Nikolaj Hess, Marc Momaas, John Herbert, Tony Moreno, Ben Monder, Jeff Ballard: Global Motion

Modern Jazz
premiera polska: 2010-03-08,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Dania
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
jazzabout.pl:
Nikolaj Hess to pianista i kompozytor znany z wielu nagrań jazzowym - chociaż nie tylko - rodowodzie. Chętnie sięga on do nowych brzmień czy chilloutu, ale na swoją najnowszą płytę zdecydował się nagrać w stricte jazowym składzie. Pianistyka Hessa - chociaż gra on płycie tylko własny repertuar - nie wybiega poza mainstreamowe brzmienia. Brzmienie całego zespołu też jest takie, delikatne i raczej pastelowe, z jednym bodaj wyjątkiem - saksofonisty Marca Momaasa. Udowadnia on w tym nagraniu, że nie tylko potrafi, gdy trzeba zagrać chrapliwym tonem czy sięgać, ale i ma świetnie opanowany free jazzowy arsenał zgrzytów i pisków (chociaż korzysta on z niego tutaj tylko w naprawdę wyjątkowych wypadkach). Zespół brzmi niezwykle świeżo, a Hess w poszczególnych utworach odwołuje się do bardzo różnych inspiracji - a to muzyki afrykańskiej, a to klasycznej jazowej ballady. Dodatkową atrakcję stanowi niezwykła selektywność brzmienia tego nagrania - można tu śledzić linię każdego z instrumentów, wszystko jest zrealizowane niezwykle przejrzyście. Polecam.
autor: Marek Zając

Audio Video, 2011-02
Działalność Nikolaja Hessa, to pouczający przykład skandynawskiej pracowitości. Kalendarz duńskiego pianisty jest wypełniony występami na całym świecie w różnorodnych konfiguracjach. W jego dorobku są nagrania solowe, kompozycje big-bandowe, utwory chóralne i orkiestrowe. Hess chętnie współpracował z wokalistkami-Ettą Cameron i Sissą Verą Pettersen. Jego najważniejszym projektem autorskim jest formacja Global Motion, którą również tworzy-holenderski saksofonista Marc Mommaas oraz amerykańki basista John Herbert. Najnowsza edycja tej formacji-Global Motion-ma poszerzony skład o: perkusistów Tony Moreno i Jeffa Ballarda oraz gitarzystę Bena Mondera. Muzyka Hessa jest mocno osadzona w europejskiej tradycji muzycznej. Jego kompozycje są chłodną i wyważoną syntezą klasyki i skandynawskiego folkloru. Ożywczym przerywnikiem jest gra saksofonisty Marca Mommaasa.

autor: Oskar Kowalczyk

Editor's info:
At 41, Danish pianist Nikolaj Hess still spreads his many talents liberally. Afer graduating from the conservatory, his projects have been so diverse and so many, that it would leave lesser musicians gasping for breath. He is in demand as a sideman, composer, bandleader and producer. He has played free jazz in Holland, backed Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, toured with Lee Konitz and Benny Golson, accompanied vocalists - Caroline Henderson and Etta Cameron are a couple of them. He spent some time in Africa, where he played with Fela Kuti and his son Femi Kuti. Diversity? You bet! However, he is one of those rare musicians with the ability to blend in without losing sight of his own personality.
In 1990 Hess was elected 'Best European Jazz Pianist Under 25' at a contest in Rome, and in 1987 he won frst prize in a leading Danish newspaper's music contest. He has performed on a long list of recordings as leader, co-leader and sideman, composed and arranged for solo piano, combos, large string ensem-bles, big bands and choirs as well as creating soundtracks for Danish movies and TV shows.
Some time ago, Nikolaj Hess travelled to New York. Te idea was to learn and develop. However, he soon began playing all over the Big Apple as a member of an exclusive network of superb American musicians including bassist Christian McBride and sax-players Ben Street and Chris Cheek. And so, he divides his time between New York and Copenhagen, combining two worlds and kindling his career in both countries.
Saxophonist Marc Mommaas and Nikolaj Hess began working together in 1998. Tey have played numerous concerts in Denmark, Netherlands, USA and Spain, and recorded several CDs together. Te latest is Nikolaj Hess, GLOBAL MOTION+. Mommaas and Hess have taken turns leading GLOBAL MOTION and released three CDs for American Sunnyside Records. Hess has been inten-sely busy for quite a while writing material for the band and developing and perfecting it at rehearsals and concerts - a long and exciting process, giving the band the opportunity to crystallize the music and their performance of it.
Te CD gives a good idea of where Nikolaj Hess is at right now - as a member of a tight group playing exclusively his compositions. Te music is simple and abstract, African and American - and certainly Scandinavian. His inspiration comes from the energy and groove on the New York scene and the beauti-ful melodies and harmonies - and not least the simplicity and lucidity - in Scandinavian jazz and folk music. It also comes from the classical music that Hess grew up with, and last but not least, African music and its amazingly nuanced, organic and multi-textural rhythmic feeling and structure.
Te line-up includes of many of the musicians with whom Hess has worked over the years. Saxophonist Marc Mommaas (b. 1969) grew up in Amsterdam, but soon made New York his base. He ofen tours Europe, USA and Canada with various constellations. He has recorded quite a few CDs, and he and Hess also work together in duo and trio formats.
Bassist John Hebert was born in New Orleans. Afer moving to New York he came in to great demand for concert and session work. He has played with John Abercrombie, Maria Schneider, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Wheeler, Andrew Hill, Greg Osby, Gary Tomas, Brian Blade, Billy Hart, Uri Caine and many others. John Hebert is known as an intuitive bassist with a rich sound and fexibility. He tours a lot, and he has accumulated a large and respected discography.Drummer Tony Moreno has toured all over and in very many and diferent constellations, and he appears on a large number of recordings. He teaches at New York University Jazz Program and at New York's City College. He has worked with Mal Waldron, Bill Frisell, Sonny Fortune, Elvin Jones, Dave Liebman, Paul Bley, Sam Rivers, Jaki Byard, Cico Freeman, Te Lounge Lizards, Ravi Coltrane and many others.
Guitarist Ben Monder has worked around the New York area for more than 25 years with among others Jack McDuf, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Tim Berne and Kenny Wheeler. He is a regular member of Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and Paul Motian Octet as well as several other pro-jects, but continues to perform original music internationally with his own quartet and trio. He appears on more than 100 CDs as a sideman and on four as a leader.
Jef Ballard is the percussionist on GLOBAL MOTION+, but most audiences know him as the highly respected drummer in Brad Mehldau's famous trio. At 25 he was playing with Ray Charles, a gig that lasted for three years until he made the move to New York, where he found like-minded musicians who not only draw their inspiration from the tradition, but also seek their own inter-pretation of it and freedom of expression in music: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Avishai Cohen and many others. Jef Ballard played and has toured with Eddie Harris, Bobby Hutcherson, Lou Donaldson, Mike Stern and Danilo Perez. He joined Chick Corea in 1999, and continues to play in his various projects while also drumming with Mehldau.


muzycy:
Nikolaj Hess: piano
Marc Mommaas: saxophones
John Hebert: bass
Tony Moreno: drums
Ben Monder: electric & acoustic bass
Jeff Ballard: percussion

utwory:
1. African Trees
2. Faero
3. Bartok
4. Bridge
5. Lost In The Bush In A Broken Down Volkswagen in Nigeria
6. Global Slow Motion
7. The Village / Viva Semiparametric Statistics
8. C Sketch
9. Betterfly Chapters
10. Hakuna

wydano: 2009
more info: www.sundance.dk