musicians on the Swiss jazz scene. Since 2016 these three fans of choice yet rough-edged musicianship have been navigating their ship through open musical seas with punky energy, the driving power of indie rock, the free aesthetic of the 1960s and the cadences of modern jazz. The debut album, Rabbits on the Run, is a stock-take of the moment, a shimmering array of this genre-busting trio's potential. Without falling into superficial musical eclecticism, the trio celebrates stylistic diversity, orientating themselves on factors independent of style, such as intensity, contrast or energy. It is surprising changes of direction and atmospheric turning points that characterize the listener's trip through the all-encompassing sonic cosmos of this promising trio.

Aruan Ortiz, who grew up in Santiago, Cuba, and has lived in the U. S. since 2002, is among the most creative pianists on jazz's landscape. As a boy he was performing Cuban popular music. His studies broadened to include jazz, first in Europe, and finally New York, where he now lives. In Don Byron, Ortiz has found an unparalleled clarinetist, whose classical training and exquisite technique anchor a career spanning an unusually broad range of music that nevertheless reflects a focused line of musical inquiry. Byron was born in The Bronx, into a musical family of Antiguan descent. Some of his work has involved highly refined repertory ensembles devoted to early jazz, gospel or klezmer music. Other works assert un-fettered new musical routes owing to no single style. "Random Dances and (A)tonalities" reveals the imaginative leaps of two free-thinking minds. In both, we feel an implied swing, gentle yet with conviction, and shared values of erudition and compassion. We sense a clearly documented moment between two masterly musicians.

AMPHI RADIO RONDO

Alexander Hawkins is a creative epicentre from the London jazz scene and is regarded in the UK as one of the most innovative musicians of the younger generation with a surprising radius of action. He plays with Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Taylor Ho Bynum, Louis Moholo, Shabaka Hutchings and Elaine Mitchener. 'Iron into Wind' is the name of his new piano solo. The phrase "Iron into Wind" evokes for him both the transience of improvisation and a fascination with solid material, represented by the powerful blocks of sound to be heard in several of these pieces. Richard Willimas writes in the liner notes: "The mood varies from the two-handed avant-gospel figurations of "Congregational" to the hurtling "�tude" via the austere ruminations of "Tumble Mono", the knotted blues of "Strange Courage" and the explosive accelerations of "It Should Be a Song", with a diversion, in "Pleasant Constellation", by way of variations on an element from Sun Ra's "Fate in a Pleasant Mood". What he achieves here is a fine balance of all his interests, creating a self-portrait of a wonderfully inventive modern musician."

THEORIA

One marker of bassist Michael Formanek's creativity and versatility is the range of distinguished musicians of several generations he's worked with. While still a teenager in the 1970s he toured with drummer Tony Williams and saxophonist Joe Henderson. Starting in the '80s he played long stints with Stan Getz, Fred Hersch and Freddie Hubbard. Formanek is also a composer and leader of various bands. His principal recording and international touring vehicle is his acclaimed quartet with Tim Berne, Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver. His occasional groups include the 18-piece all-star Ensemble Kolossus, roping in many New York improvisers he works with. In putting together the Elusion Quartet, interpreting his music with these specific musicians, Michael Formanek says he sought "a more direct connection to emotions: mine, theirs and the listener's. " Hank Shteamer writes in the liner notes: "As one zeroes in on the details of Time Like This, it's clear that this sort of emotional immediacy permeates the album. You hear it in Kris Davis' flowing, balletic solo on "A Fine Mess"; in Tony Malaby's ululating tenor cries on "The Soul Goodbye"; in Ches Smith's raucous grooves on "That Was Then"; or the leader's poised, sinewy lines on "Culture of None. " Elusive? Certainly. But as this album proves, under the right conditions, with the right personnel, it's still out there. "

WILLISAU CONCERT

Since the release of last year's to Fly to Steal (their debut on Intakt), the members of the Sylvie Courvoisier - Mark Feldman Quartet forged an even deeper chemistry on the bandstand through a series of European tours. The results of that heightened sensitivity now manifest on this superb second album showcasing an uncanny group-think among the four outstanding musicians. The flexibility and expressive range that violinist Feldman, pianist Courvoisier, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway achieve together on Hotel Du Nord shows how much the quartet has grown in just over a year.

After releasing five duo CDs on Intakt Records with Silke Eberhard, Lauren Newton, Rudi Mahall, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Louis Sclavis, Aki Takase now presents a breathtaking and entertaining recording with Han Bennink - two personalities familiar with all traditions of jazz who love to go on an expedition. Aki Takase offers such wondrous compositions as the title song 'Two for Two,' an homage to Han Bennink called 'Ohana Han,' 'My Tokyo' or 'Rolled Up.' the duo also reveals it's great playfulness while playing standards by Thelonious Monk and Eric Dolphy. Han Bennink is swinging in best New Orleans tradition while Aki Takase shows more and more of her poetic and melodic side.

MY ELLINGTON

MALAMUTE