MUSIC

Another Timbre releases a new CD by Barbara Monk Feldman, wife of American avant-garde music legend Morton Feldman, featuring five chamber and solo pieces composed between 1988 and 1997. Performed by the "GBSR Duo" consisting of George Barton & Siwan Rhys and Mira Benjamin from Apartment House! This is a fantastic chamber music piece that envelops you in a very ethereal tranquility.

Highly recommended. Kiefer, also known as post-Robert Glasper. The West Coast giant, also known for studying under Kenny Burrell, drops the latest EP from the Sanctuary again! The final title of the EP trilogy by the ace, who swallows urban vibes, earthy odor, and funkness and sublimates into outstanding beat music, has arrived. Seamlessly cross from spiritual jazz to neo-soul and instrumental hip-hop. A good work that shows off an excellent sound image as usual! Mastering by Matthewdavid. The magical sound that makes you feel as if you are watching the dream co-star of The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra x Robert Glasper x Ras G (isn't it ?!) is exceptional.

The great Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron makes his debut on Naked Lunch with a collection of his own compositions recorded in New York City during the early 60’s on a Trio formation with George Tucker on Bass and Al Dreares at the Drums. The composing skills of Waldron as a post-bop key figure are here on full display on both sides, although pieces like “Modal-Air”, “Summerday”, “Ollie’s Caravan” and “Quiet Temple” really squeeze the creative juice off the Trio’s playing, with Tucker and Dreares laying the rhythmic textures on Mal’s many piano’s inventions.

A collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965...

Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day.

An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979.

Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry.

The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts. 

A new album of piano driven ambient music from British composer Robert Haigh. Following in the path of his albums for the Japanese Siren label, Creatures of the Deep is an underground vantage of a meeting between the musical worlds of Harold Budd and Erik Satie. With a storied musical career that has ranged widely in style ― from his industrial-avant-garde works on Nurse With Wound’s United Diaries label as SEMA to his legendary ambient drum and bass records as Omni Trio on Moving Shadow ― Robert Haigh's work occupies a space between music and mystery. With Creatures of the Deep, Haigh is at the peak of his powers. Among noir, minimal, neo-classical landscapes are robust scatterings of bright reflection and a musical expression that is subtle and elusive yet uniquely Haigh’s in its voice and masterful execution. The closer we examine, the more is revealed, and the less is defined.

Matsuli Music has been digging up lost South African Afro-jazz masterpieces by Hugh Masekela, Johnny Dyani and others. In recent years, contemporary jazz from South Africa has been gaining popularity, following in the footsteps of London and France. This is the latest release from Kyle Shepherd, an award-winning jazz pianist/composer from South Africa who has also worked on film and television projects. Recorded at a time when the world is facing death and disease from a pandemic. This album is dedicated to those who are facing darkness and despair. The album consists of re-edited versions of his previous fave songs and improvisations, and includes two full-length songs of over 20 minutes. This solo piano work is filled with lively pianism, sweet and light lyricism that can be found in lament songs and ukiyoe.

With a shared ethos of elevating and amplifying left-field Black music, South London/Jamaica's, cktrl shares his most ambitious work yet, partnering with Errol and Alex Rita's Touching Bass to present 'Robyn'. Collaborating with the likes of Campbell Addy, Duval Timothy, CHILD Studios (Tayo and Ro), Coby Sey, Shirley Tetteh, Purple Ferdinand and photography/creative direction by the iconic Ib Kamara, he has created a vital exploration of contemporary-classical music. Spurred on by the overpowering feelings of heartbreak, 'robyn' impressively creates emotive and heartfelt clarinet and saxophone-led soundscapes about the all-consuming power of love. On the project, cktrl says: “‘Robyn’ at its core is heartbreak and is just really sentimental. It’s a journey of losing a love but it ends with optimism as you find strength to love again.” Born and bred in Lewisham, cktrl aka Bradley Miller is an integral part of London’s pioneering musical underground. One of the only remaining original DJs on NTS, cktrl has previously worked with and played alongside the likes of Sampha, Sango, Kelela and Dean Blunt. Throughout his career to date, cktrl has also been recognised and heralded by fashion and film creators including Ib Kamara (who shot the artwork), Bianca Saunders, Tremaine Emory, Nicholas Daley and Jenn Nkiru who recently secured him a cameo in Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’.

"Utopia Andata e Ritorno is the title of the new composition by Walter Marchetti, recorded in Milano in 2005. It has two parts, each one CD long. The first part, 'L'Andata,' puts together two former recordings of Marchetti. The recording of a real storm and a recital for solo piano. This is not the first time that Marchetti mixes a piano solo recital with the recording of a natural live event, thus creating a 'piano concert'. The second CD, 'Il Ritorno', reverses the direction of the first record and literally destroys itself. In the first part of this work, Marchetti puts music successfully in the place it has to have today: on the road to renewal in contact with reality, a reality that is a synonym for vacuity, that is the interdependence of phenomena, music, reality, technology. There is nothing mimetic or anecdotal in this work. The storm is a real storm and the solo piano recital is a modern work of pure music, without the excesses that the society expects of a piano recital from composer and virtuoso player. Pure music, in the best sense of the word. 'L'Andata' is one of the great works of music of our time, or, as José Luis Castillejo remarked, 'it may be the best modern piano concert since Brahms.' In the second part, 'Il Ritorno,' sound waves are deformed when one tries a reverse hearing and the turn around trip becomes an aural nightmare. Of course, avant-gardism has made us accustomed to noises and silences and to the arbitrary idea that anything is music. 'Il Ritorno' announces the end of musical avant-gardism and its technocratic aspirations. It points to the end of music avant-gardism because it exposes the technological manipulation not only of technology beyond its powers, but also the manipulation of both music and sound. 'Il Ritorno' is such a problematic work also because its subject is failure and impossibility."

We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's only solo piano album, recorded live, June 4-5, 1994 at The Lutheran Hall in Sapporo. Originally released on CD only by Sapporo Jazz Create in 1994, My Favorite Tune is a beautiful bop adventure which includes two superb compositions that Ryo Fukui wrote as an homage to his beloved Hokkaido region, the fan-favorite "Nord" and "Voyage", a tribute to his mentor Barry Harris ("Nobody's"), alternate versions of his mega classics "Scenery" and "Mellow Dream", and, last but not least, bewitching takes on timeless gems by Sonny Clark and Avery Parrish. My Favorite Tune plays like a cool summer night, full of contemplative notes and deep feelings, with Ryo Fukui baring his heart on the piano and displaying the soulful sophistication he is loved for. A true masterpiece completing his amazing discography. Comes with liner notes by Yusuke Ogawa. Sourced from the original masters. LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound.

Originally released on CD by Cramps Records in 1989, this is a work by Walter Marchetti (1931-), a central figure in the Italian conceptual art group ZAJ, also known as Europe's Fluxus, and a master of the avant-garde in Italy.This is a masterpiece with a melody that seems to be based on a certain mysticism, floating in the water in perfect stillness, and is highly recommended for those who like Morton Feldman.

Meditations highly recommended. This is J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavie Vol.1 by the Romanian pianist Andrei Vieru. His father was a composer, and he himself seems to be a very intellectual person, not only playing the piano but also painting and writing. His playing is not instinctive and hedonistic as a pianist, but with intellectual restraint and a hint of a seeker of truth. Rather than rolling along with the flow of the music, he lets the sounds become music through the workings of his mind, and as you drift through the world of sound that emerges, it seems to penetrate your inner self before you know it, creating an addictive allure. Also, it is not a classical expression, which is peculiar to classical music, but has a sense of contemporaneity, which I think is also very meaningful. This is a must-listen for people who are not classical music lovers.

The second part in a collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces, cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965. Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day. An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979. Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry & song. The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts.

A collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965...

Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day.

An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979.

Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry.

The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts. 

Meditations super strong recommendation board! The jacket artwork is a 2017 piano solo work by French pianist / composer Melaine Dalibert from elsewhere, a new label launched by Yuko Zama, who is also involved in the management of David Sylvian (!) Erstwhile Records and Gravity Wave. Imposing release! This work is inspired by the work of French media artist Vera Molnar from Hungary, and is inspired by the transition of natural phenomena. Dalibert developed an algorithmic procedure for the composition of this piece. A meditative, layered piece of resonant music by Morton Feldman's mode. A delicate touch that makes you feel ephemeral and powerful, it is finished as a pretty and beautiful piano solo masterpiece that blends well with the clear air of this season. This pure sound just sinks ... Taku Unami is in charge of mastering! Limited to 500 sheets. For those who like Gigi Masin and Satsuki Shibano! It is one of the big, big, big, big, big recommended for all music lovers!