Dave Douglas - trumpet
Brad Shepik - guitar
Jim Black - drums
Constellations is a new set of songs written and arranged for the trio. It was recorded in mid tour, and so has a different, perhaps more live, character... Many thanks go to Brad and Jim for their dedication and commitment to the music. They are two of the finest listeners around, and in our three years as a trio, we've developed split-second reaction times and true fluidity between roles of soloist and accompanist. The main thing is that we've integrated our own sound into the many materials presented. --Dave Douglas
Manuel Mengis Gruppe 6: Dulcet Crush
Manuel Mengis - trumpet
Reto Suhner - alto saxophone & alto clarinet
Roland von Fle - tenor saxophone & bass clarinet
Flo Stoffner - electric quitar
Marcel Stalder - electric bass
Lionel Friedli - drums
Manuel Mengis Gruppe 6 is also available on:
Into The Barn
Hatology
Is three the magic number? For many jazz musicians it's an important one. Every record is of course significant, but the third is often more closely scrutinised. In this sense, it's both a great opportunity and a niggling pressure: the chance to really begin cementing a good name, with a little weight of added expectation. Manuel Mengis, however, did not feel any of this. He even identifies a more relaxed approach than his two previous releases, partially due to shifting priorities in life. An atmosphere of light, easy contentment shines through the music - Mengis and the Gruppe 6 are really enjoying themselves, free of any kind of external strain. And the pleasure is contagious. --Frederick Bernas
Ran Blake & Anthony Braxton: Memories of Vienna
Ran Blake - piano
Anthony Braxton - alto saxophone
There had been no plans, no preparation. It was a completely spur-of-the- moment decision. Nine years later, I don't remember whose idea it was--mine? Werner X. Uehlinger's? Ran's or Anthony's? Once we started, enthusiasm was high, everyone jumped into it head-first and hard, perhaps a bit too hard at first. When it was over, we didn't know what we had. Now we know. What you now hold in your hands is the result of fortuitous circumstance, hard work, imagination, talent, trust, and a bit of blind luck. Like all art that survives, and thrives, it is a miracle. --Art Lange
Sergei Prokovief & Dmitri Shostakovich: Works for 2 Pianists Under Soviet Rule
Ufuk & Bahar Doerduencue - pianos
Recorded June 2009 in Geneva
With Socialist Realism Stalin promulgated and imposed a cultural doctrine which in accordance with the ruling party and ideology demanded of the artist the truthful and positive representation of reality plus it also decreed that art should appeal to the masses, be simple, folkloristic and understandable to all people. The Stalinist cultural campaigns of 1936/38 and 1946/48 enforced the doctrine ruthlessly, among the artists denounced for straying from the official line are Dmitri Shostakovich and - in the last campaign - Sergei Prokofiev. --Marco Frei
Uwe Oberg, Christof Thewes & Michael Griener: Lacy Pool
Lacy Pool
Uwe Oberg - piano
Christof Thewes - trombone
Michael Griener - drums
At every step, Lacy Pool finds new expressive possibilities in Lacy's innate, albeit curiously tailored, logic. Their personalities replace Lacy's and change the way we hear this music, which is as it should be. The song may have inspired the players, but the players have become the song. --Art Lange
