MP3 Michel van der Esch trio - wyhiwyg
Alive and swinging jazz piano trio from Paris France, fresh and exciting
8 MP3 Songs in this album (39:55) !
Related styles: Jazz: Piano Jazz, Jazz: Neo-Bop, Featuring Piano
People who are interested in kenny barron oscar peterson red garland should consider this download.
Details:
The trio
We''ve known each other for approximatively twenty years, each one of us working as Parisian jazz musicians. Our roads have crossed over the years to meet today. David and I have played in dance bands in the 80''s, when we were trying to survive by any means in the musical jungle. I met Olivier at the "Petit Opportun", and working with tap dancer Fabien Ruiz. We''ve worked together off and on in all sorts of situations over the years.
David
A few years ago David showed up at a party at my house, we played a few tunes, and that''s when I decided to invite him to take part in this project. His free, playful, listening and well rooted in jazz tradition way of playing pleased me. He''d place "bombs" that really kicked off the trio playing, so he seemed an ideal playmate, and it was a happy reunion.
Olivier
Beyond swing and readable lines, I love Olivier for his sustain! Now here''s a bassist that really works the sound after having plucked the string, which causes his bass to sing and really carry you as if on an air cushion, a pianists dream.
The project
Is simply to exist, and let the world hear that after years down in the mine, we haven''t compromised, we''ve improved like good wine. And we have found our "voice" as instrumentalists and as improvisers, the jazzman''s grail. Since this is the trio''s first recording it seemed natural to choose tunes we love and that show where we come from. It''s on standards that I appreciate hearing a jazz musician, as it is in his way of munching the common language that you can really hear his specificity. Of course we all pen a few pretexts to improvisation, so I couldn''t resist including two of my own.
The tunes
Dear old Stockholm (a Stan Getz arrangement of an old swedish folksong apparently) is a tune I''ve loved for a long time, for it''s irregular form that keeps the improviser alert, it''s melodic qualities and it''s rich arrangement which makes it a good opener. The trio can play at ease, find its ground and say hello.
Wail
Ah Bud Powell !! And what a theme ! The title already suggests that the energy is going to go up a notch. To wail is the jazzman''s expression to say you''re really playing you''re brains out, giving it all, surfing on swing and the changes, all sails out. After my solo we exchange fours with David and return to the theme.
Ouverture
I wrote this ballad as accompanying music to Dziga Vertov''s "The man with the Camera", but didn''t want to leave it in its drawer. Olivier plays the head, arco in the bridge and gets the first solo. After that we engage in a threesome dialogue. I double the theme in my left hand while Olivier plays the last head.
Un Poco Loco
Another Bud, and what a Bud !! Without any doubt one of the craziest themes I know, which lets me lean a little toward free-jazz, which was my youth, a wink to a salutary practice !
It''s also the occasion for David to show all his talent.
Since it is a rarely recorded tune I''m very happy to offer this rereading fifty years after the original.
Eronel
I''ve always been a Monk fan, and Eronel is a happy tune on which the trio can lay loose again. I''ve led a quartet exclusively dedicated to the Monk repertoire between 82 and 84, before I came to Paris, in which John Ruocco held Charlie Rouse''s role, a beautiful remembrance !
Selfportrait in three colours
Mingus belongs to the great jazz composers , and this "Self portrait " proves the point. A difficult song to apprehend and make alive without any horn players, but that''s what makes this "Self portrait" unexpected. We try to improvise collectively after having played the threefold theme. David brushes a soundscape for the interweaving bass and piano lines.
Little Rootie Tootie
Another rarely played Monk tune, which isn''t surprising. The dissonance of the piano chord that answers the main line would frighten off quite a few ! But I looove it, so...
The first chorus is for David this time, but bass and piano punctuate his solo freely, why should drummers always be left in the middle of nowhere on their own. That''s not fair !
Villégiature
Okay, relax.. A simple little line to swing and say goodbye. Hope to see you soon..
The studio session
We went to the studio de Meudon because of Bernard Folon''s wonderful pianos, and recorded everything in one session with the help of Cyril Coutand.
We preferred to record together in the main room (not using the cabins) to insure cohesion and the "live" feeling. All the tunes are first or second takes. Cyril did a great job recording and mixing.. It was a wonderful day!
The photo session
The photo session was just as great fun as the recording. Rolan Ménégon and Isabelle Tabellion did an incredible job, it really swinged that day !. I''m very happy thanks to the web (check out the web bonus) to be able to show you more photo''s than the Cd format could allow
The Webbonus
https://www.tradebit.comee tunes that did not fit in the coherence of the CD, but that I''d like to share anyway. Two songs, "Darn That Dream", a pretty romantic ballad by Jimmy Van Heusen, and "East of the sun" by Brooks https://www.tradebit.coms is an opportunity for me to present the singer. As I love singing "live" it''s part of the show. Then "Mettre les voiles" a personal composition in which the atmosphere didn''t seem to fit with the other titles. These three titles are from the same session as the CD.
https://www.tradebit.come additional pictures.
https://www.tradebit.comse liner notes in French and in English
Those of you who by a digital download of the CD, send me an email to get your password for downloading the webbonus
Thank you :
Everyone involved in this project, the musicians, Rolan and Isabelle, the Meudon team, for their implication,
My teachers, to many to be named here, for their generosity, which I try to perpetuate..
My dream wife and children..