Waves 2023

The viola da gamba was the preferred instrument of the Baroque era and is therefore not necessarily associated with contemporary music. "The Waves" presents new repertoire for the instrument, compositions and transcriptions. Imagine if Debussy had written some of his Préludes for the melancholy sound of the viola da gamba. In 2023, the young composer Fabien Touchard uses the old sounds for a new work. The gambist Robin Pharo turns the viola da gamba into a contemporary instrument.

Sydney based pianist Steve Barry’s latest release, In the Waves, features celebrated drummer Eric Harland, saxophonist Will Vinson and bassist Tom Botting, in a compelling collection of original virtuosic modern jazz. Born out of a pandemic-inspired reconnection with ocean swimming, the album’s eight tracks keep the physical and philosophical qualities of water as a common thread. Equal parts reflective, bubbling and free-flowing, In the Waves is an emphatic statement from "one of Australia’s most inventive composer/improvisers" (Loudmouth).

The album WAVES is a Ukrainian progressive modern jazz music by a well known, prolific composer, arranger and pianist Nataliya Lebedeva. Lyrics for the compositions were created by the soloist of the project, the famous singer and composer Laura Marti. These songs make a great set together, as they cover a wide range of different kinds of grooves and polyrhythms. Challenging, inventive mood shifts and the dynamic musical dramaturgy intrigue and create a special atmosphere for the listeners.

Every work of art is situated in the imagination,” wrote Pierre Soulages half a century ago. For Edith Canat de Chizy, this is a fundamental principle that has guided her work as a composer since her very first works. Knowing the close links between painting and music, she has often wanted to confront the imagination of painters such as Whistler, Monet, Staël, Turner and more recently Soulages, with Outrenoir (2020) for solo viola and ensemble.

For decades, countless ships have been lost to the Great Lakes. Thanks to modern technology, their stories are finally being dragged from the depths.

Never Going Under is the band's highly anticipated fifth record, and the encapsulation of a continued upward trajectory for Circa Waves over the last decade. Becoming one of Britain's most influential and adored guitar bands, the four piece's dedication to constantly developing their sound has seen them secure increasingly high positions in the Official Album Charts, as well as amassing an army of dedicated fans. Speaking about Never Going Under, frontman Kieran Shudall says: "Never Going under speaks to that uniquely modern phenomenon of genuinely not knowing what type of world our kids are going to find themselves in in 30 years. Physically, environmentally, politically we are completely in the unknown. That scares us all but ultimately we know we can never give up on the future because how can you? The songs on the album are written differently from the previous work we've put out. They are written from the perspective of my son and also from my own current experience of the climate today.

Perhaps Tori Amos didn't intentionally whittle her audience down to merely the rabidly devoted ever since Boys for Pele, but it sure seemed that way with the deliberately abstract arrangements, double albums, and cover records. That devoted cult may be all that pay attention to Scarlet's Walk, her first album for Epic, but it marks a return to the sound and feel of Under the Pink and is her best album since then. Much was made at the time of release about its concept – conceived as a journey through modern womanhood, when Tori herself journeyed through each state in the union – but following the narrative is secondary to the feel of the music, which is warm, melodic, and welcoming, never feeling labored as so much of her last four albums often did.

Scarlet's Walk is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on October 28, 2002 in the UK and October 29 in the US on Epic Records, making it her first release on the label after her split with Atlantic Records. Her first studio album of original material since To Venus and Back in 1999, the 18-track concept album (described by Amos as a "sonic novel about a road trip") details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, and was greatly inspired by the changes in American society and politics post-September 11, 2001.