Shelton / Tarwid / Jacobson / Berre: Hopes and Fears

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2017-10-30
seria wydawnicza: Improvised Music Series
opakowanie: Triplefoldowe etui
opis:
opis wydawcy:
Oficyna fonograficzna Multikulti Project z przyjemnością przedstawia międzynarodowy skład, w którym usłyszymy polsko-duńskiego kontrabasistę Tomo Jacobsona, amerykańskiego saksofonistę Arama Sheltona (w Multikulti wydał już płytę „Dragons 1976” z 2007 roku), norwesko-duńskiego perkusistę Hakona Berre i polskiego pianistę Grzegorza Tarwida.
Zarejestrowana w Kopenhadze, w Monastic Studios płyta, wypełniona jest przez muzykę pełną pomysłów, swobody, pasji i wirtuozerii.
Porywają surowe, pozbawione zwyczajowej gładzi, faktury unisonów i improwizowane ornamentacje, zaskakuje brzmienie saksofonu Sheltona - ciemne i głębokie, ale niezwykle płynne i linearne.
Kluczem do świata wyobraźni czwórki muzyków są odwaga, prostota i swoboda. Żarliwa estetyka, wsparta solidnie na dwóch nogach - doskonałej komunikacji i warsztatowej sprawności, daje zdumiewający rezultat. Szlachetne, organiczne brzmienie zespołu sprawia, że udaje im się wprowadzić słuchacza w klimat mroczny i tajemniczy. Najmłodszy w składzie, pianista Grzegorz Tarwid, w każdym momencie najbardziej zagmatwanej improwizacji, wie, jaki dźwięk zagrać.
Dramaturgicznie przemyślana struktura płyty, od kameralistycznej narracji tytułowego "Hopes and Fears" po harmonicznie dopiętą ścianę dźwięku, w zamykającym płytę 'Ambitions and Doubts' to kolejny atut nagrania.
"Hopes and Fears" to blisko 40 minut drapieżnego i wielowymiarowego, prawdziwie współczesnego jazzu.
Dajmy się porwać muzyce kwartetu Shelton / Tarwid / Jacobson / Berre!

Liner Notes:
This album was recorded in Copenhagen where, even though none of us is actually Danish, our paths had suddenly crossed. The improvised music scene here is vibrant and ever changing, and our first meeting was a close call. Just as Aram was settling down after moving in from Oakland, California, and Grzegorz was packing down to move out to Cologne, Germany. Tomo & Håkon on the other hand, being respectively Polish and Norwegian, moved to Denmark long enough ago to be considered locals on the scene. You probably know the feeling when you meet someone and there is a connection right away? Now how likely is it, that it would happen with four people at once? Yet this is how we all felt about the music played. We instantly shared a collective intuition in how to shape the music, and how to find our individual voices in this conversation. In these first meetings, musicians have a choice: reveal yourself honestly with the hope of being accepted, or mask your individuality for the fear of rejection. We think we were honest with each other.

Enjoy the music Aram, Grzegorz, Tomo & Håkon


All music by Shelton/Tarwid/Jacobson/Berre
Recorded on January 25, 2017 at Monastic Studios in Copenhagen, DK
Mixed by Aram Shelton, Mastered by Michał Kupicz
Cover design by Morski Studio
Band photos by Malwa Grabowska / hipermania.com
Produced by Shelton/Tarwid/Jacobson/Berre
Executive producer: Tomasz Konwent

WYBRANE RECENZJE/SELECTED REVIEWS
IKS
(. . .) "Hopes and Fears" to efekt spotkania międzynarodowego kwartetu Shelton / Tarwid / Jacobson / Berre. To wspólna kreacja i swobodna improwizacja, nagrana w Kopenhadze, w Monastic Studios. Instrumentaliści doskonale czują się w takiej konwencji. Najwyraźniej frajdę im sprawia odnajdywanie wspólnego wątku w tej niekoniecznie linearnej i dość surowej, chropowatej opowieści. W zamian dostajemy muzykę pełną barw, twórczego niepokoju, brzmieniowych nieoczywistości (. . .) autor: Tomasz Janas

Polish Jazz Recordings and Beyond * * * *:
A Danish CD, recorded in Copenhagen by a quartet, whose non of the members is Danish. But the vibrant free improvised music scene of this city attracted all of them to come and spend quite a time in Copenhagen.
Aram comes from Oakland, California; Grzegorz is Polish, but after studying in Denmark wanted to settle down in Cologne. Tomo is also Polish, while Håkon is Norwegian, but they both moved to Denmark long enough ago to be considered as locals.

The opening title track, "Hopes and Fears", is a 17 minutes long suite, in which the quartet shows all its qualities and concepts. It is free improvised music, with focus on collective improvisations and conversations between the di fferent instruments. Aram play mostly clear sounds, but is also capable of deforming them. Grzegorz plays at the beginning in a sense in a minimalist and frugal way: he provides not to many tones. This, however, changes around the 4th minutes, when the first explosion of emotions takes place. Tomo uses during that time mostly a bow, while the drums accent delicately percussion background. During the beautiful lyrical part, in which Grzegorz plays some melodic lines, Tomo turns to finger picked bass. Aram comes back with stronger, but clean motifs, and the mood augments slowly to achieve another climax just before the end. What a hell it this music? How to classify it? There are clearly in fluences here of the contemporary Scandinavian and Polish free jazz and free improvised music, maybe some quartets of Mikołaj Trzaska? But, frankly speaking everybody is here truly original. There are not too many blasts or overblown parts, so according to my own classification it is a "kind free jazz".
The second track, "Daydreams and Terrors", has only 6 minutes,a nd is even more abstract than the first, with some inside-outside piano elements, explorations of the saxophone sound possibilities and great works of the bowed bass. Percussion is again supporting all that mostly from the background. That is perhaps I like the most the last, 15 minutes long "Ambitions and Doubts", in which Håken drumming is better exposed. This track ha a more "traditional" free jazz character, with Aram and Grzegorz playing fantastic expressive duo, supported ingeniously by the section. After 4 minutes, or so, a quiet part starts, first with nicely exposed bass lines. After few minutes of the abstract conversations with the bass playing a leading role, a kind of repetitive motifs appear and augment, to transform into another eruption of power.
Fantastic stuff !!! If I had to find some analogies and associations, I would have named Guillerhmo Gregorio and his music, Francois Carrier and Michel Lambert, and especially in the second part of the last track, John Coltrane
and Cecil Taylor.
Listen to the astonishing final solo of Grzegorz!!!
By Maciej Lewenstein

avantscena.wordpress.com:
“Hopes and Fears” is the new album which will be released on October 23 by “Multikulti Project”. The album was recorded by four great jazz masters – Tomo Jacobson (double bass), Aram Shelton (alto saxophone), Hakon Berre (drums) and Grzegorz Tarwid (piano). These four musicians improvisations have extraordinary and original sound. This is the fist time then these four musicians are playing together. Individual and unique sound, different playing manner, creative and inventive musical decisions – all these elements gently fit together in their collective improvisations. The musicians are famous in avant-garde jazz scene. They had been improvising with various famous and interesting avant-garde jazz legends. This album is the first opportunity to hear creative and talented jazz masters playing and improvising together.

The album compositions are based on avant-garde jazz elements and musical experiments. The musicians try extended ways of playing, search for a new and evocative timbres and sounds. The first part of the album is more subtle and calm, based on different rhythms and melodic elements gently combined together. It begins softly, calmly and subtly and suddenly turns out ti absolutely different kind compositions. Expressive, emotional and dramatic playing, wild fast solos, powerful and loud blow outs and riffs are the mainly heard elements of collective improvisations. The composition “Daydreams and Terrors” has especially aggressive and sharp sound. It’s based on depressive, gloomy and harsh melodies illustrated with various sharp and harsh timbres and sounds. The compositions mood and character is always changing – it’s never stay too long in one mood. The moods are fast changing each other and make colorful sound of this album. Musicians experiment with various musical elements – they twist together different melodic, rhythmic, harmonic elements, try out inventive and extraordinary ways of playing. Polyphonic structure and free form, independent and colorful melodies, many concepts put one against other in one composition are the main elements of musical pattern. Each musician is improvising absolutely different from other. The conversation between four great and talented jazz masters is very interesting, adventurous and expressive – individual styles, playing manners and improvising sounds are masterfully and essentially combined together in one composition. Wide range of musical expressions and playing techniques, creative and inventive improvising make original and innovative sound of this album.

muzycy:
Tomo Jacobson (PL/DK) - double bass
Aram Shelton (USA) - alto saxophone
Håkon Berre (NO/DK) - drums
Grzegorz Tarwid (PL) - piano

utwory:
1. Hopes and Fears 17:02
2. Daydreams and Terrors 6:09
3. Ambitions and Doubts 15:14

total time - 38:27
wydano: 2017-10-16
nagrano:
Recorded on January 25, 2017 at Monastic Studios in Copenhagen, DK

more info: www.multikulti.com
more info2: www.tomojacobson.com