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Three types of albums from ezz-thetics
Anthony Braxton
woodwindsb.1945
Steve Lacy
saxophone, soprano1934 - 2004
Joe McPhee
woodwindsb.1939
Max Roach
drums1925 - 2007
Cecil Taylor
piano1929 - 2018
John Cage
composer / conductor1912 - 1992
As the three albums below illustrate, ezz-thetics releases three different types of albums: remastered versions of albums dating back to the '60s and earlier, recent recordings from a range of sources being issued for the first time and, on the label's First Visit imprint, live recordings by a range of sources, appearing for the first time.
Tadd Dameron
piano1917 - 1965
Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited
Ezz-thetics
2024
In his lifetime (February 2017 to March 1965)
Tadd Dameron
piano1917 - 1965
Count Basie
piano1904 - 1984
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993
Billy Eckstine
vocals1914 - 1993
Sarah Vaughan
vocals1924 - 1990
Given that, the two albums which comprise this album were well chosen as they present different facets of Dameron's recordings. Featuring an octet with Dameron himself on piano, Fontainebleu was recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey, on March 9, 1956 and released on the Prestige label later that year. Its five tracks are all Dameron compositions, their total time being 31:21, typical for an LP of the period. Beginning with the title track and ending with the longest track "Bula-Beige," the music swings throughout, driven by the five horns and supported by piano, bass and drums.
Fast forward six years and The Magic Touch was recorded in February, March and April 1962 at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City. All ten of its tracks are Dameron compositions and arrangements. Instead of playing piano as before, he conducted throughout the sessions, with none other than
Bill Evans
piano1929 - 1980
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Eric Dolphy
woodwinds1928 - 1964
Ran Blake
pianob.1935
Live Amsterdam 2006
Ezz-thetics
2024
A casual glance at the credits of these three albums reveals that Live Amsterdam 2006 is simple compared to the other two. The album was recorded live in concert on April 21, 2006 at Bimhuis in Amsterdam. It features pianist
Ran Blake
pianob.1935
Dave Fabris
guitarb.1967
As is true of all First Visit albums on ezz-thetics, this is the album's first release. It is fitting that it is released on ezz-thetics as Blake has history with the "hat" labels. In 1988, a duo of Blake and Braxton recorded A Memory of Vienna ( hatOLOGY, 1988). In 1990 Blake, along with Lacy and
Ricky Ford
saxophone, tenorb.1954
Although Live Amsterdam 2006 is the fourth album by the Blake and Fabris duo, none of the previous three—Indian Winter (Soul Note, 2005), Vilnius Noir (NoBusiness, 2011) and Lettuce Prey (Great Winds, 2014)—was on a "hat" label.
Of the eighteen tracks on Live Amsterdam 2006 one is a Blake composition and another a Fabris composition. As is often true of Blake, the other sixteen are an eclectic bunch, including pieces by
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
Abbey Lincoln
vocals1930 - 2010
Horace Silver
piano1928 - 2014
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
As has often been true of Blake alone with a piano, his playing here is straightforward and melodic without any conventional solos as such but an occasional flourish to embellish a melody and merit it being called jazz. The album is at its best in the final eight tracks, each of which is a duet of piano and electric guitar; the duo (and trio) experience that Blake and Fabris had together shines through and they sound comfortable together from first note to last. Exquisite.
Claudio Sanna
pianoCompositori Sardi Contemporanei II
Ezz-thetics
2024
This release is an example of the third type of album issued on ezz-thetics. It is not a historic recording being re-issued, nor an archive recording being issued for the first time, but a recording commissioned to be issued on the label. Recorded in Mantua, Italy, in 2023, Compositori Sardi Contemporanei II (Contemporary Sardinian Composers II) is the third album on a "hat" label to feature Sardinian pianist
Claudio Sanna
pianoFor the first volume of Compositori Sardi Contemporanei Sanna commissioned 31compositions from eight Sardinians and performed them all on piano himself but, for the second volume, he commissioned 19 compositions from 20 Sardinian composers and they were played by six players including Sanna himself, two other pianists, two players of live electronics, and a double bassist. As that instrumentation indicates, the music here is a long way from the lone piano of the first volume. The album opens with "Cosmogonia Semplis " by Adriano Orru, played solo for six minutes on double bass by
Anna Zerlotto
bass, acousticAll of the other compositions involve piano in one way or another, with some of them making creative use of other instruments. So, seven of the pieces are played on solo piano, six combine piano and electronics, four are played by two pianists / four hands, and one is played on toy piano. (The YouTube below shows Claudio Sanna on piano and Paolo Pastorino on live electronics, performing "Nodas 14" by Gabriele Verdinelli.) Thanks to Sanna, the album gives the impression that the composers' pieces and the musicians' performances of them were ideally suited to one another throughout. Given the changes that have taken place since the 2022 first volume, the third volume will be eagerly awaited by many.
Tracks and Personnel
Fontainebleu & Magic Touch RevisitedTracks: Fontainebleu; Delirium; The Scene Is Clean; Flossie Lou; Bula-Beige; On a Misty Night; Fontainebleu; Just Plain Talkin'; If You Could See Me Now; Our Delight; Dial B For Beauty; Look, Stop And Listen; Bevan's Birthday; You're A Joy; Swift As The Wind.
Personnel: Tadd Dameron: piano (1-5); Kenny Dorham: trumpet (1-5); Henry Coker: trombone (1-5); Sahib Shihab: alto saxophone (1-5); Joe Alexander: tenor saxophone (1-5); Cecil Payne: baritone saxophone (1-5); Joe Simmons: double bass (1-5); Shadow Wilson: drums (1-5); Joe Wilder: trumpet (10-11, 13); Clark Terry: trumpet (8-14); Ernie Royal: trumpet (10-11, 13); Jimmy Cleveland: trombone (8-14); Britt Woodman: trombone (10-11, 13); Julius Watkins: french horn (10-11, 13); Leo Wright: alto saxophone & flute (8-14); Jerry Dodgion: alto saxophone & flute (10-11, 13); Jerome Richardson: tenor saxophone & flute (8-14); Johnny Griffin: tenor saxophone (8-14); Tate Houston: baritone saxophone (8-14); Bill Evans: piano (8-14); George Duvivier: double bass (10-11, 13); Philly Joe Jones: drums (8-14); Charlie Shavers: trumpet (6-7, 15); Ron Carter: double bass (6-9, 12, 14-15); Barbara Winfield: vocals (9, 14).
Live Amsterdam 2006 First Visit
Tracks: Vladiazi; This Will All Seem Funny; Collaboration; Drop Me Off In Harlem/Night and Day; Merci Bon Dieu; Hornin' In; All That is Tied; Throw It Away; Paris; Bye Bye Blackbird; Machito/Jammin'; Vilna; North By Northwest; Nightcrawler; Soulville; Sadness/Space Church; Spiral Staircase; Symphony No. 9 Second Movement.
Personnel: Ran Blake: piano; Dave "Knife" Fabris: electric guitar (11-18).
Compositori Sardi Contemporanei II
Tracks: Cosmogonia Semplice; Eos-Phobos; La Mer Allèe Avec Le Soleil; Nodas 14; Quattro Pensieri Per Il Nuovo Anno:-Pensiero I; Pensiero II; Pensiero III; Pensiero IV; Ponti Al Telefono Per L'Iniziato I; Infinito; Duoso; Sound Transendence; Pietre Di Una Esposizione:-Terra; Aria; Fuoco; Acqua; Bethei; Charmolypi; Quell'estate Il Mare Piu Silenzioso; Guadix IV; Danza; Luci E Ombre; Petite Suite:-Prelude; Allemanda; Corrente; Adagio; Finale; La Plurima Ombra Del Senso; Beats ?tudes " I. Black And White Beats."
Personnel: Claudio Sanna: piano; Anna Zerlotto: double bass (1); Federico Nicoletta: piano (11, 21); Leonado Zunica: piano (12); Sandro Mangianu: live electronics (28); Paolo Pastorino: live electronics (4, 13-16).
Tags
Multiple Reviews
John Eyles
Tadd Dameron
Ezz-Thetics
Count Basie
Dizzy Gillespie
Sarah Vaughan
Ran Blake, Dave "Knife" Fabris
Ran Blake
Dave "Knife" Fabris
anthony braxton
Steve Lacy
Ricky Ford
duke ellington
Thelonious Monk
Abbey Lincoln
Bernard Hermann
Horace Silver
Ornette Coleman
Claudio Sanna
Claudio Sanna: Ammentos
Anna Zerlotto
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