Dan Weiss: Fourteen

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 30.07.2014,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com:
"Fourteen" zdaje się być przełomowym projektem w dotychczasowym dorobku Dana Weissa jako kompozytora i lidera zespołu. Jest to niezwykle ambitnie pomyślany projekt - złożony z czternastu muzyków zespół z gitarą, saksofonami, puzonami, harfą, fortepianem, o0rganami, basem i perkusją w składzie. Prócz tego wszystkiego jeszcze trzy wokale. Stylistycznie jest to próba połączenia w jedno jazzowej improwizacji, indyjskiej rytmiki, ekstremalnego metalu, minimalizmu, progresywnego rocka i współczesnej muzyki komponowanej. Sprawę komplikuje dodatkowo ekspresja, a raczej nadekspresja występujących w zespole muzyków.

Dan Weiss okrzyknięty został przez New York Times jednym "z pięciu perkusistów, których czas właśnie nadszedł". I rzeczywiście, jest dziś jednym z najbardziej zapracowanych muzyków po tamtej stronie Atlantyku. Zaczął grać na perkusji w wieku sześciu lat. Jest absolwentem The Manhattan School of Music na kierunku jazzowej perkusji oraz kompozycji klasycznej. Koncertował i nagrywał z wielkimi jazzowej sceny: z Lee Konitzem, Davidem Binneyem, Rudreshem Mahanthappą, Miguelem Zenonem i Kennym Wernerem. Jest uczeń mistrza tabli Pandit Samir Chatterjee i znakomita znajomość klasycznej muzyki hinduskiej i jej transpozycji na perkusję czyni Weissa absolutnie unikatowym muzykiem na jazzowej scenie. Wydał cztery albumy jako lider.

Nad projektem "Fourteen" Weiss pracował id roku 2010 - wtedy bowiem (jak sam wspomina) zaczął pisać kompozycje które znaleźć można na tym albumie. Jak opowiadał - pisząc poszczególne linie miał w uszach konkretne brzmienia instrumentów i "sound" poszczególnych swoich przyjaciół, których potem zaprosił do nagrania tego albumu. Sam już nie wiedział, czy pisał muzykę dla nich, czy też to oni podpowiadali mu konkretne frazy. Wszystkie siedem kompozycji układa się w kształt suity, która w założeniu miała być muzyczną podróżą.

Teraz możemy wyruszyć w nią wspólnie z Danem Weissem na pewno będzie to droga która Was zaskoczy. I którą będziecie zafascynowani.
Editor's info:
Fourteen is drummer Dan Weiss’s breakthrough as a composer and bandleader: A hugely ambitious project, it is a through-composed work that features a 14-piece ensemble with guitar, horns, voices, harp, piano, organ, bass and percussion. It’s an indescribable amalgam of jazz improvisation, Indian beat cycles, extreme metal, minimalism, prog rock, contemporary classical music, and a myriad of other influences, all compounded into an outpouring of personal expression completely beyond musical boundaries.

Named one of “Five Drummers Whose Time Is Now” by the New York Times, Weiss is one of the most in demand musicians on the jazz scene. He began playing the drums at the age of six and received his bachelor’s degree at Manhattan School of Music with a major in jazz percussion and minor in classical composition. He has toured and recorded with musicians such as David Binney, Lee Konitz, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Miguel Zenon and Kenny Werner, among many others. A disciple of the tabla master Pandit Samir Chatterjee, under whom he has studied for almost 20 years, Weiss is also arguably unique among jazz drummers for transposing ideas from his study of Indian classical music to the drum kit. He has released four prior albums as a leader: Tintal Drum Set Solo and Jhaptal Drum Set Solo – both with Miles Okazaki on guitar – on which Weiss performs classical works for tabla on trap drums; and Now Yes When and Timshel, which feature his long-standing trio with Jacob Sacks on piano and Thomas Morgan on bass. He has been named the number one “Rising Star Percussionist” the last two years in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll.

Weiss ups the ante with Fourteen, a major compositional undertaking. He started writing the music in 2010, initially as melodic ideas and eventually conceiving of the project on a grander scale. He says of the work, “I had some of my closest friends in mind while writing this music and their voices dictated the path that the music should travel. The writing process for this record was not a struggle at all like it has been for some of my other projects. My spirit felt free and loose, as if something or someone else was doing the work for me.” The work eventually grew to encompass fourteen musicians, including old working partners such as Okazaki, Sacks and Morgan, and also musicians he regularly worked with such as David Binney on alto saxophone; Ohad Talmor on tenor saxophone; Matt Mitchell on glockenspiel, piano and organ (supposedly the Vox Continental on which Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was recorded); Jacob Garchik on trombone and tuba; and Ben Gerstein on trombone. The vocalists Lana Cenčić, Judith Berkson and Maria Neckam, all of whom Weiss has worked with in the past, were chosen for the blend of their vocal timbre and strengths with rhythmic articulation. Katie Andrews on harp and Stephen Cellucci on percussion added further musical color. According to Miles Okazaki, “Dan is able to assemble groups like this because people trust his vision and know that the result will be honest and musical. He has no patience for gimmicks or shortcuts. In his daily practice, he is the most rigorous and focused musician that I have ever met, and this carries through to his composition and performance ethic.”

The work is meticulously composed and solos are woven into the music’s fabric. Okazaki views this piece as “a collective sonic exploration, focused more on the gestalt texture than the ego of any individual.” Intricate rhythmic detail informs every part of the music. The work ebbs and flows, growing to powerful crescendos before modulating to quiet contemplation. The individual instrumental parts are often direct, but they draw their strength by being placed layer-upon-layer to produce their mysterious effect. Okazaki calls the music “complex without being overly intellectual, loose without being chaotic, emotional without being sentimental.”

According to Matt Mitchell, “One of the many inspiring things about being involved with Fourteen was the courage and determination Dan displayed in putting together something so ambitious. His having pulled it off so splendidly gives me a renewed and expanded sense of what is possible.” A true tour de force, Fourteen is recorded to be listened to in full: tracks flow without pause from one to the next, alternating between ghostly beauty and brutal workouts, by turns intense, transformative, and transcendent.

An ambitious through-composed work featuring a 14-piece ensemble including guitars, horns, voices, harp, percussion and organ playing compositions informed by Indian beat cycles, jazz improvisation, heavy metal, contemporary classical music, prog rock, and a myriad of other influences.

Recently named one of “One of the Five Most Promising Drummers of the New Generation” by the New York Times.

Named “Top Up and Coming Percussionist” two years in a row in the Downbeat Critics’ Poll.

A disciple of the tabla master Pandit Samir Chatterjee, rhythmic precision informs all of Weiss’s musical output.
“A drummer of adaptable flow and microscopic focus.”
– The New York Times

“Weiss is arguably unique among today's jazz drummers, transposing ideas from his tabla study to the drum kit.”
– All About Jazz

“Dan Weiss has made a habit of surprising jazz fans with his diverse interests.”
– Time Out New York

muzycy:
Dan Weiss: Drums, Vocal Recitation
Jacob Sacks: Piano
Matt Mitchell: Glockenspiel, Piano, Organ
Thomas Morgan: Acoustic Bass
Miles Okazaki: Electric and Classical Guitar
David Binney: Alto Saxophone
Ohad Talmor: Tenor Saxophone
Jacob Garchik: Trombone, Tuba
Ben Gerstein: Trombone
Lana Cenčić: Voice
Judith Berkson: Voice
Maria Neckam: Voice
Katie Andrews: Harp
Stephen Cellucci: Percussion

utwory:
1. Part One [7:42]
2. Part Two [6:56]
3. Part Three [3:31]
4. Part Four [4:01]
5. Part Five [3:59]
6. Part Six [7:07]
7. Part Seven [4:03]

wydano: 2014
more info: www.pirecordings.com
more info2: www.danweiss.net