Stephan Merath

7 years have passed since the release of my “Guitar Heroes” Album (with Tommy Emmanuel, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg as guests). I always wanted to bring the concept of mixing gypsy swing classics and original compositions with titles from other musical genres (pop, latin, western swing, etc.) to stage. I have managed to record 4 concerts over the past few years, of which the long-awaited LIVE CD with a selection of the different performances is finally available. In addition to my trio, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg are on board again. Richard Smith and Olli Soikkeli could be won as additional guests.

Stephan Micus is a one-man universe of sound. He collects and studies instruments from around the world and creates his own musical journeys with them. This is his 24th solo album for ECM created in his studio with many recordings and overdubs. The twelve tracks on Winter’s End feature two new instruments, the chikulo from Mozambique and a Central African-style tongue drum. In addition there’s kalimba (thumb piano), sinding (Gambian harp), Egyptian nay flute, Japanese nohkan flute, Balinese suling flute, bowed sattar from Xinjiang, Tibetan cymbals, Peruvian charango and a 12-string guitar. Most of these have never sounded together before.

Being a perpetual student, Stephan Micus usually makes world music by default. He breathes patience and skill into the exotic instruments he uncovers, but certainly with respectful bending of the rules along the way. Towards the Wind follows in the same exploratory tradition – educated, but unassuming as to the nature of what an instrument is "supposed to do." Here, the album evokes an easily digestible cross section of Middle Eastern mysticism – swirling sand dunes, rust-colored sunsets, and sacred spaces.

We not only relied on interpretations of well-known standards, but also collected ideas for our own pieces in the run-up to the recordings, which bring our respective handwriting to life even more clearly. It was great fun to play our music, which was already recorded after two afternoons. The reason is that we always took the fresher sounding “first take”.

Stephan Moccio, acclaimed composer/producer (Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, The Weeknd), returns to his classical roots and the piano. Classical discipline combined with his pop songwriting sensitivities gives him a unique edge. Organic, raw and honest, the album explores profound themes like love, relationships, aging. Conveying emotion without words, he creates melodies that course through delicately wrought compositions, revealing a more sensual and vulnerable side of this multi-faceted artist.

Stephan Micus is an extraordinary musical traveller, exploring the world, collecting instruments and then creating his own musical worlds from them. This is his 23rd album for ECM and on each one he composes the tracks, plays and overdubs them to create unique and exquisite pieces of chamber music. The ten tracks on ‘White Night’ particularly rely on the sound of various sub-Saharan kalimba (thumb pianos) and the oboe-like Armenian duduk. There are two purely solo tracks, ‘All the Way’ on a kalimba from Botswana and ‘The Moon’ on Armenian duduk, while ‘Fireflies’ has 22 overdubs of Indian whistles, Micus’s voice and other instruments. “I dedicate this album to the moon which has always been a source of magic in many cultures,” says Micus. “Music too is a source of magic which is where the two connect.” Aside from his 14 string guitar, Micus plays instruments from Armenia, Tibet, India, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia, most of them in combinations never heard before.

"Josquin was the most emblematic composer of his time, famous throughout Europe for his compositions both secular and sacred. This recording explores those two aspects of his output, which are more closely related than one might think. Here in a small line-up, Gli Angeli Genève deliver a virtuoso vocal performance that is sensitive and empathetic. With only two voices per part, they play on the timbre and individuality of each voice, and thus create an intimacy and a meditative mood that invite the listener to share with the singers in the deeply moving humanity of Josquin’s music."