Coming tomorrow , all day Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival 2018 marathon is looking really good and full of treasures. Those long time recognised, but still not that easy to hear too often, as well as promising new-comers. For the ticket price I call it a steal! Repertoire wise it is absolutely “Carte d’or” for every improvised (and not only) music fan.
[ Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival 2018 – T.Riley & G.Riley DUO set review ]
Second Act of the ongoing Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival 2018 are two evenings reserved exclusively for Terry Riley and Gyan Riley, taking place at St. Luke’s Church, a lovely venue with a promising acoustics. I attended first of the two gigs on evening the 7th of October. Both shows had been sold out in just few days in an April, when 1st time advertised. Let’s jump to the substance then.
[ Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival 2018 – Terry Riley’s two sets ]
Probably the greatest attraction of this year festival and unquestioned Mega Star is Terry Riley. Two out of Four only concerts in the UK are taking place here in Brighton in St.Luke’s church, one more in Bristol and one in Manchester. Needles to say it only took two days in April to get it Sold Out.
[ October 2018 release from HUBRO – Geir Sundstøl – Brødløs ]
release: 5.10.18
Ambient goes country and David Bowie and Brian Eno share a tune with John Coltrane in slide guitar maestro Geir Sundstol’s astonishing cinematic travelogue. This How this new recording from HUBRO can be briefly described. To learn more about it, continue reading below:
[Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival 2018 starts today !]
Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival present the 2018 edition. The festival’s opening night on Thursday October 4th takes place at The Verdict Jazz Cub. Headlining is UK improvisation pioneer, saxophonist Trevor Watts and long-time associate Veryan Weston on keyboards and electronics, presenting their Quantum Illusion project. What a start !
[ September the 28th Traumton release: FABIANA STRIFFLER – Sweet And So Solitary ]
Release Date: 28.09.2018
„When Fabiana Striffler takes bow in hand, a magical process begins.“
(Greg Cohen)
[ September 2018 release from HUBRO – Møster – States Of Minds ]
It is a 4th Scene of The Møster band under that squad , hard to be precise about order if taking on the account all acts from the past , as Kjetil Traavik Møster might be not that old all together, but his output is already massive and seriously impressive, given all inspirations.
[ UCM records presents Stark-Linnemann Quartet – Pictures at an Exhibition!]
Some wonderful news arrived today to share with all the music lovers and for those with a taste for the classical music jazzy re – arrangements in particular. If you remember the review of the Stark Liennemann Transcedence Chopin vol.II and III CD review I wrote and published some 18 months back on my review board ,as well as in #HifiCritics magazine pages, here is another wonderful project coming. The Picture at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.
[ September 2018 release from MoonJune Records: Soft Machine – Hidden Details ]
releases: September 8, 2018
Hidden Details is a new studio album of Soft Machine, recorded at the late great Jon Hiseman’s Temple Studio in Surrey, England, last December 2017, and it will be released in September 2018 on MoonJune Records (North America; on CD and HD Download), on John Etheridge’s Dyan Records (UK/Europe on CD, and iTunes), and on Vivid Sounds (Japan), exactly 50 years since the release of the band’s 1968 debut album The Soft Machine. Limited and highly collectable vinyl edition of only 200 coloured vinyl (orange, blue and tour edition orange & blue marbled) will be released on the Dutch label Tonefloat, on September 8, 2018.
Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard – Perfectly Unhappy (released on 4th of May 2018) Label: Rune Grammofon, RCD 2199 / RLP 3199 – JAZZ, PIANO TRIO+
I was awaiting this record to come for two years now. To make a long story short once I heard the Trio on the stage with guest appearance of Andy Sheppard I knew that they got no other choice than to record it. If it was so clear to me it must had been even more to them. Simples 😉 And there it is. Rune wouldn’t let it go either.
The lyrical, woolly and embracing feeling that EET creates makes one falling in love with it immediately and it doesn’t surprise me at all that their popularity rises fast and shows sell full. Andy fits into this world like a hand into the glove. His own language is equally lyrical and fragile and it belongs to the trio in the same natural way.
It becomes clear when you listen to the previous recordings and starting to asking yourself when the sax is going to join? An open character of Espen’s compositions would kind of allow that any time, with slight twist to the tempo maybe, when it comes to the faster ones.
Title ballad is one of my favourite here. It possesses all the quality I value so high with that band but in the same time brings a lot of space to accommodate saxophonist. It happens by listening of course and by gentle re-arrangements. Rhythm slowing down here and there to keep on time with Andy’s smooth breath. That again shows the high skills of the drummer as he makes it so natural that it almost takes all the trouble out of the bassist.
The fragility of the Above the Horizon, almost makes you fly straight from an opening note. Amazing how easy it is for them to create such an instant illusion. Andy to me is one of these musicians who’s being long time looking for his own voice. He always sounded to me a bit like Garbarek, a bit like Henderson and these are just his recent ECM recordings which are showing his own fully grown voice. And so wonderful it is.
1974 is one of such tracks I have no knowledge who composed it but is sounds so Andy that I have no doubts. Sax figures are having perfect pace here, and the sound blossoms with every note, which is so rounded and fine that there is no better way to play it. The way how piano dialogues with sax encharms, so does the ability of the rhythm section to merge into the tissue so deep that they become almost harmonics for the piano.
Indian Summer simply paints the perfect picture. So many colours that it becomes difficult to trace. Sax, dry like a summer air and in the same time warm in tone, sketches watercolours between your ears. You can almost feel the sun rays on your face and distant buzz of flies. This piece reminds me the feeling I used to have when listening to early Pat Matheny recordings, so folksy in their melodic aspect.
Following Suburban Folk Song leaves no doubts where the inspiration came from. And indeed repetitive motive multiplied in piano layers and covered with the brass lines make perfect reference to the Nordic folklore.
Naked Trees , is another example of the perfectly illustrative nature of the tunes they committed in Quartet. Waltz alike melody flirts with elegiac sax lines flying high and the thrill bringing incredible gentleness to the feeling.
Saying that it is another great recording from EET would be trivial. This music is too beautiful to put margins like that. One needs simply to hear and feel it to understand. It is the way it touches and comforts you mind ,feeling etc., more than it sounds like. Just taste to feel and we can talk about it later.