Bass CDs
Adventures in Time and Space Featuring Bassist David Arend
Accomplished Composers — Erica Lindsay, Sumi Tonooka, Samantha Boshnack, Bassist David Arend, and Salim Washington — transcend barriers of distance and style in a compelling musical experience…
Adventures in Time and Space, the second release by Alchemy Sound Project, blends jazz, classical and world music traditions in striking and inventive ways
When Alchemy Sound Project initially came together, their mission seemed as elusive as the medieval mystics that inspired their name: after all, combining five distinctive composers, separated by miles and even continents, each melding jazz, classical and world music influences in their own unique ways, into a single ensemble that also played to their individual gifts as performers and improvisers – well, that all starts to make turning lead into gold seem like child’s play.
Despite those challenges, Alchemy’s debut Further Explorations (the title suggesting that they were already looking forward, even their first time out), made an impressive impact, earning widespread critical acclaim and earning the band a place on DownBeat Magazine’s Best Albums of 2016 list. Many a collective ensemble has managed one great album before disbanding; the proof is in the longevity. Now, Alchemy returns with their second outing Adventures in Time and Space– due out June 15, 2018via Artists Recording Collective– and the results are even more compelling this time around.
“We’re committed to each other,” says pianist Sumi Tonooka who originally masterminded the project.
The five core members of Alchemy Sound Project were initially brought together by the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, a program of the American Composers Orchestra and the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University that encourages jazz composers to explore writing music for symphony orchestra. Saxophonist Erica Lindsay attended the first JCOI session in 2010; at her encouragement, both Tonooka (a frequent collaborator) and trumpet player Samantha Boshnack(a former student of Lindsay’s at Bard College) enrolled in the second round in 2012. There, Tonooka and Boshnack met and bonded with bassist David Arendand multi-reedist Salim Washington. For this release, the band is supplemented by trombonist Michael Spearman and drummer Johnathan Blake.
“We all wanted to write in a way that helps each other grow as composers but also provides a platform for us to experiment,” Tonooka says.
“It’s a community of sorts, a support system that allows us to have our music heard within a certain context. We write for each other, we learn from each other, we’re all growing in our own ways and it’s coming out in the music.”
Forming Alchemy Sound Project provided a means to hone the members’ composing chops with an encouraging, supportive and skilled ensemble. But all five have also broadened their musical horizons in other ways as well. Most remarkably, at a time when orchestras across the country are under scrutiny for the dearth of female composers represented in their repertoires, the ensemble boasts three female composers who’ve had their innovative work performed by major orchestras.
Tonooka served as composer-in-residence for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and was commissioned by Seattle’s Northwest Symphony Orchestra to write her piece “For Malala,” an homage to Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history. Lindsay’s piece for drum set and orchestra, “Mantra,” was performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, while another orchestral composition, “Inner Dialogue,” was read by the American Composers Orchestra. Boshnack’s piece “Coelacanth: In Its Own Time,” was premiered by the Northwest Symphony Orchestra in 2015.
That’s not to discount the guys, who have also been making waves as composers.
Arend is currently working on an orchestral commission for the Bellingham Festival of Music’s 2019 season and recorded two concertos featuring himself and Washington with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra. Based in Durban, South Africa, where he teaches at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Washington recently received a commission from the Jazz Foundation to arrange big band charts of his music as well as the music of South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini.
“We’ve all broadened our experience,” Tonooka says. “Everyone in this band is really unique, and when we come together it creates a very interesting picture.”
The title Adventures in Time and Space offers a broad explanation for why that picture is developing in such a vivid fashion. The six pieces on the album are just that – sonic adventures – but they’re also born of the time these five composers have spent together and the travels and communions they’ve shared. “I thinkeach of us as composers noware really starting to understand the range and the possibilities that each player, who is also a composer, offers,” says Lindsay, who wrote the title tune. “That opens up our compositional scope and gives us a really rich palette to work from.”
Lindsay’s two contributions bookend the album, the transformational narrative of the title track providing an enticing opening, and the buoyant “Jeff’s Joy,” penned in tribute to drummer/bandleader Jeff Siegel, closing on a celebratory note. Arend’s mysterious “Ankh” was inspired by early Egyptian alchemists. “The Ankh was a symbol of eternal life,” Arend notes, “of life beyond this mortal life. The music’s dreamy melody and subtle harmonic shifts are inspired by this symbol.”
Boshnack’s “Song of the Whistle Wing” draws on her childhood memories of growing up in rural New York. “I started the piece by trying to capture the nostalgia of the call of the mourning doves,” she says. “I then incorporated the whistling sound their wings make during takeoff and landing.” Tonooka’s moving “Transition Waltz (for Matt)” was penned for her longtime friend Matt Yaple, a Philadelphia composer and presenter who’d recently left his longtime apartment for a new home that doubles as a performance space. “I’ve known Matt for more than 30 years and he’s finally transitioning into this life that he’s always wanted,” Tonooka says. “So I thought I would write something for him to help celebrate our friendship and the fact that he’s moving forward.”
Washington’s “Odysseus Leaves Circe” was originally intended to accompany an exhibition of Romare Bearden’s paintings in Cape Town. While the show never happened, Washington had already immersed himself in the artist’s work and this piece, as vibrant and multi-layered as Bearden’s work, was the result. He says, “I loved the painting ‘Odysseus Leaves Circe.’ The color and composition haunted me. So I tried to write a composition that on the one hand gave voice to the painting and on the other referenced the story of Odysseus trying to free himself from the pull of Circe and her charms.”
Alchemy Sound Project
Alchemy Sound Project is a collective of composer-performers whose music combines elements of jazz, world music and modern chamber music. This diverse and eclectic group aims to blur the boundaries between notated composition and improvisation. The alchemy of these individual voices working together results in music that is powerful, original and highly interactive. Pianist Sumi Tonooka, saxophonist Erica Lindsay, trumpet player Samantha Boshnack, bassist David Arend and multi-reedist Salim Washington are all unique and forward-thinking composers traversing the borders between the composed and the improvised. Alchemy Sound Project is committed to synthesizing the individual voices and experiences of diverse composers into a musical experience that is fresh and new.
Visit online at alchemysoundproject.com
Acclaimed bassist and composer Ben Wolfe is thrilled to announce the August 9, 2024 release of The Understated.
This evocative new album features a collection of new original compositions by Wolfe paired, with re-imaginings of some of the composer’s classic material, with a particular emphasis on the ballad song-form. The album features ten tracks, five of which are ballads – a bold move for any composer – Wolfe creates a cohesive narrative here that challenges the listeners perception of the classic ballad. The Understated features Wolfe alongside artists who make up the very frontline of modern jazz, including pianist Orrin Evans, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, drummer Aaron Kimmel, guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Sullivan Fortner.
Wolfe has always been drawn to finding beauty in subtlety. He perceives a certain tranquility and elegance in the Coltrane Quartet, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Sevens, the legendary Miles Davis bands and rhythm sections, and the music of Charlie Parker. While he, of course, revels at the immense world-building energy of this music, it’s the “other side” – the elusive, magical aspect that endlessly captivates him – the understated. The composer draws inspiration most from the ensemble work of these hallmark jazz ensembles. Despite the individual parts being extraordinarily beautiful on their own, the musicians in these archetypal ensembles play only what is needed to serve the music, paying particular attention to the band-sound more-so than their individual sound. The Understated embodies this ethos with a tremendously impactful ensemble-oriented approach.
Wolfe sought to continue the thread started by “Lullaby in D” from his previous critically acclaimed release Unjust. Wolfe indicates, “Something about that take was so perfect to me. It had been brought to life, and it had that ensemble thing.” Wolfe assembled the quartet who recorded “Lullaby” (including longtime collaborator Orrin Evans, as well as recent frequent collaborators Aaron Kimmel and Nicole Glover) and two very special guests, Russell Malone and Sullivan Fortner. The recording process took place in one room with no headphones or isolation booths, further emphasizing the group’s collective awareness.
This record succeeds in bringing Wolfe’s expansive music to life through extremely conscientious group playing. Nothing is forced or pushed; everything that needs to be stated is stated. The single from the album, “Waltz,” encapsulates the spirit of the project. Wolfe says, “I view albums like a complete painting, so singles have been difficult for me. This song is very much in the spirit of the whole but doesn’t give away the record.” The piece features a sentimental melody delivered with grace by tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, before Glover and Evans embark on stirring solos dancing in and out of the tune’s harmony.
Other new original compositions featured here include “Ballad in B”, which perhaps best demonstrates the group’s stunning cohesion. This tune is a refreshing diversion as it features a serene repeated melody without overt melodic improvisation. The following track, “Anagram”, begins with Kimmel’s rhythmic refrains and a unison melody played by Glover and Wolfe and is a true ensemble piece. On this track, Wolfe shines with a lyrical solo. The moody short interlude “So Indeed” is a lyrical masterwork that leaves the listener wanting even more. “Beautiful You” features master guitarist Russell Malone on the track’s melody. The emphasis here on restrained lyricism is a prime reminder of the old adage “it’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play”. Each pocket of space in between melodic moments leaves room for the listener to breathe deeper and deeper into the song. The driving “Triangle Man” features fantastic improvisation from Glover and Kimmel. The tender “Barely Spoken” concludes the album with a feature for pianist Sullivan Fortner.
The album also weaves in references to Wolfe’s past works, creating a personal musical universe. “The Poet Speaks” is the opening track on his first record, 13 Sketches. “Occam’s Razor” was composed years ago for a collaboration with a choreographer and painter, and was a much different composition in its original form. “Love Is Near” was originally found on The Whisperer. With ballads in particular, Ben uses voicings and sounds that represent certain things to him, intentionally referencing his other compositions to generate connections between his songs.
Wolfe’s tremendous compositions on this album are also influenced by the group of musicians that he assembled for this release. Wolfe remarks “One of the things these five musicians share in common is that not only are they true ensemble players, they will always play something unexpected and special.” Listeners will find calm and beauty within the ensemble performances throughout The Understated.
Visit online at benwolfe.com/
Bassist, band leader, and composer Orlando le Fleming continues to make music that crosses genres as readily as he crosses the Atlantic, with this new album ‘Wandering Talk’, to be released physically on 23rd August via the UK’s premiere jazz label, Whirlwind Recordings.
After 20 years in New York City, he’s back in his native UK, forging new pathways and renewing old partnerships. His love for the acoustic tradition continues unabated alongside his deep affection for the robust, muscular electric fusion that emerged in the 1980s, and he has received critical acclaim from media including The Guardian, Financial Times, Jazzwise, and All About Jazz among others. He has also toured and recorded with some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians including Branford Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Antonio Sanchez, Ari Hoenig, and Wayne Krantz.
The Romantic Funk project was born in New York’s legendary 55 Bar to explore that legacy: now the new album ‘Wandering Talk’ builds on the critical acclaim generated by ‘The Unfamiliar’ (2020), building on the framework with a set of collaborators that brings together London and New York, past and present, acoustic, and electric, and merges it all into a spectacular whole.
Following the same principles that served the project in NYC, le Fleming booked four Friday nights at London’s renowned Vortex Club to workshop the music that would become the album, with a rotating cast of players which he honed down into the final line-up. Old London friends Tom Cawley (piano/keys) and James Maddren (drums) completed the rhythm section. New acquaintance Nathaniel Facey was picked from the ranks of the UK’s brightest young saxophone players. NYC stalwart Philip Dizack flew in from the US to play trumpet and reaching back to Orlando’s school days and forward to his own family, one-time classmate Chris Martin (Coldplay) and his own daughter Nadia combined to provide vocals on a special setting of Rumi’s poetry.
As before, the music combines fusion’s flash and fire with a contemporary sensibility. This time, Orlando’s questing spirit sends his superb band forward to investigate fresh areas of creativity in dynamic and texture.
Visit online at orlandolefleming.com
Album: John Entwistle, Rarities Oxhumed – Volume Two
Rarities Oxhumed – Volume Two is the second of the series of posthumous releases coming from John Entwistle.
Rarities Oxhumed – Volume Two is a compilation that was curated by drummer Steve Luongo, who served as John Entwistle’s producer, bandmate, business partner and good friend for many years. As Luongo states, “When I agreed to do two volumes of John Entwistle rarities, I knew volume two had to be even better than volume one. It is!” The collection of songs on Volume Two are from his years with the John Entwistle Band and include re-mastered versions of studio tracks including “Endless Vacation”, alternate mixes of tracks like “Sometimes”, and live tracks including The Who cuts “Real Me”, “Long Live Rock” and an epic version of “Young Man Blues”. The latest preview track to be released is the Who cut “Had Enough.”
Listen to “Had Enough” here: push.fm/ps/hadenough
Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One was quickly embraced by longtime fans as it featured gems like “Bogey Man” featuring Keith Moon, “Where You Going Now” (demo for the Who), and a raw live version of “Trick of the Light” recorded during the John Entwistle Band’s final tour in 2001. Deko Entertainment is thrilled to have been able to bring both volumes of this unearthed music of John Entwistle to the fans and forever solidify him as one of the greatest rock musicians ever.
For more information, visit online at dekoentertainment.com/john-entwistle
Mark Egan, Cross Currents…
It is exciting every time I get a new album from Mark Egan as he is such an amazingly versatile player and I never know what to expect (except for excellent artistry!) In his latest release, Mark has teamed up with Shawn Peyton on drums and Shane Theriot on guitar to bring us “Cross Currents”.
This collection of eleven tracks transports me to the Gulf Coast (New Orleans specifically). Mark’s fretless basses lay down a solid groove and lots of juicy solo work for this rootsy collection of funk, ambient, swamp-rock, second line, ballads, Cajun and even Indian Raga.
This trio is super-tight and the musicianship is flawless as each member has ample opportunity to shine. Even though each player is very talented in their own right, I feel that the collective energy is greater than just the sum of the players on this album. Each musician contributed to composing music for this project but the lion’s share are Mark’s original pieces.
I spent the summer of 1981 in New Orleans and this wonderful music takes me back to those fond memories. I participated in a wacky raft race on Lake Ponchatrain and this opening track elicits images of fun, sunshine, music, and great food.
This is another superb album that everyone will enjoy. Get your copy today! Cross Currents is available online at Amazon.com. Visit Mark online at markegan.com.
ALBERTO RIGONI’s New Project NEMESIS CALL Announce “Kingdom of Shred” Album, Feat. Super Talented Guests Such as Mike Terrana, Alexandra Zerner + Many Others
Worldwide known Italian bassist and composer ALBERTO RIGONI (soloist, BAD As, Kim Bingham, Vivaldi Metal Project, etc.) announces the new album “Kingdom of Shred” of his new project NEMESIS CALL.
Alberto says:
“Even if my latest album “Unexpected Lullabies”, dedicated to my newborn Vittoria Parini Rigoni, was released on June 4th 2024, I felt the need to compose new music (yes, I really can’t stop!). This time will be quite challenging because I’m willing to release an instrumental shred/prog/rock/metal/melodic album, that will feature many talented top-notch musicians such as drummer Mike Terrana, Alexandra Zerner, Alexandra Lioness, Aanika Pai (11 years old!), Keiji by Zero (19 years old!), SAKI and many others TBA/TBC). It won’t be easy to manage all such great musicians but I will make it! Are you ready to face a new prog experience? The album will be released in Digipack CD and in high-quality digital format approximately at the beginning of 2025 or maybe for Christmas!.”
As an independent artist, Alberto Rigoni has launched a fundraising campaign to support the project. Support at www.albertorigoni.net/nemesiscall. 20% of the income will be donated to Lega del Filo d’Oro (www.legadelfilodoro.it/it), an Italian association that helps deaf and blind children!
Visit online at www.albertorigoni.net | albertorigoni.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/albertorigonimusic | www.badas.rocks
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