Todd Herman The Alter Ego Effect Method Masterclass

"Alter Ego" ensemble performs two of Philip Glass's minimalistic works: "Music in the Shape of Square and "600 Lines". The works on this disc are reissues of two CDs originally put out on the Italian Stradivarius label, so the Orange Mountain Label deserves credit for re-releasing them so they can find a wider audience.

Alter Ego (1994). Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke came together as a production team in the late 80s after both collecting valuable music experience from previously being in various bands. The first Alter Ego LP appeared 1994 on Sven Vath's Harthouse label, which was at that time, one the most pioneering labels from Germany. The impact of this LP on the British music scene was headlined by remixes from Black Dog, Luke Slater & David Holmes…

Pianist James Williams learned a great deal from his stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and when he emerged from the group he was perfectly qualified to be a bandleader. His Sunnyside session features such up-and-coming players as guitarist Kevin Eubanks, the reeds of Billy Pierce and Bill Easley, bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Tony Reedus on a set of original material…

Myriam Alter received classical music training starting from the age of 8. Being very involved with her studies (graduating from high school, then getting a licence for psychology at the University of Brussels), she stopped practising her instrument at the age of 15. After her studies first she worked in an advertising agency for seven years. After that, without really being aware of it, she went back to music by opening a dancing school that she managed for another seven years. This was when she really felt the need to start studying the piano again. Her innate attraction to improvised music brought her very naturally to jazz. She started to study on her own and then later with two Americans, the saxophonist John Ruocco and pianist Denis Luxion. Finally it was Dutch bass player Hein van de Geyn, who had been following her career closely, who became the producer of her first three records…