Eyvind Kang

Another important piece of the elusive and hermetic Eyvind Kang puzzle. This newest studio project from one of the most consistently interesting young composer/performers working today is instantly Kang’s most adventurous, varied and ambitious recordings to date. Featuring many of his most illustrious musical associates as well as several orchestral ensembles from around the world, this new CD brings Kang’s exuberant gift for orchestration and lyricism together with a keen sense of the miraculous. Kang’s star is rightfully on the rise.

From the twisted world of pop, rock, classical and world music, to acts of revolution and riots in the streets violinist, composer, conceptualist, raconteur and world traveller Eyvind Kang takes us on an exciting new trip to Iceland. An avid fan of underground esoterica and a generous collaborator with the likes of Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, Arto Lindsay, Ikue Mori and many others, Kang is at his best in the studio, creating incredibly complex sound sculptures filled with meticulous detail, power and vision. His most recent CD, three years in the making features a rare appearance of Indian violinist Kala Ramnath, a bizarre cult anthem (10:10) and a beautiful piece scored for gamelan.

John Zorn & Eyvind Kang - Alastor: Book Of Angels, Vol. 21 (2014) {Tzadik TZ 8316}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 252 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Tzadik | TZ 8316 | Tzadik Archival Series
Jazz / World Music / Klezmer / World Fusion / Modern Creative

World traveler, nomad, mystic and violist, Eyvind Kang has created several of the most wildly creative CDs on Tzadik. Here he turns his hand to ten tunes from Zorn’s remarkable Book of Angels. Featuring spectacular orchestral arrangements and brilliant studio techniques, Eyvind has put together a CD unlike anything on the Angels series, highlighting the spiritual side of the Angels project, the singular lyricism of Zorn’s compositions and his own richly inventive musical imagination. One of the most personal and gorgeous installments in the Masada series, Alastor is a modern orchestral reading of the mystical charts from the Book of Angels.

To be heard with ears half bent, or with one side facing what Maryanne Amacher calls “the third ear”. The great reverence in which the Tanpura is held by Indian classical music, its transcendental but occulted place in the tradition alongside its normal function as a drone, made a strong impression on the composer such that it has taken decades to formulate even a simple Tanpura Study.

Floratone with Bill Frisell - Floratone (2007) {Blue Note} + Floratone II (2012) {Savoy Jazz}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 499 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 206 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 178 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2007, 2012 Blue Note / Savoy Jazz | 0946 3 93879 2 2 / SVY17855
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative

A casual listen might suggest that Floratone is a new Bill Frisell project (and that would be mostly correct), except every indication is that this is a fully collaborative project between Frisell, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and Tucker Martine and Lee Townsend. Composition credits are all shared and they all appear on the front cover. Why is that notable? Because while Frisell and Chamberlain are both credited with "loops" along with their respective instruments, Martine and Townsend receive only "production" credits – no instruments. That's because on Floratone, the pure elements of sound and space are given as much attention as the music itself.

Bill Frisell - Beautiful Dreamers (2010) {Savoy Jazz}
XLD rip | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 380 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 156 Mb | Artwork -> 5 Mb
© 2010 SLG / Savoy Jazz | SVY17799
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Guitar

Beautiful Dreamers is Bill Frisell's debut for Savoy Jazz. He left longstanding label Nonesuch in 2009, claiming he needed to release more than one record per year in order to to document his various bands, film score commitments, and commissions. This set features the guitarist in the company of violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston on a program of ten originals and six covers. While this trio is well known for using various effects in concert to expand its sonic palette, and jamming on various tunes for long periods of time, here the musicians are virtually a mirror image of that incarnation, playing with restraint, brevity, and melodic sensitivity.

Grammy Award–winning guitarist, composer, and bandleader Bill Frisell’s History, Mystery was released on May 13, 2008. After back-to-back trio albums, this two-disc set finds Frisell performing and recording again with a large band. History, Mystery features an octet of strings, horns, and rhythm section with some of Frisell’s closest collaborators—Jenny Scheinman (violin), Eyvind Kang, (viola), Hank Roberts (cello), Ron Miles (cornet), Greg Tardy (clarinet and tenor saxophone), Tony Scherr (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums). History, Mystery debuts many recent Frisell compositions as well as a few of his arrangements of favorite pieces by other songwriters, ranging in style from soul pioneer Sam Cooke to jazzmen Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz. Producer Lee Townsend and engineer Shawn Pierce recorded the group in various combinations and contexts, live and in the studio.