Best albums of 2014 - version audiendi.com

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ARSHID AZARINE TRIO - 7 Djan Project



ARSHID AZARINE TRIO
ARSHID AZARINE TRIO - 7 Djan Project

Released: December 4, 2014

Arshid Azarine Trio:
Arshid Azarine (piano, melodica, vocals)
Habib Meftah Boushehri (percussions, vocals)
Herve de Ratuld (Bass, Upright Bass)

Jeffrey Zeigler - Something of Life



Jeffrey Zeigler
Jeffrey Zeigler - Something of Life
Jeffrey Zeigler - Something of Life
Jeffrey Zeigler - Something of Life

Released: Novenber 28, 2014
Label: Innova Records

Something of Life is the debut solo album of cellist, Jeffrey Zeigler on Innova Records.
Composers: Felipe Perez Santiago, Paola Prestini, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Gity Razaz, Glenn Kotche
Performers: Jeffrey Zeigler

Something of Life features new works by Philip Glass, Glenn Kotche, Felipe Perez Santiago, Paola Prestini, Gity Razaz and John Zorn with special guest performances by Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, Felipe Perez Santiago and Jason Treuting from So Percussion.
Something of Life is a sonic exploration of human existence. The journey begins with the discovery of a human being through religion and their questions of faith and belief. The album then continues on a path through fantasy, magic, memories and the cosmos before finally being brought back to earth where one must find resolution with their fate.

Anouar Brahem - Souvenance



Anouar Brahem
Anouar Brahem - Souvenance
Anouar Brahem - Souvenance
Anouar Brahem - Souvenance

Released: Novenber 28, 2014

Anouar Brahem: oud, François Couturier: piano, Klaus Gesing: bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, Björn Meyer: bass
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Pietro Mianiti: conductor

The music of Souvenance, by turns graceful, hypnotic, and taut and starkly dramatic, was recorded in 2014 – six years after oud-master Anouar Brahem’s last ECM album, The Astounding Eyes of Rita. “It took a long time to write this music,” he acknowledges, noting that his emotional world had been usurped by the unfolding story of political upheaval sweeping first through Tunisia then through the neighbouring countries. Extraordinary waves of change, accompanied by great hopes and fears. “I don’t claim a direct link between my compositions and the events taking place in Tunisia,” says Anouar, “but I have been deeply affected by them.” New directions for the music find Franҫois Couturier returning to the Brahem group, frequently supported by subtle string orchestration. The strings have a glowing transparency and fragility in these pieces, often providing shimmering texture against which the contributions of the quartet members – and, above all, Anouar Brahem’s unique oud-playing – stand out in bold relief. This double album was recorded at the Lugano studio in May 2014, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
ECM, ECM 2423/24

Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Being Human Being



Erik Truffaz
Murcof
Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Being Human Being
Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Being Human Being
Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Being Human Being

Enki Bilal and Erik Truffaz met in summer 2012, under the benevolent gaze of the zebra enthroned in Bilal's studio. Since then, supported by Enki Bilal's images and storyline, the Murcof-Truffaz duet composed every minute of music like a powerful and plain soundtrack, fitting closely to each step of this work, which has been called "Being Human Being".
It soon became obvious that the sound of this project had to become an album. Enki immediately offered to provide the artwork, while Murcof and Erik selected and edited the most significant sound extracts - those that best expressed the storyline drawn by Enki Bilal. Enki Bilal et Erik Truffaz se sont rencontrés en été 2012, sous le regard bienveillant du zèbre trônant dans son atelier.
Being Human Being
Dès lors, soutenu par les images et le scénario de Enki Bilal, le duo Murcof-Truffaz a composé chaque minute de musique comme une Bande Originale sobre et puissante, épousant chaque étape de cette oeuvre qui a été nommée "Being Human being".
Being Human Being
Truffaz, a Swiss-born jazz trumpeter, and Murcof, a Mexican producer of classically-tinged IDM, techno and ambient, first started performing live together in 2006, and in 2008 they released an album called Mexico. This one, coming next month through Mundo Recordings, is actually a three-headed project: Enki Bilal, the well-regarded French comics artist and filmmaker whose work is often focused on themes of war and dystopia, has taken care of the album's visual art.
With artwork from Enki Bilal playing a key role, Being Human Being will see release in November. ResidentAdvisor.net

Renaud Garcia-Fons & Derya Türkan - Silk Moon



Renaud Garcia-Fons
Renaud Garcia-Fons & Derya Türkan - Silk Moon
Renaud Garcia-Fons & Derya Türkan - Silk Moon

Released: Novenber 11, 2014

New album SILK MOON : Renaud Garcia Fons with Derya Turkan.

Silk Moon c'est l'union de deux musiciens mais aussi de deux instruments. Renaud Garcia-Fons et sa légendaire contrebasse à 5 cordes s'associe à Derya Turkan et son kemence -petit violon à 3 cordes qui se joue à l'archet et trouve ses origines en méditerranée orientale-. Leurs compositions sont nourries d'influences orientales, méditerranéennes et latines, et leur musique est inspirée par l'expression lyrique et le chant profond de la tradition du Maqam Oriental et du Cante Jondo Andalou. Leurs deux instruments, le plus petit et le plus grand des instruments à archet, trouvent une complémentarité naturelle de timbres et de modes de jeu et produisent à eux deux, l'effet d'un véritable orchestre.
CCB1019. Cézame Music Agency

Map 165 - The Fatigue Of Sunlight And Wine


Map 165 - The Fatigue Of Sunlight And Wine

Released: November 3, 2014
Label: VoxxoV Records

Tim Hooper - Guitars and samples
Martin A. Smith – Electronics, keyboards and samples

Sun blind. A vast white arc of light that covers and exposes. Stone and skin are turned translucent. The soul of the place is exposed, burnt wide open by the screaming light, and we walk out into this. We step, with skin-burning steps, across crackling stone.
In the roadside shrine, green water seethes with velvet stillness...


Bugge Wesseltoft, Henrik Schwarz & Dan Berglund - Trialogue



Bugge Wesseltoft
Henrik Schwarz
Dan Berglund
Bugge Wesseltoft, Henrik Schwarz & Dan Berglund - Trialogue
Bugge Wesseltoft, Henrik Schwarz & Dan Berglund - Trialogue
Bugge Wesseltoft, Henrik Schwarz & Dan Berglund - Trialogue

Released: October 10, 2014

Drei Vögel musizieren auf dem neuen Cover von Elektro-Jazz-Pionier und Album-Bestseller („New Conception Of Jazz“, „It’s Snowing On My Piano“) Bugge Wesseltoft. Diese drei Vögel sollen Keyboarder Bugge Wesseltoft, Elektronik-Spezialist Henrik Schwarz und Bassist Dan Berglund darstellen, die hier zwar weder zwitschern noch singen, aber dennoch mitreißend schönen elektronisch / akustischen Ambient-Jazz fabrizieren.

»Hier hat sich ein Trio gesucht und zu einer Soundsprache gefunden, die mehr ergibt als nur die Summe seiner Teile. Das muss man unbedingt laut hören – und über eine angemessen hochwertige HiFi-Anlage mit den entsprechenden Boxen, denn nur so können die wahnwitzigen räumlichen Effekte, die Bass-Nuancen, das akustisch-elektronische Teamwork jene wohligen Schauer auslösen, die audiophile Genießer so lieben.« (Audio, November 2014)


Anja Lechner, François Couturier - Moderato cantabile



Anja Lechner
François Couturier
Anja Lechner, François Couturier - Moderato cantabile
Anja Lechner, François Couturier - Moderato cantabile

ReleaSED: September 2014
Label: ECM New Series 2367

Anja Lechner: violoncello, François Couturier: piano.

After a decade of shared work in the Tarkovsky Quartet and an ongoing alliance in the Pergolesi Project (with singer Maria Pia De Vito), German cellist Anja Lechner and French pianist Franҫois Couturier unveil their new duo. The players approach the music from different vantage points: Lechner is a classical soloist with an uncommon interest in improvisation, Couturier a jazz musician travelling ever further from jazz. On Moderato cantabile they present their own arrangements of works by three fascinating outsiders from the margins of music history – G.I. Gurdjieff, Komitas, and Federico Mompou.
ECM New Serias 2367
Lechner and Couturier turn to a more thoroughly composed repertoire on Moderato cantabile, this time as just a duo, though that's not to suggest this program—which combines a trio of compositions from the pianist with yet another triptych of source material, this time from Federico Mompou, Soghomon Soghomonian (better known as Komitas) and George I. Gurdjieff—is lacking in spontaneity.
Anja Lechner / François Couturier: Moderato cantabile. AllAboutJazz.com

KONSTANTIA GOURZI: MUSIC FOR PIANO AND STRING QUARTET | LORENDA RAMOU, ENSEMBLE CORIOLIS


KONSTANTIA GOURZI: MUSIC FOR PIANO AND STRING QUARTET | LORENDA RAMOU, ENSEMBLE CORIOLIS
KONSTANTIA GOURZI: MUSIC FOR PIANO AND STRING QUARTET | LORENDA RAMOU, ENSEMBLE CORIOLIS

Released: September 2014
Label: ECM New Series 2309

Lorenda Ramou: piano
Ensemble Coriolis - Heather Cottrell: violin; Susanna Pietsch: violin; Klaus-Peter Werani: viola; Hanno Simons: violoncello.

Athens-born and Munich-based composer Konstantia Gourzi makes her ECM New Series label debut. “What historical voices commingle in the current idiom of a composer whose cultural roots lie in the birthplace of rhetoric, but who emigrated to take a musical apprenticeship in European constructivism?” asks Ingrid Allwardt in the liner notes. “What wordless airs, echoes of past ages, thread their way into the present day of her instrumental songs?” Music for piano and string quartet, supplies the answers. With the exception of the early „noch fürcht’ ich”, composed in 1993, all the music is of recent vintage. It includes a number of piano miniatures, pieces dedicated to Lachenmann, Kurtág, Raue, Abbado, Barenboim and Rexroth, two string quartets, and works for string quartet and piano. Pianist Lorenda Ramou and the Ensemble Coriolis deliver committed performances. The album was recorded in Munich’s Himmelfahrtskirche in 2012, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Lars Danielsson feat. Tigran, John Parricelli & Magnus Öström - Liberetto II



Tigran Hamasyan
Lars Danielsson feat. Tigran, John Parricelli & Magnus Öström - Liberetto II
Lars Danielsson feat. Tigran, John Parricelli & Magnus Öström - Liberetto II
Lars Danielsson feat. Tigran, John Parricelli & Magnus Öström - Liberetto II

Released: August 29, 2014
Label: ACT music

Lars Danielsson / bass, cello, piano (on 01), piano melody (on 03 & 09)
Tigran Hamasyan / piano, fender rhodes
John Parricelli / guitar
Magnus Öström / drums, percussion, electronics

Special Guests:
Mathias Eick / trumpet
Dominic Miller / guitar (on 01)
Cæcilie Norby / voice (on 12)
Zohar Fresco / percussion & vocals (on 09)

Arve Henriksen - The Nature Of Connections



Arve Henriksen
Arve Henriksen - The Nature Of Connections

Released: August 22, 2014
Label: Rune Grammofon, RCD2161

"The Nature Of Connections" almost entirely features pieces composed by Arve’s collaborators. Recorded in the sparkling acoustic of Oslo’s legendary Rainbow Studio by Jan Erik Kongshaug, it’s an album with closer ties to Nordic folk and contemporary, minimalist chamber music than any of Arve’s previous releases. At the same time it features some of the most melodic and seductive music he has recorded.
Rune Grammofon. RCD2161

Throughout, what is, perhaps, The Nature of Connections' greatest strength is Henriksen's generosity at sharing the entire 43-minute suite of nine compositions with his musical partners. In many ways a solo album in name only, The Nature of Connections says as much about Henriksen's collaborative nature as it does the strength of purpose and vision he has demonstrated in bringing this superlative collective together.
Arve Henriksen: The Nature of Connections. AllAboutJazz.com

HIROMI - ALIVE



Hiromi
HIROMI - ALIVE
HIROMI - ALIVE

Released: Juny 17, 2014
Label: Telarc
Recorded at Avatar Studios, Studio A, New York, New York from February 5 - 7, 2014

Piano - Hiromi
Bass [Contrabass Guitar] - Anthony Jackson
Drums - Simon Phillips
Over four years of traveling and two previous recordings, Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara and her Trio Project, with contrabass guitarist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips, have become one of the finest units in contemporary jazz. Their particular prowess lies in seamlessly performing the pianist's knotty, technically challenging, often unpredictable compositions; they are also a closely united group of improvisers.
See more at: www.allmusic.com/album/alive..."

Kronos Quartet - Kronos Explorer Series



Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet - Kronos Explorer Series
Kronos Quartet - Kronos Explorer Series

Released: April 08, 2014.
Label: Nonesuch, 536951

Kronos Quartet and its artistic director/founding violinist David Harrington have long been known as interpreters of music from around the world, expanding the string quartet repertoire with works from across genres. Nonesuch, the Quartet’s longtime label, celebrates this remarkable curiosity in the group’s 40th anniversary year with two releases: the Kronos Explorer Series five-CD box set and a new album, A Thousand Thoughts, both of which were released on April 8, 2014 (internationally on April 21).
Kronos Explorer Series comprises five classic albums from five different parts of the world—Pieces of Africa, Night Prayers, Caravan, Nuevo, and Floodplain—with new liner notes that include an in-depth interview of Harrington by renowned author Jonathan Cott. Pieces of Africa (1992), Kronos’s first record of African music, developed over eight years, during which Kronos commissioned/performed with some of the continent’s greatest musicians, including Zimbabwe’s Dumisani Maraire, Nubian Hamza el Din, and Gambia’s Foday Musa Suso. Works with roots in Ghana, Morocco, South Africa, and Uganda also are included.
See more at: www.nonesuch.com/albums/kronos-explorer..."

Vijay Iyer - Mutations



Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer - Mutations
Vijay Iyer - Mutations
Vijay Iyer - Mutations

Released: February 2014
Label: ECM, ECM 2372.

Vijay Iyer: piano, electronics; Miranda Cuckson: violin; Michi Wiancko: violin; Kyle Armbrust: viola; Kivie Cahn-Lipman: violoncello.

Mutations is Vijay Iyer’s first album as a leader for ECM, and a recording that will widen perceptions of the pianist-composer’s work. At its centre is “Mutations I-X”, a composition scored for string quartet, piano, and electronics. A major piece built out of cells and fragments, it veers through many atmospheres, from moment to moment propulsive, enveloping, lyrical, luminescent, and strangely beautiful. Through thematic interactivity, the interweaving of acoustic and electronic sound-textures, and some decisive improvisational interventions in notated music, Vijay Iyer has created a multi-faceted suite whose very subject is change.

Vijay Iyer: Mutations review – Thoughtful, original and exciting jazz. The Guardian.

Port Mone - thou



Port Mone
Port Mone - thou

Released: February 2014

Port Mone - Thou.
The latest album Thou by the Belarussian acoustic instrumental trio Port Mone (Aleksey Vorsoba – accordion, Sergey Kravchenko – percussion, Aleksey Vanchuk – bass guitar) presents compositions full of unique, intricate and complex melodies and motifs. The music of the trio blends classical music, noise, ambient, experimental music and folk music and improvisation as well, in very distinctive and original ways. The album was, moreover, recorded in very unusual acoustic conditions, outside the studio, in the forest, as a statement of their creative and innovative attitude towards the music making. (Hevhetia's releases)

Hevhetia 2014: Port Mone Trio (68 min)



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