Catalogue

Musicians: Alon Nechushtan p, composer, Ken Filiano b, Bob Meyer dr, Special Guest: Harold Rubin cl

Jackson Pollock made "Action Painting" well known a while back, and he became one of the most important painters of the 20th century. This art form considers improvisation to be a pivotal element in painting. Color is often not applied with a brush, but drop by drop, for example, sometimes applied to the canvas directly from the can. Simple materials and techniques result in amazing results. In spite of this, it is not at all dilettantism, but instead is done based on comprehensive knowledge of all set structures and techniques. But they are just not satisfied with set structures. "Action Suite" by the pianist Alon Nechushtan pursues similar considerations. Based on virtuoso mastery of musical instrumentation and with a clear idea of what music pieces created in free improvisation should express, a number of precious pieces are created – and these grow together into an overall work of art. Free improvisation in this sense is the opposite of lack of prerequisites. To the contrary: It only works if each single member of the band contributes all of his expertise, experience and skills into a mutual work networked internally. That is what accounts for the extraordinary fascination of "Ritual Fire": Inner concordance of the musicians that has become rare that makes the free improvisation seem to listeners as if it were composed.

Musicians: Timucin Sahin 6 string electric guitars, 7 string electric guitar, John O'Gallagher as, Tyshawn Sorey dr, Christopher Tordini contrabass, Ralph Alessi tp

On his second CD at Between the Lines (following 'Bafa', BTLCHR 71221, 2009), his influences and ideas can be heard again, which range from his intensive studies of south Indian music and the harmonics of Ornette Coleman to his enthusiasm for rock bands from Led Zeppelin to Van Halen They are not used for cliché-type copies, but instead are very subtle. You have to listen very closely to understand the stories that Sahin tells. However, if you let yourself be drawn into them, you are captivated and fascinated by the intensive tales full of details as well as by the sudden twists, the careful build-up of tension due to unusual harmony sequences and then again the free association of dominating embellishments.

Musicians: Peter van Huffel as, Roland Fidezius b, noise, Rudi Fischerlehner dr, perc

A mixture of hard rock, jazz, grunge, metal and lots more, but for which there are no terms. That sounds very urban and natural, intellectual and emotional, structured and free at the same time. And never boring.

Musicians: Yitzhak Yedid p, Sami Kheshaiboun arabic violin, Ora Boasson Horev double b

Yedid composed the new work in Australia, where he has lived for the past few years, and it was first performed in Henry Crown Symphony Hall (Jerusalem) in March 2010. As with classical music by composers from Europe and the western hemisphere, it is meant to be heard in one sitting; the fields of tension, which the suite creates, are only developed then: between East and West, between classical and modern music, between the religious and the secular, and between composition and improvisation. And as little as the conflict in the Middle East dissolves into thin air, that is how little the tension of the music is dissolved and resolved. A challenge for listeners, who remain questioning and searching at the end, but neither without hope nor baffled.

Musicians: Jeff Denson b, voc, Ralph Alessi tp, Florian Weber p, Dan Weiss dr

Colors, structures and pictures that touch him emotionally: these are the initial sparks that inspire Jeff Denson when he composes new pieces. They form groups around him and consolidate into an imaginary "Secret World". Sound for sound and harmony for harmony, his pieces are created from this imaginary point. At the end, there is a work that entices the listener to enter into Denson's world. The listener encounters the inspirations there, which once triggered the compositions: a waterfall here, a sunset with all of its bright, shimmering colors, autumn leaves there, and forests covered in mist. Of necessity, an unadorned groove or a simple melody line does not suffice to go along with that, and the restriction to one style or genre is doomed to failure. As a result, the mosaic of the "Secret World" is composed of the colorful pieces that jazz and contemporary classical music, R&B and Blues, pop music and old chamber music supply. This is touching, powerful music, which develops a magnetic attraction.

Musicians: Christoph Irniger ts, Vera Kappeler p, Christian Weber b, Michael Stulz d

The Pilgrim quartet project lead by tenor saxophonist Christoph Irniger is a marvelous example of how the whole is often much more than the sum of its individual parts. Each individual protagonist is far removed from the showcase rooms where well trained musicians believe that they have to document their skill by presenting their technical expertise in "higher-faster-further" style. Instead, the reduction principle applies: "less is more". With only minimal(ist) sounds of each single player, the Pilgrim musicians succeed in creating a full, rounded, thick all-around sound, surprising in this style and which is difficult to categorize. In addition to the sparingly inserted sounds, melodic and rhythmic style elements are never exploited, at the most broached upon, to flow into new channels soon. This individual sound cosmos is additionally supplemented by unconventional spots of color. For example, the rasping piano strings plucked by Vera Kappeler or the contrabass stroked in such a manner by Christian Weber that you could easily confuse the sound with that of a bass clarinet.

Musicians: Carlo Costa drums, JP Schlegelmilch piano and glockenspiel, Pascal Niggenkemper bass

"Is it possible to open doors without closing others? Can you combine contrasting styles in such a way that they seem to come from one cast?" Carlo Costa asks in the liner notes to this CD. And he describes the idea at the same time: "Every source has to be treated with respect, but it may not be considered holy or taboo. I hope that we have come close to this ideal with this recording."

Musicians: Leo Bachmann tuba, Madeleine Bischof contrabass-flute, Thomas K.J. Mejer contrabass saxophone

Can music go to greater depths? Bachmann, Bischof and Mejer and Leo have been using their giant contrabass wind instruments as an inexhaustible source of sounds for 20 years.

Musicians: Yitzhak Yedid p

He always played with ensembles in his recordings of the past years, and there was also often continuity of the band members. Now for the first time in more than 10 years, he has again ventured to make a solo recording. But he has carried on one topic of his music life here too: the attempt to transform and transcend visual experiences into musical ones. Marc Chagall, a great painter of the 20th century, Jewish as is Yedid, living far from his place of birth (Chagall was born in Russia and lived mainly in France), inspired Yedid to compositions that do not want to reflect or reproduce the contents of paintings in any way. Rather they are an attempt to capture the spirit, which prevailed during Chagall's creative work, and to clothe them in sounds.

Musicians: Enrico Rava tp, flh, Ran Blake p

They only appeared on stage one time together for recording: Enrico Rava, the most well-known European trumpeter, and Ran Blake, the American pianist with an influence on numerous contemporary musicians that can hardly be overestimated. After the CD was no longer available from between the lines for many years, we are very pleased that we can now re-release it!

Musicians: Gerry Hemingway dr, sampler, voice, Lisa Sokolov voice, James Emery g, Kermit Driscoll b, John Butcher ts, Ellery Eskelin ta, Thomas Lehn synthesizer, Herb Robertson tp, Wolter Wierbos tb

Recorded in 2001 and released in 2002, the CD was sold out and no longer available after a short time. The master had also been missing for five years. It was now possible to use the original recordings to create a new master. Gerry Hemingway also contributed his hands and ears to make the sound even more transparent and powerful.

Musicians: Timucin Sahin double neck guitar, John O'Gallagher as, Tyshawn Sorey dr, Thomas Morgan b

Both his compositions and his playing on his double-neck guitar – his trademark – radiate an incomparable individualism. For example, his music sounds compassionate, melodic, almost melancholic at times, only to break out into wild, rock-influenced riffs in the next moment. You hear an ingenious amalgam of Xenakis, van Halen, Hendrix and Ornette Coleman, but not copies of these sources of inspiration for Sahin.