Search:modern jazz quartet

The Modern Jazz Quartet, known for its sophisticated and elegant approach to jazz, consisted of pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay

Here are Some key points about the album: "Fontessa" is regarded as one of the Quartet's essential recordings, praised for its elegant performances and refned compositions. The album refects the commitment to creating jazz that is both accessible and artistically ambitious. Critics and jazz enthusiasts often highlight the interplay between Milt Jackson's vibraphone and John Lewis's piano, supported by the solid rhythm section of Percy Heath and Connie Kay. The title track "Fontessa" is a suite in several movements, showcasing the band's ability to merge different musical themes seamlessly; the album includes notable covers such as "Angel Eyes," "Willow Weep for Me," and "Over the Rainbow" all of which are given the Modern Jazz Quartet unique treatment with a mix of lush harmonies and sophisticated improvisation. The album, released in 1956, signifcantly contributed to the evolution of jazz by demonstrating that it could be a serious, artful genre capable of sophisticated expression. The Modern Jazz Quartet infuence extends beyond jazz to classical and popular music, and "Fontessa" remains a testament to their innovative spirit and enduring appeal, a key album in their discography, exemplifying their unique sound and artistic vision.

A showcase of some of The Modern Jazz Quartet’s most iconic Montreux Jazz Festival live performances, recorded between 1985 and 1993!

The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.

2LP in gatefold with liner notes. 180gr vinyl. Download code included. A new, twenty-track compilation focussing on a twenty-year period (1950-1970) of modern jazz in the little kingdom, featuring the leading players from that era.

Due to the absence of its main players during the heydays of modern jazz, Belgium will not be remembered for a unique jazz sound or an extensive discography. However, the little country produced a number of highly talented musicians who played lead roles on the international jazz scene.
'Let's Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970' retraces their steps and presents some of their finest works, including guitarist Philip Catherine, saxophonist Jack Sels, multi-instrumentalist Jacques Pelzer and vibraphone player, percussionist and vocalist 'Fats' Sadi Lallemand.^

A few words for the album
Moment’s Aeternity:
a 12/8 composition celebrating the raw power of the “moment”, marked by whirling improvised moments between drums, bass clarinet and Harris P’s Armenian duduk.

Pajko, fire in the forest on the mountain:
in Sokratis own words: “I have a really vivid memory as a child. I was staring at the Djena mountain from my window in Archangellos which sits on the Pajko mountain. A little beam of light shone far in the horizon; it was a fire that in my little eyes looked as if the giants of Almopia were trying to communicate with each other using phryktoria (a way of contacting through fire in Ancient Greece).”

Footprints of some Giant Steps:
While the classic compositions of two true Jazz Giants- Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane- are certainly different, they do both connect in a mystical way. Rearranged in 5/8 combining half of each melody and half of each one’s chord progression, keeping the form of the piece for improvisation, still in 5.

Oson Zeis Fainou (Seikilo’s Epitaph):
found in a tomb stone in the Northeast of Greece, this is the only melody saved from the ancient times. It is accompanied by lyrics contemplating the meaning of life:
Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.
‘’While you live, shine
don’t feel blue for anything because our life is short and time demands an end.’’

Here is to Oghene K:
’’Hey man, where is the groove?’’, he would say, just to trigger another wave of inspiration for Sokratis. Oghene was a true force of nature, a well of kindness, a masterful artist that left this world too early. This one is for him.

Balkan Riff (for Milcho Leviev):
Milcho Leviev (1936-2019), was a long-time friend and collaborator and a true inspiration for expression, creativity and colorfulness. Expressing the deep sentiments evoked by the Balkan sound and history, this is a sorrowful dialogue between bass clarinet and contrabass.

Spirits of Djena:
one of the most esoteric and personal moments of the album. Composed and recorded during the challenging times of the COVID-era, you can hear the baritone and tenor saxophone firmly grounded on a crispy, hypnotizing contrabass groove.

Sokratis Votskos Quartet
Kostas Anastasiadis / Giorgos Klountzos - Chrysidis: Drums
Leandros Pasias: Piano
Vaggelis Vrachnos: Contrabass
Sokratis Votskos: Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet and Compositions


Sokratis Votskos is a jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, educator, and bandleader from Greece. Deeply invested in unearthing the folk sounds and heritage music of Greece and Eastern Europe, he weaves these into modern jazz compositions though the use of melodies, polyrhythms, and his reedy, timeless tone. He leads the Sokratis Votskos Quartet, he is one half of Kolida Babo and member of the Reggetiko Project. A highly regarded sideman and ensemble player, he has worked extensively with renowned jazz musicians with several highly acclaimed releases (MiC, Jazzman, Walt Disney and now Fair Weather Friends Records).

He has performed his music in numerous venues and festivals worldwide from Vinterjazz in Copenhagen, to the EFG London Jazz Festival where he performed at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s alongside Greg Foat.

He is also an archaeoacoustics researcher and enthusiast, having completed his Master studies on the field of ancient ritualistic caves of Greece research.

Leandros Pasias was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. At age 10 was introduced to piano, continuing his studies at the Modern Conservatory of Thessaloniki and later at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the department of jazz piano.Ηe holds a classical harmony diploma and a BA at the Department of Music Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2020 he received jazz improvisation lessons from Aaron Parks.

With a series of appearances in multiple international jazz festivals, Leandros has collaborated with a wide range of musicians from Nicolas Masson and James Wylie to Marina Osk, Ivo Papasov and Haris Lambrakis, among others.

A member of the Yako Trio, he released “OdesSea” on Fair Weather Friends Records (2021).

Vangelis Vrachnos was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1989. While he started playing the bass at the age of 12, alongside his brother, his studies would commence a few years later. Introduced to double bass at the age of 23, he undertook jazz double bass studies at the Codarts Αcademy of Rotterdam. He has participated in several festivals such as the Technopolis and Odessa international jazz festivals. Since returning to his hometown, in 2015, he has been a founding member of Mordana and Yako Trio and has collaborated with a series of musicians like James Wyllie, Sokrates Votskos and Dimitis Agelakis, among others.

Kostas Anastasiadis is a tireless researcher, that has been diligently studying Tradition and its evolution, creating a fresh amalgam of sound moods. His mature improvisational virtuosity highlights a uniquely individual artistic expression and was recognized with the ̈Unique Individual Stylist" award by the PIT (Percussion Institute of Technology) in Los Angeles, California. He has been associated with various ensembles that have garnered significant interest in the global music scene. As an educator, he is the founder of "The Harmony of Rhythm" musical method, which aims to explore and establish the elements that constitute the concept of rhythm.

Giorgos Klountzos-Chrysidis was born in Thessaloniki in 1991. Following studies at the Modern Conservatory of Thessaloniki, he moved to France and the Conservatoire de Nice. With performances at well-known festivals like Nice Jazz Festival, Nuits du Sud and Jazz à Vienne, he had the opportunity to meet the American drummer Leon Parker, who encouraged him to move to Paris, where he spent the next two years under his tutoring and guidance.

In 2016, came a defining moment in his career as he traveled to New York for the first time. He participated in the quartet of saxophonist Diego Rivera for a series of performances and attended lessons by Rodney Whitaker and Randy "Uncle G" Gelispie at Michigan's State University.

Collaborations include Xavier Davis, Ricky Ford, Nicolas Masson, Diego Rivera, Craig Bailey, Baptiste Herbin, Marc Abrams, Pantelis Stoikos, Antonis Anissegos, David Lynch, Ziad Rajab and Ivo Papasov, among others.

The second volume in a survey of the modern jazz & hard-bop scenes that emerged in the new cultural melting pot of post war London, with recordings from the end of the 1940s through to the early 1960s.

Featuring representations from players whose roots lay in the East-End's jewish community alongside a wealth of talent of Caribbean and African descent playing and recording in post war London during this period.

Made in partnership with the Barbican to coincide with the exhibition Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-1965.

The debut album from brothers Aksel (sax) and Lyder Røed's (trumpet, flugelhorn) quartet! Already a well established band on the Norwegian jazz scene, featuring Swedish drummer Cornelia Nilsson (Aaron Parks) and double bass player Ola Høyer (Cortex). A modern and innovative jazz quartet with clear links to the golden age of the 60s, nodding to artists such as Ornette Coleman, Tom Harrell and Mark Turner.

Kronstad 23 returns with Dodehavet, the Norwegian quartet"s third album and first release on Batov Records. Continuing their instinctive, analogue-led approach, the record sits between cinematic jazz and psychedelic rock, threaded with Scandinavian folk and wider global influences. Recorded live to tape with minimal preparation and no modern studio intervention, Dodehavet captures a band working on feel, interaction and momentum rather than polish or precision.

Mana is the International Anthem debut by trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever. The collection carries the spirit of their first solo album, We Fell In Turn, while entering a new landscape of spacious songwriting. Mana, which in Hawaiian means "foundational, supernatural, or divine power and strength", reveals more of their voice and words, drawing from yearning, loss, and bewilderment. Vandever"s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down, boasting a compositional scope ranging from the palatial modern jazz of their quartet work to the synthetic, gauze-like droning ambience of their solo material. Mana leans into the expansion of the latter: solo trombone filtered through a well-dialed pedalboard, manipulated live; spare piano à la the late-career work of Ryuichi Sakamoto; electroacoustic interplay simultaneously echoing and transforming the long-note melodicism of Vandever"s melancholic brass work; head-on, unambiguous, and deeply personal lyricism - a particularly fresh move for the composer... Appropriate for the early riser"s first step into the day or the night owl"s weary and quiet walk home.

Mit Tether veröffentlicht die preisgekrönte Saxophonistin, Improvisatorin und Komponistin Alden Hellmuth ihr neues Album - der kraftvolle Nachfolger zu Good Intentions, das als Debut Album of the Year International beim Deutschen Jazzpreis ausgezeichnet wurde. Hellmuth, Absolventin des renommierten Herbie Hancock Institute, verbindet hier kompositorische Präzision mit einem markanten, modernen Bandsound. Das Herzstück von Tether ist ein seltenes Zwei-Bass-Quartett, getragen von zwei der radikalsten Musiker der LA-Szene: Logan Kane, ein genreübergreifender Bassist zwischen Jazz, Avantgarde und Punk-Funk, und Miller Wrenn, einer der furchtlosesten Improvisatoren der Westküste. An den Drums sorgt Justin Brown für energetische Dynamik - ein herausragender Musiker, der u. a. mit Ambrose Akinmusire, Christian McBride und Vijay Iyer gearbeitet hat. Besondere Gäste wie Paul Cornish, Finalist großer internationaler Klavierwettbewerbe und auf Blue Note veröffentlicht, sowie Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, eine prägende Stimme des modernen ukrainischen Jazz, erweitern den Klang zusätzlich. Tether ist ein energiegeladenes, modernes Jazzalbum, das Avantgarde-Mut, kompositorische Tiefe und unmittelbare Spielfreude vereint. Hellmuths Quartett erschafft eine kraftvolle, eigenständige Klangwelt zwischen Modern Jazz, zeitgenössischer Improvisation und experimentellen Low-End-Texturen.

Vom Wall Street Journal als "eine der faszinierendsten Sängerinnen der modernen Musik" beschrieben, hat die in New York geborene und in Tamil Nadu aufgewachsene Sängerin und Multi-Instrumentalistin GANAVYA Details zu ihrem neuen Album "Daughter of a Temple" veröffentlicht, das am 15. November 2024 erscheinen soll. Das Album folgt auf ihren Auftritt bei SAULTs umjubeltem Live-Debüt 2023 in London, bei dem, laut The Guardian, ihre "Stimme eine zarte emotionale Kraft hatte, die selbst Stoiker zu weinenden Wracks machen konnte." Für "Daughter of a Temple" lud ganavya über 30 Künstler*innen verschiedener Disziplinen zu einer rituellen Zusammenkunft nach Houston ein. Dementsprechend sind auf dem entstandenen Album zahlreiche Mitwirkende zu hören, darunter renommierte Musiker*innen wie esperanza spalding, Vijay Iyer, Shabaka Hutchings, Immanuel Wilkins und Peter Sellars. Die Ergebnisse, eine innovative und zutiefst bewegende Mischung aus spirituellem Jazz und südasiatischer geistlicher Musik, wurden zunächst von Ryan Renteria aufgenommen und dann 2024 von Nils Frahm im LEITER Studio in Berlin weiter bearbeitet und abgemischt. ganavya ist die Autorin und Sängerin des ersten tamilischen Textes, der mit einem Latin Grammy ausgezeichnet wurde, sie war Sängerin in Vijay Iyers Ritual Quartet und Solosängerin auf dem von Quincy Jones produzierten "Tocororo", das Platz 1 der Jazz-Charts erreichte. Ihr letztes Album, "like the sky I"ve been too quiet", hat sie mit Shabaka Hutchings aufgenommen und versammelt Gäste wie Floating Points, Tom Herbert, Carlos Niño und Leafcutter John.

The second chapter after “neverlost”, “closer” blends samplebased production with classic songwriting – like a sonic mosaic of warmth and groove. Lyrically “hippiesque,” Sepalot explores natural beauty, unity, equality, and self-determination. Guest features shine: Blu delivers sharp lyricism, and Illa J surprises
with soulful vocals on “My Own Way.” For fans of The Avalanches, Caribou, and Madlib – Closer is lush, human, and unforgettable.

Sepalot is one of those rare artists whose sonic palette refuses to be boxed in. His music exists in the fertile space between multi-layered sophistication and playful unpredictability – a quality rooted in his eclectic upbringing. From skate-punk beginnings to soul all-nighters, from obsessive vinyl digging to
deep immersion in hip-hop’s golden era, Sepalot has carried the art of sampling like a badge of honor. His beats are mosaics – meticulously pieced together fragments of sound forming an intricate whole. Beyond the studio, he’s explored these influences as DJ, producer, and live performer, leading the
Sepalot Quartet across Europe’s jazz festivals, and more recently with his experimental band Tikhet alongside Angela Aux

With “closer”, the upcoming second chapter following his 2023 album “neverlost”, Sepalot distills his broad musical world into a sample-based yet song-driven statement. The production feels warm and tactile – think needle-on-vinyl crackle meeting modern songwriting clarity. Lyrically, it’s “hippiesque” in the best
way: themes of natural beauty, unity, democratic awareness, equality, and spiritual introspection weave through the tracklist.

The guest list is just as inspired: legendary wordsmith Blu delivers razor-sharp verses, while Illa J – brother of the late J Dilla – steps away from his signature rap to surprise with soulful vocals on “My Own Way.” Together, they amplify the album’s humanist core, balancing groove-heavy production with
lyrical depth.

Fans of artists like The Avalanches, Caribou, DJ Shadow, or Madlib will find plenty to love here, but Closer carries its own unique fingerprint – a testament to Sepalot’s ability to merge hip-hop grit with songwriting grace. If “Neverlost” was a map, “Closer” is the destination: lush, thoughtful, and deeply human.
Highly recommended for anyone ready to hold hands, open their mind, and let the beat guide them.

On “Cold Sweat,” James Brown famously called to “give the drummer some.” In 1974, Philadelphia vibraphonist Khan Jamal called to Give the Vibes Some, with superb results. Pianist and composer Jef Gilson’s PALM label gave Jamal the platform he needed to deliver a thorough exploration of contemporary vibraphone. After launching PALM in 1973, Gilson quickly demonstrated that he would only produce records not found anywhere else. Give the Vibes Some, PALM number 10, was another confirmation of this guiding principle.

Raised and based in Philadelphia, Khan Jamal took up the vibes in 1968, after two years in the army during which he was stationed in France and Germany. Decisively drawn to the instrument by the work of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Milt Jackson, Jamal studied under Philadelphia vibraphone legend Bill Lewis and soon made his debuts in the local underground.

Early in 1972, Jamal made his first recording, with the Sounds of Liberation. The band attempted an original fusion of conga-heavy grooves with avant-garde jazz soloing. Saxophonist Byard Lancaster, an important figure in Jamal’s development, contributed much of the solo work. Later in 1972, Jamal made his leader debut with Drum Dance to the Motherland, a reverb-drenched, never-to-be-replicated experiment with live sound processing. Both albums appeared on the tiny musician-run Dogtown label.

“We couldn’t get no play from nowhere. No gigs or recording sessions or anything. So I took off for Paris,” Jamal recalled in a Cadence interview with Ken Weiss. “Within a few weeks, I had a few articles and I did a record date. It didn’t make me feel good about America.” That was in 1974, while Byard Lancaster was recording the music gathered on Souffle Continu’s recent The Complete PALM Recordings, 1973-1974.

Jamal’s record date delivered Give the Vibes Some. At its core, it was an exploratory solo vibraphone album, even if two tracks added (through technological resourcefulness?) a très célèbre French drummer very much into Elvin Jones appearing under pseudonym for contractual reasons. Another track, for which Jamal switched to the vibes’s wooden ancestor, the marimba, added young Texan trumpeter Clint Jackson III. The most notable article published on Jamal during this stay in France was a Jazz Magazine interview. Jamal’s last word there were “The Creator has a master plan/drum dance to the motherland.” “Give the vibes some” could be added to this programmatic statement.

Altsaxofonist Zbigniew Namysłowski (1939-2022) wird wird oft als der ”John Coltrane Polens” bezeichnet,
so wichtig war er für die Entwicklung des modernen Jazz in seiner Heimat. Sein 1964 veröffentlichtes
Debütalbum “Lola” war zugleich das erste Album einer polnischen Band, das nicht hinter dem “Eisernen
Vorhang”, sondern in den Decca Studios in London aufgenommen wurde. Mit seinem Modern Jazz Quartet stellte Namysłowski auf dem Album sieben teils von polnischer Folklore inspirierte Originale sowie eine
Interpretation des Standards “Ol’ Man River” vor.
Produziert wurden die Aufnahmen von Mike Vernon, der später unter anderem mit Fleetwood Mac, David
Bowie und John Mayall arbeitete. 60 Jahre nach Erstveröffentlichung erscheint dieses für die europäische
Jazzszene eminent wichtige Album in der Reihe “British Jazz Explosion” erstmals wieder auf Vinyl. Gemastert von den originalen analogen Stereobändern von David Turner bei 360 Mastering, geschnitten bei Curve
Pusher, Hastings, East Sussex. Eine Beilage enthält Fotos der originalen Masterbänder und neue Liner
Notes des bekannten Autors, Compilers und Dokumentarfilmers Tony Higgins, der auch als ausführender
Produzent für Deccas „British Jazz Explosion“-Reihe fungiert.

This album is probably one of the most outstanding jazz discoveries of this year and highlights the significance of earlyJjazz-Rock recordings from East Germany in the late 60s to the early 1970s.
The highly talented organist Ulrich Gumpert, along with top musicians like drummer Günter "Baby" Sommer, bassist Gert Lübke, and guitarist Günter Dobrowolsky, formed a powerful independent quartet as well the rhythm section within the Klaus Lenz Orchestra and later of the group SOK. Their modern, soulful, and funky Jazz-Rock compositions gained popularity and were even promoted by the
East Berlin youth radio. Guest artists like the famous Günther Fischer contributed to their first recordings. This retrospective LP celebrates a groundbreaking yet underappreciated era in East German Jazz and Rock history.

One of the most politically charged terms of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain was a metaphor for political and cultural division. In a post-war telegram Winston Churchill referred to the fault line that ran through Europe between East and West as "an Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind".



In this two-part album, as far as jazz is concerned, we will showcase, describe and celebrate exactly what was 'going on behind'. We see that music is the power supreme, with the ability to transcend all barriers, be they physical, political or metaphorical.



Our liner notes illustrate the complex and contradictory history of Soviet jazz, and the tracks we've chosen cover the key period of the early 1960s to the 1980s. It was during these dark years of the Cold War that the Soviet Union and its satellite states produced a number of outstanding artists playing in a variety of styles. The impact of modernism, from hard bop and Latin to modal and cool jazz, had found its way through cracks in the curtain. The deeply-felt ancestral strains of traditional European folk music were combined with the exciting new and progressive sounds of the West, and a radical, intoxicating brew was created that no amount of guns, tanks or polonium tea could overcome.



We chronicle the triumph of jazz at a time of extreme geopolitical conflict. What went on behind the Iron Curtain in these countries was once mysterious and unknown to the West, but the perseverance of their artists provided sound and light amid the secretive, dark days of the communist-capitalist standoff. There was no end of life-affirming spiritual jazz behind the Iron Curtain.



"Whether it's by improvisation in the African-American jazz tradition, or by a village kobza player standing on top of a damn hill - he feels connected to the stars."

Ulrich Troyer has been producing music now solidly for over twenty years within a largely genre free framework, but whilst navigating forms such as avant-garde, techno, leftfield, field recording, electronica, glitch and ambient it is the aesthetics of dub that guide his creative direction. Not really recognisable in an orthodox form as remixed versions of roots reggae songs but in the way sonics are manipulated with space, the application and layering of delay, reverb and echo that fixes his output well within the scope of what might be called futurist dub.

The nearest comparisons to his new album TRANSIT TRIBE can only be established by a synthesis of some of the more adventurous explorations in modern music such as African Head Charge, Jon Hassell, Pole (Stefan Betke), Bill Laswell or even Miles Davis; featuring a diverse selection of artists and friends not only from Vienna and environs but also from around the world, sounds are not so much fused but allowed to float along the continuous flowing tide of warm waves of bass.

Rather than to allow the names of Ulrich Troyer's collaborators be merely listed in the album credits, what they bring to this joyful affair needs to be outlined, albeit briefly: Co-producer credits go to Osman Murat Ertel from Istanbul, who employed a variation on the old foolproof Nick Lowe method for checking out the impact quality of his own sound productions by playing tracks through his car sound system speakers!

Murat is a member of the electro-psych-folk group Baba Zula where he plays electric saz, oscillators and theremin and played a key part in the creative development of the album. Mamadou Diabate, the balafon master originally from Burkina Faso and now resident in Vienna, has developed his own unique technique of playing solos that replicate the sound of three instruments playing in unison; however the multi-talented Mamadou is engaged here on singing and playing the talking drum. From South Tyrol Reinhilde Gamper is a member of the experimental trio Greifer who are bringing the sound of the zither into the twenty-first century using new playing techniques and electronic gadgets. Susanna Gartmayer is an Austrian composer and bass clarinetist specialising in improv and multimedia sound research. Diggory Kenrick has been engaged with creating new dub fusions and also re-energising classic rocksteady and roots reggae classics, renowned for his interventions on flute. Didi Kern is an electronic dance musician and drummer from Vienna with a focus on free improvised music. Hamidou Koita, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, is from a traditional Griot family in Burkina Faso but now resident in Vienna and a regular musical partner of Mamadou Diabate playing drums and calabash. Austrian Lukas Lauermann is both a studio and live musician playing cello, also working on electronic sound design and writing string arrangements. He has recorded extensively and appeared on stage with both Mark Lanegan and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Martin Mallaun is a Tyrol-born specialist in both the development of the zither in modern music and also as a researcher in the effects of climate change on the vegetation of Alpine ecosystems. Mystica Tribe is the musical alias of Tokyo-based dub/techno producer Taka (Takafumi) Noda. He collaborated with Vienna's own Vegetable Orchestra on 2020's "Transplants (Mystica Tribe Version)". After studying classical percussion Flip Philipp is now a jazz vibraphone player and member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Wolfgang Pfistermüller is a member of the Vienna Trombone Quartet and the developer of the incredible bass-trombone Aurora with its uniquely warm and resonant sound. Roger Robinson is a renowned British poet, winner of many contemporary poetry prizes and member of the experimental music group King Midas Sound. Kwame Yeboah is a Ghanaian born UK based keyboard wizard who tours regularly with Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Ms. Dynamite and Pat Thomas.

So contained on the album is an astonishing mix of musicians and instruments: sounds of cowbells recorded in the South Tyrolean alps processed by modular synthesizers and heavy analogue bass synths combined with instruments such as zither, bass-zither, electro saz, flute, talking drum, trombone, cello, vibraphone, marimba, djembe, contra-alto clarinet, melodica, Farfisa - all bound together by organic live-drums and dub effects.

Liner notes by Steve Barker

Ulrich Troyer has been producing music now solidly for over twenty years within a largely genre free framework, but whilst navigating forms such as avant-garde, techno, leftfield, field recording, electronica, glitch and ambient it is the aesthetics of dub that guide his creative direction. Not really recognisable in an orthodox form as remixed versions of roots reggae songs but in the way sonics are manipulated with space, the application and layering of delay, reverb and echo that fixes his output well within the scope of what might be called futurist dub.

The nearest comparisons to his new album TRANSIT TRIBE can only be established by a synthesis of some of the more adventurous explorations in modern music such as African Head Charge, Jon Hassell, Pole (Stefan Betke), Bill Laswell or even Miles Davis; featuring a diverse selection of artists and friends not only from Vienna and environs but also from around the world, sounds are not so much fused but allowed to float along the continuous flowing tide of warm waves of bass.

Rather than to allow the names of Ulrich Troyer's collaborators be merely listed in the album credits, what they bring to this joyful affair needs to be outlined, albeit briefly: Co-producer credits go to Osman Murat Ertel from Istanbul, who employed a variation on the old foolproof Nick Lowe method for checking out the impact quality of his own sound productions by playing tracks through his car sound system speakers!

Murat is a member of the electro-psych-folk group Baba Zula where he plays electric saz, oscillators and theremin and played a key part in the creative development of the album. Mamadou Diabate, the balafon master originally from Burkina Faso and now resident in Vienna, has developed his own unique technique of playing solos that replicate the sound of three instruments playing in unison; however the multi-talented Mamadou is engaged here on singing and playing the talking drum. From South Tyrol Reinhilde Gamper is a member of the experimental trio Greifer who are bringing the sound of the zither into the twenty-first century using new playing techniques and electronic gadgets. Susanna Gartmayer is an Austrian composer and bass clarinetist specialising in improv and multimedia sound research. Diggory Kenrick has been engaged with creating new dub fusions and also re-energising classic rocksteady and roots reggae classics, renowned for his interventions on flute. Didi Kern is an electronic dance musician and drummer from Vienna with a focus on free improvised music. Hamidou Koita, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, is from a traditional Griot family in Burkina Faso but now resident in Vienna and a regular musical partner of Mamadou Diabate playing drums and calabash. Austrian Lukas Lauermann is both a studio and live musician playing cello, also working on electronic sound design and writing string arrangements. He has recorded extensively and appeared on stage with both Mark Lanegan and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Martin Mallaun is a Tyrol-born specialist in both the development of the zither in modern music and also as a researcher in the effects of climate change on the vegetation of Alpine ecosystems. After studying classical percussion Flip Philipp is now a jazz vibraphone player and member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Wolfgang Pfistermüller is a member of the Vienna Trombone Quartet and the developer of the incredible bass-trombone Aurora with its uniquely warm and resonant sound. Roger Robinson is a renowned British poet, winner of many contemporary poetry prizes and member of the experimental music group King Midas Sound. Kwame Yeboah is a Ghanaian born UK based keyboard wizard who tours regularly with Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Ms. Dynamite and Pat Thomas.

So contained on the album is an astonishing mix of musicians and instruments: sounds of cowbells recorded in the South Tyrolean alps processed by modular synthesizers and heavy analogue bass synths combined with instruments such as zither, bass-zither, electro saz, flute, talking drum, trombone, cello, marimba, djembe, contra-alto clarinet, Farfisa - all bound together by organic live-drums and dub effects.

Very Tall marked the first recorded collaboration between Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson. The two musicians were both highly regarded and successful jazz figures by 1961. Peterson had recorded innumerable albums with his own trio and backing such stars as Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Billie Holiday, to name just a few. Jackson had played with most of the great names in modern jazz and had been a founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Very Tall features Jackson as an added member of the legendary Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen.




d b1 JOHN BROWN’S BODY BATTLE HYMN