Robert Landfermann - Night Will Fall (2015)

Robert Landfermann is one of those musicians that leaves an imprint wherever he lands. Having made a name for himself in the international scene playing with some of the best jazz groups and collaborating with some of the most revered names on the planet, he now prepares to launch his debut record as leader of his own quintet. Joining the subtle-toned bassist and occasional bass viol player, four masters in their own right - drummer Jim Black, saxophonists Christian Weidner and Sebastian Gille and pianist Elias Stemeseder. Night Will Fall not only marks his first release on Pirouet, but also his first recording as bandleader of his own quintet. ~ Extract by Lean Crowley, Jazziz.com. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3088, 2015
Recorded 2nd & 23rd February, 2015 at Deutschlandfunk, Kammermusiksaal Köln 

Musicians:
Robert Landfermann - Bass, Violone
Christian Weidner - Alto Saxophone
Sebastian Gille - Tenor Saxophone
Elias Stemeseder - Piano
Jim Black - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Motettu De Tristura {Traditional} (6:58)
2. Berg {Robert Landfermann} (4:24)
3. Katarrh {Robert Landfermann} (4:26)
4. Night Will Fall {Robert Landfermann} (10:22)
5. Rot {Robert Landfermann} (3:12)
6. Randnotiz {Robert Landfermann} (5:44)
7. Zehn Und Acht {Robert Landfermann} (7:35)
8. Arabesque {Paul Motian} (6:22) 

Total Time: 49:05 

Credits:
Producer, Recording - Jason Seizer
Recording - Ernst Hartmann
Mastering - Christoph Stickel [CS Mastering]
Cover Design, Photography - Konstantin Kern 

The Recording Sessions

Pablo Held Trio - Lineage (2016)

Pablo Held's eighth release in nine years with his trio for Pirouet Records. The pianist, not yet thirty, like compatriot Michael Wollny studied at the Conservatory in Cologne with John Taylor and has rapidly established himself on the European scene with a distinctive sound and extraordinarily empathic trio. The eight originals on this dense, often abstract but compelling and frequently propulsive set, exploit the mutual understanding between Held, drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and bassist Robert Landfermann to the full. “I like it when you don't know exactly what is going on” Held is quoted as saying. Long, twisting, time shifting, written passages sound like they could have been improvised but for the locked left hand of the pianist and bass and stop start changes of mood and pace; instinctive hook-ups between bass, drums and piano in the midst of tumbling, mazy blizzards of notes could almost have been scripted. The distinction between composition, improvisation, familiar elements of structure and completely fluid interchange are all deliberately blurred. The opener Hidden has all these elements with the sinuous, stop-start theme flowing, punctuated by an engagingly melodic riff before dissolving into an urgent scramble of improvisation. Lament despite its title and initial dark abstraction, develops into a three-way conversation that suddenly bursts with urgent momentum before fading away. Song Noir is an angular, dark, tone poem that develops into cycling dissonant chords whilst Burgwinkel churns and lashes. Ammedea's snappily percussive groove underpinning another angular line, gives way to a dazzling display from Held, fragmentary phrases, and glittering runs coalescing to leave an impression of something familiar but not quite stated. The more meditative title track Lineage and Spuren both hint at a theme, that of all the various elements that have, through the chemistry of Held's composition and the bands interplay, produced their unique sound. At times an almost stated melody and moving chords leave a shimmer of Debussy in the air, at others a burst of cymbal and skittering runs from the piano hint at fiery post-bop. This is very personal and alluring music with compelling performances all round that repays close listening. ~ Mike Collins, LondonJazzNews.com. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3094, 2016
Recorded 30th & 31st January, 2016 at Kyberg Studio, Oberhaching, Germany 

Musicians:
Pablo Held - Piano
Robert Landfermann - Bass
Jonas Burgwinkel - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Hidden (5:08)
2. Lament (8:23)
3. Song Noir (3:07)
4. Bernstein Fantasie (6:45)
5. Lineage (4:39)
6. Ammedea (5:04)
7. Meta (4:50)
8. Spuren (7:32) 

All Compositions by Pablo Held 

Total Time: 45:33 

Credits:
Producer, Recording & Mixing Engineer - Jason Seizer
Mastering Engineer - Christoph Stickel
Cover Design, Artwork, Photography - Konstantin Kern 

“A masterpiece" ~ Rondo.

"Another impressive field report from a restlessly creative artist with virtuosic skill." ~ Downbeat. 

Ammedea

Peter Peuker - Skylark (2004)

Straight and clear jazz lines in wonderfully improvised self-contained song ideas embraced by strings, a whole mountain of romanticism not heard since the days of Paul Desmond. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3005, 2004
Recorded 27th June, 2003 at Pirouet Tonstudio, Munich, Germany 

Musicians:
Peter Peuker - Alto Saxophone
Karel Boehlee - Piano
Marius Beets - Bass
Marcel Serierse - Drums 

Strings:
Ernö Olah, Marie-José Schrijner - Violin
Liesbeth Steffens - Viola
Koen Schouten - Cello 

Tracks:
1. Glad To Be Unhappy {Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart} (5:15)
2. Advise & Consent {Jerry Fielding} (5:26)
3. Skylark {Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer} (5:37)
4. Poor Butterfly {John L. Golden, Raymond Hubbell} (5:23)
5. Polkadots & Moonbeams {Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke} (5:39)
6. Scherzo {A. Borodin} / Baubles, Bangles & Beads {G. Forrest, R. Wright} (5:02)
7. My One And Only Love {Guy Wood, Robert Mellin} (7:10)
8. Stars Fell On Alabama {Frank Perkins, Mitchell Parish} (5:59)
9. I'll Be Seeing You {Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain} (6:07) 

Total Time: 51:38 

Credits:
Producer, Recording, Mixing - Jason Seizer
Mastering - Stephan Van Wylick
Photography - Regina Recht
Cover - Konstantin Kern 

My One And Only Love

Bill Carrothers Trio - A Night At The Village Vanguard [2CD] (2011)

The sonic character of New York City's Village Vanguard is one of sound as memory. There is a pillow of pungent warmth and familiarity surrounding the sounds captured that can be heard on this album. That famous sound is captured in all its smoky warmth on the Bill Carrothers Trio A Night At The Village Vanguard. Carrothers, along with close friend/pianist Marc Copland, has been instrumental extending the piano language created by Evans, transforming it from impressionistic to expressionistic, while retaining an introspective nature. Carrothers relies on Joyspring (2010), his recent tribute to the music of Clifford Brown, for a good part of the recital, kicking things off with the trumpeter's up-tempo "Tiny Capers," where the pianist extracts the bebop from Brown's hard bop. That is followed by a lengthy medley of Brown's "Joy Spring" coupled with Victor Young's "Delilah." Carrothers also draws on the compositions by Brown's pianist, Richie Powell, for "Gertrude's Bounce" and "Time," giving a full accounting of Brown's famous quintet with drummer Max Roach from the early and mid-'50s. Amid all of this hard bop, Carrothers throws in his sideways blues, "Home Row," from Home Row (2010), mixing in a bit of modernity as the pianist slowly incorporates the young and old into something new and vital. He does the same with his inventive and exciting "I Got Rhythm" montage, Discombopulated." This adds a level of performance tension that reveals Carrothers as a capable bandleader directing a performance for maximum listening pleasure. In the end, it is the exquisitely unique sonics of the room that crown this very fine performance. There is a nostalgic, analog warmth in these pieces that recall Evans' famous recordings 50 years ago, while at the same time showing how far piano trio practice has come since that time. Carrothers turns in a definitive trio set at the definitive jazz club. ~ Extract by C Michael Bailey, AAJ. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3056, 2011
Recorded 18th July, 2009 Live at The Village Vanguard, New York City 

Musicians:
Bill Carrothers - Piano
Nicolas Thys - Bass
Dré Pallemaerts - Drums 

Tracklist: 

CD1:
01. Tiny Capers {Clifford Brown} (5:33)
02. Joy Spring {Clifford Brown} / Delilah {Victor Young} (9:01)
03. Gerkin For Perkin {Clifford Brown} (7:03)
04. Gertrude's Bounce {Richie Powell} (6:36)
05. Jordu {Duke Jordan} (7:08)
06. This Is Worth Fighting For {Jimmy Dorsey} (7:09)
07. Home Row {Bill Carrothers} (6:48)
08. News From Home {Bill Carrothers} (4:10)
09. Let's Get Lost {Jimmy McHugh, Frank Loesser} (9:33)
10. Those Were The Days {Gene Raskin, Boris Fomin} (6:12) 

Time: 69:15 

CD2:
1. Junior's Arrival {Clifford Brown} (8:40)
2. Time {Richie Powell} (7:55)
3. Jordan Is A Hard Road To Travel {Traditional} (10:31)
4. Peg {Bill Carrothers} (8:48)
5. Blue Evening {Gordon Jenkins, Joe Bishop} (6:25)
6. Discombopulated {Bill Carrothers} (7:42)
7. Snowbound {Bill Carrothers} (8:37)
8. Days Of Wine And Roses {Henry Mancini} (7:16)
9. Our House {Bill Carrothers} (4:04) 

Time: 70:04 

Total Time: 02:19:19 

Credits:
Producer, Mixing, Photography - Jason Seizer
Recording Engineer - Jon Rosenberg
Mastering Engineer - Christoph Stickel
Cover Design - Konstantin Kern

Marc Copland - Crosstalk (2011)

Crosstalk reunites Copland with alto saxophonist Greg Osby, but this time for a full-fledged quartet that brings a different complexion to a clearly simpatico relationship explored on their two duo recordings. It's not just a first-time quartet record for the pair, it's the first time that Copland has recorded (at least under his own name), with bassist Doug Weiss, while it's been five years since he last recorded with drummer Victor Lewis. They're both inspired choices, working empathically with Copland's signature impressionism and delicacy, but adding more punch and fire than has been heard from the pianist since his quartet date with trumpeter Randy Brecker, which, not coincidentally, also featured Lewis. With Copland sharing compositional duties amongst the group, in addition to a couple of well-chosen standards, the drummer's "Hey, It's Me You're Talkin' To" swings with a firm but elegant hand, Copland's harmonic ambiguity funneled through its light bop melody, his soft touch and motivic approach to solo development intact, but with more grounded pointillism than usual. Ditto Osby, a saxophonist who always combining heady intellectualism with a deeper resonance, as here he builds his own solo of focused construction, working melodic fragments into lengthier, serpentine phrases. Copland revisits "Talkin' Blues," first heard on another duet disc with Peacock, but this time this heavily reharmonized blues - another Copland signature - simmers and, occasionally boils over, with Weiss and Lewis pushing and pulling Osby during an incendiary opening solo. Copland's other two tunes appear here for the first time: the surprisingly driving and direct title track, grooves more viscerally than anything Copland's written in some time; and the more characteristically ethereal "Slow Hand," a brooding ballad that's a dark contrast to the free-bop of Weiss' angular but unfailingly swinging “Ozz-Thetic,” where Osby and Copland work off each other, proving that time needn't dilute the strength of relationship. “Tenderly,” skirts the mainstream, but Copland's voicings keep Walter Gross' standard just the slightest bit off-kilter, as does the pianist's prismatic approach to the more bristling intensity of Gigi Gryce's hard-swinging “Minority.” Crosstalk speaks to the power of enduring friendships and the sound of surprise that happens when fresh blood is brought into the mix. ~ Extract by John Kelman, AAJ. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3054, 2011
Recorded 4th & 5th December, 2010 Live To Two-Track at Bennett Studios, New Jersey 

Musicians:
Marc Copland - Piano
Greg Osby - Alto Saxophone
Doug Weiss - Bass
Victor Lewis - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Talkin' Blues {Marc Copland} (6:53)
2. Diary Of The Same Dream {Greg Osby} (4:22)
3. Ozz-Thetic {Doug Weiss} (4:11)
4. Tenderly {Walter Gross} (7:45)
5. Crosstalk {Marc Copland} (8:12)
6. Slow Hand {Marc Copland} (7:15)
7. Hey, It's Me You're Talkin' To {Victor Lewis} (4:51)
8. Three Four Civility {Greg Osby} (3:46)
9. Minority {Gigi Gryce} (6:33) 

Total Time: 53:53 

Credits:
Producer, Recording - Jason Seizer
Mastering - Christopher Stickel [MSM Studios]
Cover Design, Photography - Konstantin Kern, Munich
Liner Notes - Bill Zavatsky 

Talkin' Blues

Frank Kimbrough - Solstice (2016)

Pianist Frank Kimbrough's “Solstice” on the Pirouet label, is a delight from start to finish. Undeniably, the appeal of Solstice is its very Bley-ish style, which is conjoined with a deep contemplative intensity as well as a robust impression of a personal declaration being made. Bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Jeff Hirshfield have both known Kimbrough a long time and the trio plays unison. The choice of tunes is also very significant. The title track penned by Kimbrough's wife Maryanne de Prophetis has a melody that just keeps evolving. There are two striking tunes by the mysterious Annette Peacock "El Cordobes" and "Albert's Love Theme". "The Sunflower" by Paul Motian suits Kimbrough's penchant for the harmonies and lines of Bley. Another highlight is the composition "Walking By Flashlight" by Maria Schneider, in whose orchestra Kimbrough has been a member. Overall, a superb and captivating collection of music that is highly expressive and profoundly delivered. Enjoy! 

Pirouet Records, PIT3097, 2016
Recorded 1st May, 2016 at Sear Sound, New York 

Musicians:
Frank Kimbrough - Piano
Jay Anderson - Bass
Jeff Hirshfield - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Seven {Carla Bley} (4:11)
2. Here Come The Honey Man {George Gershwin} (7:54)
3. Solstice {Maryanne De Prophetis} (8:13)
4. The Sunflower {Paul Motian} (5:30)
5. Albert's Love Theme {Annette Peacock} (7:41)
6. Question’s The Answer {Frank Kimbrough} (5:07)
7. From California With Love {Andrew Hill} (4:54)
8. El Cordobes {Annette Peacock} (4:41)
9. Walking By Flashlight {Maria Schneider} (7:47) 

Total Time: 56:01 

Credits:
Producer, Mixing Engineer - Jason Seizer
Recording Engineer - Chris Allen
Mastering Engineer - Christoph Stickel
Cover [Design], Photography - Konstantin Kern 

""Solstice" may well be this veteran pianist's masterwork. It's a sparkling consideration of favored pieces by such Kimbrough heroes as Paul Motian, Andrew Hill, and Annette Peacock, which also displays his telepathic rapport with two trusted associates: the bassist Jay Anderson and the drummer Jeff Hirshfield." ~ The New Yorker. 

"Astute and poetic" ~ Nate Chinen, NY Times. 

"A subtle pianist of uncommon finesse, a master of introspective piano art. Fabulous, fine-tuned, inspired music….a miracle in chamber format." ~ Peter Ruedi, Die Weltwoche.

Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart - Ramshackle Serenade (2014)

Few artistic partnerships are as delightfully durable as the trio of organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and drummer Bill Stewart. These men have often recorded under the moniker of the "Larry Goldings Trio" over the past two-plus decades, but this has never been a band to favor one player over another. Goldings' name may still come first on this album spine, but it's all for one and one for all with these guys. Ramshackle Serenade finds this group covering a lot of ground. The album opens with Goldings’ "Roach" - a slow blues in five—which proves to be one of the standout performances. Goldings and Bernstein both cook while Stewart masterfully slices up the time in endlessly inventive ways. The trio then visits Brazilian territory with Jobim's "Luiza," throws one down the middle with Bernstein's aptly-titled "Simple As That," and works in a rhythmically floating environment on "Ramshackle Serenade." The title track is all about rubato rumination, as Goldings and Bernstein paint melodies while Stewart lightly colors in the background. Goldings' "Mr. Meagles," sitting at the midpoint of the album, is a great example of the way this trio manages to create music that speaks relatively softly and carries a mean groove; it's low flame music that can still cause third degree burns. The second half of the album contains a "Sweet And Lovely" that grows hotter over time, a pair of originals - Stewart's hip-and-intoxicating "Blue Sway" and Bernstein's lively "Useless Metaphor" - and an album-closing look at Horace Silver's oft-covered "Peace." After all these years, this trio still manages to make magic whenever it hits the studio. It doesn't get much better than this. ~ Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz. 

Pirouet Records, PIT3077, 2014
Recorded 17th December, 2013 At Kyberg Studio, Oberhaching, Germany 

Musicians:
Larry Goldings - Organ [Hammond]
Peter Bernstein - Guitar
Bill Stewart - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Roach {Larry Goldings} (5:46)
2. Luiza {Antônio Carlos Jobim} (8:41)
3. Simple As That {Peter Bernstein} (7:03)
4. Ramshackle Serenade {Larry Goldings} (4:31)
5. Mr. Meagles {Larry Goldings} (8:18)
6. Sweet And Lovely {Gus Arnheim, Harry Tobias, Neil Moret} (7:43)
7. Blue Sway {Bill Stewart} (8:18)
8. Useless Metaphor {Peter Bernstein} (6:13)
9. Peace {Horace Silver} (5:51) 

Total Time: 62:28 

Credits:
Producer - Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart
Producer [Pirouet], Recording, Mixing - Jason Seizer
Mastering - Christoph Stickel
Cover Design, Photography - Konstantin Kern