Monday, February 15, 2016

Balint Varga - Balint Varga Piano Work (2016)




Balint expresses himself through original compositions that range in style from musicals to pop, jazz to classical. Having created six original full-length stage musicals and dozens of other genre songs for stage, concerts, and studio recordings, he graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2012. He studied Musical Theater Composition and Conducting.

Born 1982 in Budapest, Hungary, he started playing piano at age 4. He began his professional career in the world of musical theater at age 17 when he moved to Paris. He worked first for Bastille Opera House in Paris with the musical director Scott Alan Prouty. He was the youngest contracted piano player ever in the history of Bastille Opera House. Balint also worked at the French Ballet Institute and in Chatelet. After he graduated from the Business College of Budapest (2006), he started his studies at Bela Bartok Conservatory in Budapest. Balint soon became involved in the theater world throughout Europe (Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Austria, France, Germany), thanks to the Dutch director Cornelius Baltus. During his work, he has earned wealth of experience in the world of mainstream musicals. 

He’s an excellent sight –reader and frequently hired for playing at auditions. Balint worked for many productions and shows as a music director, pianist and orchestrator. While he is a musical theater composer, he also has a great passion for classical music. As a child, he was a member of the State Opera House in Hungary. He composed a big orchestral piece “Around the World in 12 Minutes”, a chamber orchestra piece “Little Chariot”, a piano trio volume “ Les Danses Diaboliques” and several choral pieces. At the age of 23, he composed and produced “Houdini The Musical” (2005 –lyrics by Mihaly Kal Pinter), followed soon thereafter by “Covershow” (2007 -lyrics by Attila Galambos), then “Why Don’t I Have a Girlfriend?” (2009 -lyrics by Lia Tamborra, Zoltan Papes), “Darlings of Broadway” (2011 -lyrics by Aimee Lynn Czura), and “Kobolds” (2012 –lyrics by Aimee Lynn Czura and Attila Galambos), a Halloween story. He co-wrote the music of Dangersparkle and the Lion (2013, by Lia Tamborra and Harry Einhorn) and Atlantis! The Final Hour (2013, by Lia Tamborra and Harry Einhorn), furthermore he wrote the music of The White Witch of Rosehall (2014 -lyrics by Bryan D. Leys).

During the summer (2011) Balint worked together with Michael Reed (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music Director) in St. Petersburg (Russia) for Roman Polanski’s production, “Dance of The Vampires”.  In 2014 he music directed the China Tour of “I Love, You’re perfect…” Off –Broadway hit. He’s the resident music director/conductor of Fiddlehead Theatre Company in Boston and Dangerlion Productions in NYC.

Musical direction credits: Aida, I love you, you’re perfect…! (China Tour), A Little Princess, West Side Story, Oliver!, Assassins, Willy Wonka, Berklee Goes Broadway and Dangersparkle and the Lion. 

Balint was hired to write the music for the next Gia Forakis and Company’s production -O.REX which opens in NYC in November 2014.

Balint graduated from Berklee College of Music (Boston) in 2012 and currently living in New York.
“His original compositions are replete with originality, grace, fun, and full-tilt character — a unique blend of big sound Broadway show music and old world traditions.”


Balint Varga, piano

1. Boston Etude No. 9 (Mimi)
2. Improvisation
3. Orex Prologue
4. Hope
5. A Childlike Smile
6. Boston Etude No. 2
7. Fatelessness Main Theme
8. Carneval
9. Falling Grace


SONIA

Tobias Faulhammer - Da Di Gi Na Dum (2016)


Label: Ats-Records
Source: Cdbaby 



With Da Di Gi Na Dum, a project started by Tobias Faulhammer (guitars, compositions) and Max Tschida (keyboards, compositions) in early 2015, the Jazz Rock of the 70s comes to new life.
The compositional focus of this CD lies heavily on rhythm. The indian vocal rhythm technique Konnakol serves as an inpiration, with its syllables used in two compositions as well as in the title. Influenced by the works of the greats John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, the band’s goal is to tear down the borders between Jazz and Rock music. Some pieces were quite through-composed, others
consciously gave the band members space to collectively design the pieces.
Also released under ATS-Records in early 2014, Faulhammer’s debut album A First Taste was well received among its listeners, and already showed that this young musician is looking for further challenges. Deriving from a trio line up on his first production, Faulhammer this time started with a quartet line up and added an additional soprano saxophone (Stefan Gottfried), violin (Christian Müller) and electric bass (Robin
Gadermaier) to enhance the sound of his and Max Tschida’s compositions.
Los Angeles based Austrian guitar player Alex Machacek voices his interest in this production as he states „A very mature musical statement of young lions. Congratulations and hereby highly recommended!“.
The new program can first be heard live on the 15th of February 2016 in Vienna at Strenge Kammer Wien (Porgy & Bess, Riemergasse 11, 1010 Wien). Further information and concert dates can be found on www.dadiginadum.com.


1. Shiva
2. Moving On
3. Konyushy
4. Da Di Gi Na Dum
5. 12 + 4 = 16
6. Bocadillo de Jamón
7. Huitzilopochtli
8. Old Plesch
9. You Know, You Know

Tobias Faulhammer (guitars, compositions)
Max Tschida (keyboards, compositions)
Stefan Gottfried (soprano sax)
Christian Müller (violin)
Robin Gadermaier (electric bass)
Sebastian Küberl (double bass)
Andi Seper (drums)


BUY THIS ALBUM 

 

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Molde 2007 / CD 1, Box Set 7 CD (2015)




By Paul Acquaro and Tom Burris / freejazzblog

(DISCS 1 – 3) - Paul

The candy box set from Joe McPhee and Paal Nilssen-Love is shiny. Really shiny. Maybe that's why I bought it. At the store, I just couldn't keep my gaze away from its brilliance, just as much as I couldn't resist the promise of 7 CDs of collaboration between these two giants of improvisational music. I assume that if you saw it too, aglow on the shelf, you'd feel the same. Note, I would not even consider a download version of the music, I insist, it's the box, with the glossy booklet with interviews to provide context (though the music needs no context) that you need.

But, just to give it a little context anyway ... in both interviews, one with McPhee on PNL and the other with PNL on McPhee, you really get the sense of these musicians mutual appreciation and respect for each other, which, to my ears, provides the foundation for their music.

Says McPhee of PNL:
"I find Paal to be a teacher, " says McPhee, 75, of PNL, 40, "I've learned much from him and in our conversations we find various paths that we can explore. I don't think we ever discussed what we were going to do, or how were going to do it. We just engage and find a way. It is always very organic. "
Says PNL of McPhee:
"Like I said: he's completely free. He feels free to do whatever he wants. He is his own music. He is explicit, he is serious and he has fun. Joe is the perfect example of how young a musician or person in his 70s can be. He's still challenging himself and investigating new paths in music."
Now, to be fair, like many a box set, you may get a little of what you already have. In this case it is the inclusion of two releases of their duo work Tomorrow Came Today (Smalltown Superjazz, 2008) and Red Sky Revisited (PNL records, 2013). However, it completes the chronology that takes the renowned Norwegian percussionist and revered American brass/woodwind player from their fiery incarnation to 2014's performance at Okkafest in Milwaukee. What a great ride it is!

Disc 1, begins with their first collaboration at the Molde Festival in 2007. It begins on the periphery - a push of air and a rattle of sticks on the rim of a floor tom. Eventually the music grows more defined as McPhee's hearty sax and PNL s propulsive drumming mesh in syncopated understanding. Track 2 may be the standout - it begins with slurs and blurs from McPhee who vocalizes faintly along with pinched tones from his saxophone. Playing off the multi-phonics, PNL responds with unusual percussive techniques leading to a long solo passage. As the tune progresses and McPhee's lines become charged and PNL's percussion heated, yet there is always a sense of space. What's striking is that throughout the tracks, the collaboration was one of complete respect from the start, both musicians have equal - and influential - say in the progress of the music.

I'm going to let the Free Jazz Blog archives fill in the gaps of Discs 2 and 3, the re-releases. Stef writes in detail about the duo's first record Tomorrow Came Today and Colin eloquently describes Red Sky Revisited. As Stef wrote about McPhee, "his music is universal and authentic, in a deep emotional and spiritual sense, open to any influence while still remaining uncompromising in its exploratory nature. He brings a purity of approach while combining sensitivity and warmth, with powerful violent outbursts and musical adventure."

(DISCS 4 – 7) - Tom

In 2012, it seems that McPhee and PNL were in Antiquity mode.  Antiquity was a record from the mid-70s by Jackie McLean (reeds) and Michael Carvin (percussion) that was free and airy – even when it roared – and was particularly heavy on The Groove, whether the musicians were playing in time or not.  I hear its echoes all over discs 4 & 5, which were recorded in Milwaukee and Chicago respectively in 2012.  The Milwaukee gig opens tentatively but soon embraces extra fire, extra melody, extra groove, extra freedom.  Antiquity on steroids.  The performance concludes with a piece that sounds like it was written for a ritualistic ceremony scene for a Fellini film.  The Chicago disc continues in McLean/Carvin mode, while occasionally blowing it up, but not as often as before.  There is more balance to this performance.  At times it even seems infinitely spacious and quiet.  When McPhee and PNL join forces as one indestructible mountain on the final track it is positively stunning.  One question: How does Paal Nilssen-Love make caveman oom-pah brush work sound sophisticated?  I don't think it's merely context.

Disc 6 was recorded in Japan in 2013 and begins frantically with fast and furious brush work from PNL and spirit possession from McPhee.  PNL scrapes and clangs cymbals, drags 'em scraping and squealing across the tom heads, and bangs what sounds like a really expensive saucepan.  McPhee calls free reveille on trumpet.  Someone's phone goes off in the middle of it and suddenly the recording stops.  When it cuts back in, the duo is going full throttle.  The tape cut somehow makes it more exciting.  The gig closes with McPhee playing very melodically and freely while PNL plays with delicacy and complete freedom.

This box concludes with a performance from Milwaukee in 2014.  Joe (on trumpet) and Paal each open with solos.  When they combine energies on track 3, it becomes a natural telepathic dance between melodic shuffle and free flipout.  McPhee informs the audience that June 21, 2014 – the day this was recorded – is the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer.  (Freedom Summer refers to a time in the 1960s when young activists traveled from the northern U.S. to Alabama to register African-Americans to vote.  James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were three activists who were murdered by a Klansman.)  “I don't want to get too political,” he says.  “But let's keep that fucking in mind!”  Then comes the roar.  It's white hot.  The hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  McPhee begins to play “Nation Time.”  He squeals, sings and yells into the sax, and PNL covers his back with jaw-dropping precision and muscle as they take the famous protest anthem into the stratosphere.  When they finally come back to earth, McPhee plays a slow, melodic, understated solo that is built around Coltrane's “Alabama.”  It's beyond beautiful, beyond sadness, beyond words.  Beyond.  Anything I would say about it wouldn't do it justice.  I'll say this though: this last disc alone is worth the price of the whole box.

Molde 2007

1.1 Molde Part 1 15:45
1.2 Molde Part 2 8:50
1.3 Molde Part 3 6:37
1.4 Molde Part 4 5:46
1.5 Molde Part 5 3:35
1.6 Molde Part 6 6:55
1.7 Molde Part 7 3:57
1.8 Molde Part 8 6:03

Tomorrow Came Today
2.1 Tomorrow Came Today 7:07
2.2 Go 4:24
2.3 Ibsen's Ghost 4:28
2.4 Build And Break 6:15
2.5 Acts Of Time 5:22
2.6 Sun And Steel 7:17
2.7 Body Sound 4:33
2.8 Crossing Messages 5:35

Red Sky Revisited
3.1 Red Sky (Red Sky At Night, Sailor's Delight, Red Sky In The Morning, Sailor's Warning) 11:21
3.2 Till (Remembering Emmet Till) 5:38
3.3 Peach Melba 4:58
3.4 Iron Man Returns 5:10
3.5 Come Sunday (Duke Ellington) 5:56

Sugar Maple 2012
4.1 Sugar Maple Part 1 19:39
4.2 Sugar Maple Part 2 15:55
4.3 Sugar Maple Part 3 7:14

Elastic 2012
5.1 Elastic Part 1 22:52
5.2 Elastic Part 2 10:00
5.3 Elastic Part 3 7:21

Candy 2013
6.1 Candy Part 1 18:06
6.2 Candy Part 2 20:06
6.3 Candy Part 3 4:21

Palm Tavern 2014
7.1 Palm Tavern Part 1 10:33
7.2 Palm Tavern Part 2 8:11
7.3 Palm Tavern Part 3 6:26
7.4 Palm Tavern Part 4 8:18
7.5 Palm Tavern Part 5 13:05
7.6 Palm Tavern Part 6 4:09

Recorded At – Molde International Jazz Festival
Recorded At – Grand Sport Studio
Recorded At – Kongsberg Jazzfestival
Recorded At – Sugar Maple
Recorded At – Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL
Recorded At – Jazz Spot Candy
Recorded At – Palm Tavern
Mastered At – Strype Audio
Manufactured By – dualpLOVER
Published By – JoMacMusic
Published By – CIEN FUEGOS

Alto Saxophone – Joe McPhee (tracks: 4.1 to 4.3, 6.1 to 7.6)
Art Direction, Interviewer – Lasse Marhaug
Clarinet [B♭ Clarinet] – Joe McPhee (tracks: 1.1 to 1.8)
Drums – Paal Nilssen-Love
Flugelhorn – Joe McPhee (tracks: 3.1 to 3.5)
Interviewee – Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love
Mastered By – Audun Strype (tracks: 2.1 to 2.8), Lasse Marhaug (tracks: 1.1 to 1.8, 3.1 to 7.6)
Mixed By – Christian Engfelt (tracks: 2.1 to 2.8), Lasse Marhaug (tracks: 1.1 to 1.8, 3.1 to 5.3, 7.1 to 7.6)
Music By – Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love
Photography By – Kim Hiorthøy, Lars Eivind Bones, Lars Jönsson, Lasse Marhaug, Mark Rappaport*, Micke Keysendal, Pedro Moreno (6)
Producer – Lasse Marhaug, Paal Nilssen-Love
Recorded By – Christian Engfelt (tracks: 2.1 to 2.8), David Zuchowski (tracks: 4.1 to 5.3, 7.1 to 7.6), Kino Eigen (tracks: 6.1 to 6.3), Thomas Hukkelberg (tracks: 1.1 to 1.8, 3.1 to 3.5)
Tenor Saxophone – Joe McPhee (tracks: 1.1 to 3.5, 5.1 to 6.3)
Trumpet [Pocket Trumpet] – Joe McPhee (tracks: 1.8 to 3.5, 5.1 to 7.6)

Box set containing 7 CDs in individual card sleeves plus a booklet with interviews and photos. Limited edition of 500 copies.

Tracks 1.1 to 1.8: Recorded live in concert on July 19th 2007 at Reknes, Molde Jazzfestival, Norway.
Photo by Lars Eivind Bones. Thanks to Jan Ole Otnæs.

Tracks 2.1 to 2.8: Recorded August 15th and mixed October 25th 2007 at Grand Sport Studio, Oslo.
Previously released in 2008 on Smalltown Superjazzz as STSJ148CD.
Photo by Kim Hiorthøy. Thanks to Joakim Haugland.

Tracks 3.1 to 3.5: Recorded live in concert on July 3rd 2008 at Energimølla, Kongsberg Jazzfestival, Norway.
Previously released in 2013 on PNL Records as PNL016. Remixed and mastered in 2015.
Photo by Lars Jönsson. Thanks to Tor Dalaker Lund and Pål Fidjestøl.

Tracks 4.1 to 4.3: Recorded live in concert on July 8th 2012 at Sugar Maple, Okkafest, Milwaukee, USA.
Photo by Pedro Moreno. Thanks to Adrienne Pierluissi, Bruno Johnson and Ken Vandermark.

Tracks 5.1 to 5.3: Recorded live in concert on August 30th 2012 at Elastic, Chicago, USA.
Photo by Lasse Marhaug. Thanks to Dave Rempis.

Tracks 6.1 to 6.3: Recorded live in concert on January 25th 2013 at Jazzspot Candy, Chiba, Japan.
Photo by Mark Rappaport. Thanks to Sachi Hasasaka, Rio Nagata, Kino Eigen, Mark Rappaport and Miyoko Hayashi.

Tracks 7.1 to 7.6: Recorded live in concert on June 21st 2014 at the Palm Tavern, Milwaukee, USA during Okkafest 2014.
Photo by Micke Keysendal. Thanks to Adrienne Pierluissi, Bruno Johnson and Ken Vandermark.

Special thanks to Silje Sibel, Mats Gustafsson, Mark Rappaport, Miyoko Hayashi, Sachi Hasasaka, Rio Nagata, Kino Eigen, Adrienne Pierluissi, Bruno Johnson, Ken Vandermark, Dave Rempis, Joakim Haugland, Jan Ole Otnæs, Tor Dalaker Lund, Pål Fidjestøl, Thomas Hukkelberg, Audun Strype, Christian Engfelt, David Zuchowski, all photographers, Music Norway, and Norsk Jazzforum.


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Tomorrow Came Today / CD 2, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Tomorrow Came Today

2.1 Tomorrow Came Today 7:07
2.2 Go 4:24
2.3 Ibsen's Ghost 4:28
2.4 Build And Break 6:15
2.5 Acts Of Time 5:22
2.6 Sun And Steel 7:17
2.7 Body Sound 4:33
2.8 Crossing Messages 5:35


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Red Sky Revisited / CD 3, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Red Sky Revisited

3.1 Red Sky (Red Sky At Night, Sailor's Delight, Red Sky In The Morning, Sailor's Warning) 11:21
3.2 Till (Remembering Emmet Till) 5:38
3.3 Peach Melba 4:58
3.4 Iron Man Returns 5:10
3.5 Come Sunday (Duke Ellington) 5:56


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Sugar Maple 2012 / CD 4, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Sugar Maple 2012

4.1 Sugar Maple Part 1 19:39
4.2 Sugar Maple Part 2 15:55
4.3 Sugar Maple Part 3 7:14


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Elastic 2012 / CD 5, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Elastic 2012

5.1 Elastic Part 1 22:52
5.2 Elastic Part 2 10:00
5.3 Elastic Part 3 7:21


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Candy 2013 / CD 6, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Candy 2013

6.1 Candy Part 1 18:06
6.2 Candy Part 2 20:06
6.3 Candy Part 3 4:21


JAVI

Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love ‎- Candy: Palm Tavern 2014 / CD 7, Box Set 7 CD (2015)


Palm Tavern 2014

7.1 Palm Tavern Part 1 10:33
7.2 Palm Tavern Part 2 8:11
7.3 Palm Tavern Part 3 6:26
7.4 Palm Tavern Part 4 8:18
7.5 Palm Tavern Part 5 13:05
7.6 Palm Tavern Part 6 4:09


JAVI

Albert Vila - The Unquiet Sky (2016)


Albert Vila (guitar)
Aaron Parks (piano)
Doug Weiss (bass)
Jeff Ballard (drums)


El guitarrista Albert Vila es un músico formado en el Taller de Mùsics de su ciudad natal, Barcelona, en el conservatorio de Ámsterdam y en la Manhattan School of Music de Nueva York.

Presentamos su último trabajo, The Unquiet Sky”, grabado en Nueva York rodeado de algunos de los mejores músicos en la escena mundial del Jazz: Aaron Parks (piano) Doug Weiss (contrabajo) y Jeff Ballard (batería).

Gran disco, merece la pena.


01. Therefore 4:28
02. Epilogue 1:17
03. New Deal 5:14
04. Air 6:04
05. Gym Jam 5:15
06. Six 1:11
07. Three Days After 4:44
08. Begining 2:29
09. Minor Tragedy 3:15
10. Transition 2:55
11. Old Recipe 5:32
12. Major Issues 4:43
13. Short Piece 1:46
14. The Bean 8:12

Total time: 56:00 min. approx.

All songs composed by Albert Vila

Recorded at Acoustic Recording Studio, Brooklyn, New York, on May 4 & 5, 2014

Recording engineer: Michael Brorby
Mixed & mastered at Avatar Studios by Katsuhiko Naito

Tracks #8 & 13 recorded at the Room Producciones Musicales, Barcelona, on June 18, 2014

Illustration & design: Sagar Fornies
Photo: Daniel Hilsinger

Produced by Albert Vila

Executive Producer: Jordi Pujol


Domi