RANTAL, DANIELSSON, ERSKINE – HOW LONG IS NOW?
ACT 9823     614427982322     CD

Nové triové album finského pianisty Iiro Rantaly s bubeníkem Peterem Erskinem a kontrabasistou Larsem Danielssonem se snaží vyhnout základnímu konceptu pianového tria. Nabízí jednoduché, přesto ale zajímavé melodie nejen z pera Rantaly, ale také od Kennyho Barrona, Jimiho Hendrixe, Larse Danielssona, Petera Erskina nebo Johanna Sebastiana Bacha.

MARIUS NESET & LONDON SINFONIETTA – SNOWMELT
ACT 9035     614427903525     CD

Snowmelt je zatím nejambicióznějším a nejosobitějším albem saxofonisty Mariuse Neseta. Jeho snahou bylo, aby hudba tohoto CD "našla bod kde všechno dává smysl". Neset byl prestižním americkým časopisem Downbeat vybrán jako jediný Evropan mezi 25 mladých osobností, které jsou největšími nadějemi současného jazzu.  

JAZZ AT BERLIN PHILHARMONIC VI: CELTIC ROOTS – VARIOUS ARTISTS
ACT 9836     614427983626     CD

Již šesté CD z edice Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic nabízí zemité blues, jazz a folk. Keltské hudební kořeny v provedení současných hudebníků různých žánrů vytváří nový hudební kosmos. Návrat v čase přenese posluchače do minulých století a nabídne lidovou hudbu Irska, Švédska, Skotska, Norska i Severní Ameriky.

Položka {ACT9833} nebyla nalezena. CD

DAVID HELBOCK TRIO – INTO THE MYSTIC
ACT 9833     614427983329     CD

Hudba je mysterium. Hudba začíná tam, kde končí slova.... Rakouský pianista David Helbock je zajímavým nováčkem Evropské jazzové scény. Svojí hrou posouvá hranice, hledá vlastní cesty, radikálně mění naše porozumění co je stará a nové hudba. Proto posluchačům na albu nabízí vedle vlastních kompozic skladby jazzmana Thada Jonese, klasika Ludwiga van Beethovena nebo filmového skladatele Johna Williamse.

VIDEO    "Beethoven #7, 2nd Movement" 

TRYGVE SEIM – RUMI SONGS
ECM 2449     602547322531     CD

Tora Augestad: hlas; Trygve Seim: saxofony; Frode Haltli: akordeon; Svante Henryson: violoncello

Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim sets the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), using the inspired contemporary English-language versions of Coleman Barks and Kabir Helminski as his source texts. Trygve responds both to the musicality of the translations and to Rumi’s gifts as a storyteller and with Rumi Songs seems to have invented a new kind of Lieder with a Nordic-Oriental orientation. The line-up is strikingly unorthodox, with each of the quartet members bringing their own musical personalities to the material. Classical mezzo-soprano Tora Augestad is well-known as the leader of her own ensemble Music For A While, and for her numerous music-theatre collaborations with Christoph Mathaler. She finds an intimate tone to convey Rumi’s thoughts, underlined by the elegant arrangements and the improvisational input of Seim, Haltli and Henryson.

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IRO HAARLA QUINTET – ANTE LUCEM
ECM 2457     602547323712     CD

Iro Haarla: klavír, harfa
Hayden Powell: trubka
Trygve Seim: soprán a tenor saxofony
Ulf Krokfors: kontrabas
Mika Kallio: bicí nástroje, perkuse
Norrlands Operans Symfoniorkester   
řídí Jukka Iisakkila

Ante Lucem, a powerful suite for jazz quintet and symphony orchestra by Finnish pianist/harpist/composer Iro Haarla, was premiered at the Umeå Jazz Festival in October 2012. It was recorded at the Concert Hall of NorrlandsOperan in Umeå, and the album is drawn both from the premiere concert and from sessions on the following days. Ante Lucem is comprised of four separate yet closely linked pieces which reflect in different ways, the composer says, upon the “struggle between darkness and light.” In a review of the premiere for All about Jazz, John Kelman observed that “Haarla’s writing moved from maelstrom-like turbulence to deeper melancholy … Whether it was more dramatic turns with the full orchestra or breakdowns into smaller subsets, it was an evocative and provocative performance.”

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FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY, ROBERT SCHUMANN – CAROLIN WIDMANN, CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF EUROPE
ECM New Series 2427     028948126354     CD

Carolin Widmann: housle
Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Violinist Carolin Widmann brings together the last major orchestral works of two German composers: Felix Mendelssohn Batholdy’s Violin Concerto op 64, celebrated from the outset as a masterpiece, and Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto WoO 23, which had to wait for so many years to find due recognition as one of the greatest compositions of the Romantic era. Widmann leads the widely-acclaimed Chamber Orchestra of Europe in these inspired performances, recorded at Baden Baden’s Festspielhaus. Her earlier ECM recording, in 2007, of the Schumann violin sonatas received the highest international praise, including a Gramophone Award nomination and each of her releases since then – with music from Schubert to Morton Feldman, Xenakis and Tüür – has emphasized her resourcefulness. In 2013 she was named Artist of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards.

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FBENT SØRENSEN, HANS ABRAHAMSEN / AIR – FRODE HALTLI, ARDITTI QUARTET, TRONDHEIM SOLOISTS
ECM New Series 2496     028948128020     CD

Frode Haltli: akordeon
Arditti Quartet >   
Irvine Arditti: housle
Ashot Sarkissjan: housle
Ralf Ehlers: viola
Lucas Fels: violoncello
Trondheim Soloists

The innovative Norwegian accordionist Frode Haltli is heard here with chamber orchestra, with string quartet and solo, performing music written for him by Danish composers Bent Sørensen and Hans Abrahamsen. Sørensen, he notes, has been an influence on his development  as a player, challenging  perceptions of what can be achieved on  the accordion  through tone control and nuances in soft dynamics, a subject explored in detail on It is Pain Flowing Down Softly on a White Wall, where Haltli is heard with the Trondheim Soloists. Hans Abrahamsen’s Three Little Nocturnesfind the accordionist in the company of the redoubtable Arditti Quartet. For the title composition Air, Hans Abrahamsen returned, at Frode Haltli’s suggestion, to the early solo work Canzona,  reworking until it became a new piece “characterized by a great sense of peace and a cohesive form”.

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