Music For 18 Musicians Erik Hall

A re-interpretation so often comes from an impulse, even if subliminal, of one-upmanship – let me do better, wait ‘til you hear it my way. Sometimes though, and it happens too rarely, the cover is an act of devotion in which a musician’s humility produces something more beautiful than bravura could.

A re-interpretation so often comes from an impulse, even if subliminal, of one-upmanship – let me do better, wait ‘til you hear it my way. Sometimes though, and it happens too rarely, the cover is an act of devotion in which a musician’s humility produces something more beautiful than bravura could.

James Strauss (b. November 29, 1974 Recife, Pernambuco) is a Brazilian flautist and musicologist.

South Korean singer Yeahwon Shin’s ECM debut, “Lua ya” is a gentle album of songs and lullabies, recorded in 2012 in the spacious acoustics of Mechanics Hall, near Boston. It’s a very intuitive set, shaped by “improvising, listening to our childhood memories and letting the music flow”, as Yeahwon says. Shin and pianist Aaron Parks played together just once before the present recording, finding “an instant improvisational connection” which is further explored here. Accordionist Rob Curto shares with Yeahwon an affinity for Brazilian music and has collaborated with her previously (in contexts including her Latin Grammy-nominated album “Yeahwon” on ArtistShare). But this new disc is a project beyond the idiomatic borderlines: Korean children’s songs are amongst the inspirational sources, and jazz has influenced the phrasing and imagination of all three participants, yet “Lua ya” seems to emerge from a place of pure music and a common reservoir of feeling. Yeahwon Shin dedicates the set to mothers and children everywhere.

Italy’s creative piano virtuoso Stefano Bollani meets Hamilton de Holanda, Brazil’s peerless master of the bandolim, the 10-string mandolin. "O que será" is a summery celebration of the joy of music-making, radiating an irresistible enthusiasm, and raising the bar for trans-idiomatic instrumental interaction. Bollani, acknowledged as one of the most prodigiously-gifted soloists of jazz, is matched every step of the way here by de Holanda, and the exchanges between the musicians are frequently breathtaking. Repertoire draws upon the rich heritage of South American music – including Jobim, Piazzolla, Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, Ernesto Nazareth and more, plus original compositions by the protagonists. O que será was recorded live in Antwerp in last August before an audibly-delighted audience at the Jazz Middelheim Festival.

Bassist Arild Andersen shines as the principal soloist in a celebration of music from ECM with specially-commissioned new big-band arrangements of well-known pieces by Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Trygve Seim, Jan Garbarek, and Keith Jarrett. The resourceful Tommy Smith adds powerful tenor solos, arranges Garbarek's "Molde Canticle", and directs the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.