Thomas Clausen, Tomas Franck, Jesper Lundgaard and Billy Hart are all jazz stars. The first three mainly on the European firmament, while the legendary American drummer's light shines throughout most of the universe. This new group was on the road during the fall of 2014 and wrapped up their tour with a two-day recording session in Copenhagen. They brought the atmosphere from their intense concerts with them to the studio and played away. It was a hot session: All four musicians in the same room; no headphones, and exclusively first takes focusing on the improvisational art that is the heartbeat of jazz. This new quartet is a reunion for Thomas Clausen and Swedish tenor saxophonist Tomas Franck. Tomas Franck is one of Scandinavia's leading saxophonists with numerous recordings under his belt. Blue Rain also brings one of Denmark's leading bassists, Jesper Lundgaard together with Tomas Franck again. Jesper has played with just about everybody -you name them; he's been there! As a new challenge, Thomas invited one of the absolute top drummers in the world, Billy Hart. Thomas Clausen put this super-group together to play a repertoire consisting mainly of his original compositions. The two exceptions are the lovely Ellington tune "Prelude to a Kiss" and a special bonus, the wonderful "Spring Is a Promise of Fall" composed by Cecilia Heick, who sings the tune with the band on the album. ~ Extract from www.amazon.com.
Stunt Records, STUCD 15012, 2015
Recorded 22nd-23rd September,
2014 at Millfactury Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark
Musicians:
Thomas Clausen - Piano
Tomas Franck - Tenor
Saxophone
Jesper Lundgaard - Double
Bass
Billy Hart - Drums
Cecilia Heick - Vocals (#7)
Tracks:
1. Leaves {Thomas Clausen}
(7:26)
2. Blue Rain {Thomas Clausen}
(10:07)
3. Punk Monk {Thomas Clausen}
(10:35)
4. Prelude To A Kiss {Duke
Ellington} (10:12)
5. Prism {Thomas Clausen}
(10:44)
6. Things You Are {Thomas
Clausen} (9:03)
7. Spring Is A Promise Of
Fall {Cecilia Heick} (9:25)
Total Time: 67:32
Credits:
Producer - Thomas Clausen
Executive-Producer - Peter
Littauer, Søren Friis
Recording Engineer - Boe
Larsen
Mixing & Mastering -
Bjarne Hansen
Photography - Stephen
Freiheit
Cover - Yellow1
