The album 'From the Darkness to the Light' by the Italian Berlin-based duo EXTEMPORE, founded by singer Tamara Soldan and electronic musician Michele Pedrazzi, has been available on the Da Vinci Label since 26 May on record and all digital platforms.

The EXTEMPORE project is the result of long research work, a combination of archaic, electronic, contemporary music and improvisation. The union of the two musicians' musical backgrounds (jazz, contemporary, improvisation and early music for Soldan, experimental and electronic music for Pedrazzi) creates a virtual dialogue between past and present and between musical genres that are apparently distant but surprisingly compatible.

The universal and introspective character of Gregorian chant is the source of inspiration for EXTEMPORE, presented in an abstract light, detached from its original religious context, while retaining its depth and mystical flavour. Archaic song is re-imagined in a contemporary context through electronic textures. Fragments of melodies, urban and nature sounds are deconstructed and recomposed into a new musical concept.A new soundscape in dialogue between past and present, a continuous flow from darkness to light that invites us to explore the depths of human emotions and experiences.

'Extempore' means moving away from the original religious context of Gregorian chant, maintaining a universal mysticism without ideologies. It then evokes the sense of improvisation, ''out of the moment'' or ''in the moment'', typical of extemporaneous composition without prior planning or preparation.

The music of EXTEMPORE aspires to be not merely an aesthetic experience, but also a philosophical one, and contains an invitation to explore consciousness and the universal themes of human experience. Listeners can expect to be transported to a world of sound that transcends the boundaries of time and space. 

The album encourages one to delve into the depths of feelings and experiences and to go on a personal journey 'from the darkness to the light'.

Tamara Soldan is an eclectic singer and musician. Her projects and collaborations range from Medieval Music to Contemporary and Jazz for voice and medieval Fiddle. In 2022 she was awarded the Musikfonds Deutschland grant for the contemporary project Re-flexions, soon to be released together with the album 'Dante and the Music of his Time' with the ensemble Vortex.

Michele Pedrazzi is a multimedia artist and electronic musician. Under the pseudonym Bob Meanza, he has several solo productions to his credit, including the recent release 'Quandary' (Oxmose Records, 2022).

CREDITS AND LINKS:

Tracklist: In Principio - Aurea Luce - The Journey - Alleluia - From the Darkness to the Light - The Calling - Justus es Homine - The Gift - Sine Nomine

Tamara Soldan: voice

Michele Pedrazzi: electronics

Arranged by Tamara Soldan and Michele Pedrazzi. Produced by Michele Pedrazzi in 2019 at the Garden 505 studio in Berlin. Mixed and mastered by Stefano Amerio at Studio Artesuono, Udine.

Listen to Extempore on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6ht0v93YkT4CDf0UDO9VOy

Purchase link on the DaVinci website: https://davinci-edition.com/labels/da-vinci-classics/

 Two trailers are available on YouTube to better understand Extempore's musical project: https://youtu.be/RhQzoZMe94I and https://youtu.be/qvygJ_BDWAA

The jazz world often feels the need to divide ensembles and musicians with language including ‘bandleader’ and ‘sideman’, but Italian trio Kósmos proves they have no use for such terms. Their collective approach to music making and anti-hierarchical trio returns with ‘Averno’, set to release on May 19th.

Coming together almost a decade ago in their hometown of Naples, Stefano Falcone (piano), Ilaria Capalbo (double bass) and Giuseppe D’Alessandro (drums) share a common love for the introverted, spacious, European sound that they’ve become known for. Their respective careers as solo artists then separated them across the continent, all becoming in demand performers and recording musicians across Italy, Sweden, Portugal and more.

Their upcoming album follows their 2019 debut ‘Back Home’, a collection of reworkings of legendary pianist Lennie Tristano, released on popular Italian Jazz magazine Jazzit’s own record label. It was through the development of this music that the trio honed their ability to deconstruct musical forms, and build them back into what they describe as a “living organism”.

Named after a lake in Bacoli, Italy, which in ancient times was believed to be the entrance to the underworld and the reign of Hades, ‘Averno’ is a collection of original compositions united by their melancholic, contemplative, ECM-esque tone. Folk-tinged melodies, dark harmony and mesmeric passages of pulse-less texture provide the listener with hypnotic mental imagery of the album’s namesake.

Rooted equal parts in jazz tradition and European classical music, each member of the trio contributed compositions to form this body of work. Thoughtfully arranged and highly melodic, the trio’s fearless approach to improvisation and collective approach to music making takes the spotlight. Their sound doesn’t feel piano-centric as is often the nature of trio records; each instrument feels equally represented, with egoless ensemble musicianship and nuanced interplay providing a refined perspective on the traditional trio format.

Stefano Falcone | Piano Ilaria Capalbo | Double bass Giuseppe D’Alessandro | Drums

1. Roba'iyyat (Giuseppe D’Alessandro) 
2. The Narrow Sea (Stefano Falcone)
3. Largo (Ilaria Capalbo) 
4. The tale of the night and the madman (Giuseppe D’Alessandro) 
5. Distances (Ilaria Capalbo)
6. Hymn (Stefano Falcone) 
7. Så rinner tiden bort (Olle Adolphson) 

Background info / Liner Notes:

Recorded at Artesuono, Cavalicco (UD), Italy on May 21, 2021

Mixed and mastered by Stefano Amerio

Artist website here

Press release provided by JazzFuel

Three years after the release of ARTEMIS’ self-titled debut album, the acclaimed ensemble returns with the May 5 release of In Real Time, a marvelous follow-up that highlights the improvisational strength of its members as well as their respective gifts as composers. The album showcases a new lineup of the collective with founding members—pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer **Allison Miller—**joined by newcomers Nicole Glover on tenor saxophone and Alexa Tarantino on alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, and flute. The 8-song set presents compelling originals along with choice arrangements of pieces by Lyle Mays (“Slink”) and Wayne Shorter (“Penelope”).

The album is introduced today with the brightly swinging single “Lights Away From Home,” a piece composed by Ueda which was inspired when the bassist witnessed a meteor shower on a small, isolated island in upstate New York. “I made a sketch of the piece the next morning while sitting on the same rock where I saw the shooting stars, remembering the excitement of the experience,” Ueda recalls. “My aim was to write something with a positive, upbeat vibe.”

The band’s 2020 debut was met with wide critical acclaim. “Collectively, the sheer force of the group’s ability is staggering,” wrote DownBeat. The Wall Street Journal praised their “ability to move gracefully through various styles and moods and to sound, by turns, authoritative and playful, locked-in or loose-limbed,” adding that “ARTEMIS means to upend expectations, gently and yet with force. Its music comes off like a nuanced argument for a fresh point of view.”

“The new album is an authentic representation of the collective and the individual,” Miller says. “Our growth as a band is clear from the downbeat. There is a trust that has become more solidified since our first recording and the chemistry is palpable. Simply put, we sound like a band!”

Artemis Website

Hard to believe that this stunning album is the debut recording from Laura Lantano. So assured is Laura’s performance, and that of her exceptional companions on this musical journey. In this beautiful and delicate album, pianist Sam Leakand tenor saxophonist **Duncan Eagle**provide the perfect setting to bring the music to life and allow Laura to tell her stories through the power of song.

In a bold move Laura has chosen to record a set of original compositions, each of which tells its own story of love, heartache and putting the past behind and starting afresh. With each song Laura establishes a rapport with the music and lyrics finding a way to bring these elements together in intricate arrangements that have an ability to communicate in a very personal way.

Music has always played an important part in Laura’s life from starting to play piano at the age of four to writing her first song at eight. From there on her musical grounding came from playing classical pieces by Bach and Beethoven as a teenager along with developing her interest in song writing.

Discovering jazz, she would listen to Betty Carter and Carmen McRae as well as learning jazz standards. These early influences would remain with Laura, strengthening her belief that improvisation is important in life and music, and spontaneity should be encouraged in both. This spontaneity can be heard in Laura’s song writing that capture the up and downs of life and the gamut of human emotions. The title track tells of returning home and a new beginning. The bright and optimistic delivery of the lyrics is echoed in Duncan Eagles’s wonderful dialogue with the Laura and Sam Leaks uplifting piano. This uplifting feeling is also a feature of the inspirational ‘All Is Not Lost’, with the contributions of Eagles and Leak lifting Laura’s vocals and the meaning in the lyrics, instilling the belief that one can achieve their dreams.

The range of emotion brought to the lyric by Laura’s warm and rich voice are further demonstrated on the pensive ballad ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’. Leaks’s piano accompaniment echoes the sentiments of the lyrics, while the tenor saxophone line has a hint of resignation and loneliness. So compelling is Laura’s hushed tones of acceptance along with contrasting defiance that one can feel the emotions of heartache, loss and anger.

With Returning To Myself, Laura Lantano has produced an album of contemporary songs that draw on life experiences that are easily relatable. A powerful statement from a new breed of singer / songwriter that acknowledges the traditional and finding her own voice in the process.

Laura Lantano

Created in her mind on balmy evenings on a sunny balcony in Paris, German vocalist LAURA is proud to present her sophomore album, ‘Sunset Balcony’, set to release on May 5th on GLM Records.

Pre order here

Well known within the jazz scene of Stuttgart which she calls home, Laura has already gathered a reputation for herself by attracting the attention of the likes of Quincy Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jacob Collier. Taken aback by her musicality, her voice, and her charisma, Michael Jackson’s revered producer felt moved to say, “This young woman doesn’t need to worry about her career, she is amazing and I’m sure we will be hearing more from her in the future”.

Inspired by her fourth floor Parisian apartment, Laura views her balcony as a nexus of safety and freedom, as for her it provides the feeling of being at home whilst being exposed to the outside world. With strong undercurrents of Norah Jones-esque contentment and positivity, the record embraces a number of varied styles and textures with confidence and joy.

From the country/pop-tinged title track, to the hip-hop influenced ‘Poke Bowl’, blues/funk energy of ‘Johnny the Fly’ and folky mood of ‘Bartender’, the 14 tracks are united by Laura’s universally relatable storytelling and captivating melodies.

Whilst the core ensemble is a quartet of close friends and long term collaborators (the same team responsible for Laura’s 2021 release ‘Quiet Land’), the album sees welcome additions from some of Germany’s leading instrumentalists including guitar, percussion, horns and strings. Lush orchestral arrangements, comforting soul guitar parts, and passages of playful improvisations from trumpeter Jakob Bänsch and baritone saxophonist Eric Séva open up new textural contexts to showcase the diverse array of styles up Laura’s sleeve.

‘Sunset Balcony’ is an album whose music moves toward the future, but along the way nostalgically glances back over its shoulder, into the real and emotional contradictions between melancholy and optimism that we all have to live with now more than ever.

Laura| Vocals Jens Loh | Bass William Lecompte | Piano, fender rhodes Eckhard Stromer | Drums        

Artist website

Jazz Artist Fiona Ross Captures the Bustle, Profundity and Glamour of the Everyday on New Album Thoughts, Conversations, and To Do Lists

Jazz singer-songwriter Fiona Ross undertakes the difficulty of capturing the everyday – via both its birds-eye view and its sharp, minute detail – on her new album Thoughts, Conversations and To Do Lists – available on April 28th. 

She manages to crystallize the racing interior monologue, the standstill of the post-breakup blues, the gentle flow of a thirst for knowledge. She also deftly paints the party atmosphere, the easy camaraderie between friends, and the steadfast desire for truth.

The album’s opener, “When Will You Leave My Mind,” is a paradoxical song in the sense that it’s sonically full of movement – it has the pace of a cha-cha, a chugging train, a bustling city – while the lyrics capture perfectly the state of stuckness and standstill after a breakup. Replete with a catchy Latin guitar groove, the track makes the internal turmoil palpable with Ross’ syncopated singing, her words moving deftly in and out of the sensual instrumentation as she inquires, “When will you leave my mind/ You’ve spent too long in my mind/ You don’t belong in my mind.” The overall effect, however, is sassiness and steadfastness rather than wilted defeat, and the listener gets the sense that she’s going to solve this – if not right now, then quite soon.

Thoughts, Conversations and To Do Lists moves from strutting (“I Want To Know More”) to pensive and meandering (like the sax-studded “The Small Things”) to the wild, raucous and adventurous (“When You Walked In The Room”). Ross’ voice soars, strides, and shimmies through “A Single Source of Truth,” about looking for straightforwardness and low-drama in a world of melodrama and fake news. 

Meanwhile, Trumpet Man” is sexy and undulating, an ode to a sort of renaissance man, with (of course) sublime trumpet accents in all the right places. “The Don’t Stop Just Breathe Ragtime” features wildly fun, almost cartoonish instrumentation with a sense of deep playfulness. And the glittering piano, danceable beats, and groovy guitar on the instrumental “#ThursdayThoughts” at the album’s conclusion replicate a mind racing with ideas and boundless energy. 

Written, arranged and produced by Ross, the 14-track album is a compendium of several themes reflecting Ross’ day-to-day life. While some songs are busy, with lots going on from every angle, others are more interior and reflective, mirroring Ross’ headspace.  

“Someone asked me what my new album was about and I explained that it’s just really some of my thoughts, some conversations I’ve had, and my To-Do lists,” Ross recalls. “That kind of stuck, so decided to call it exactly that – Thoughts, Conversations and To Do Lists.” 

The liner notes on her last two albums were written by Maxine Gordon and Celine Peterson and for this album Fiona has the award winning journalist and author of She Raised Her Voice!: 50 Black Women Who Sang Their Way Into Music History Jordannah Elizabeth who says  ‘Thoughts, Conversations and To Do Lists’ is an incredible album in 2023 that defines Ross’ gifts as a well-honed, recognizable style. As the future draws post-modern life toward and within it, Ross will be heard in a new way; as women in jazz become notable for their compositions and arrangements, as well as her voice. Beyond gender, as a musician and songwriter, the album is a complete culmination of a myriad of viewpoints, thoughtful self-reflection, and collaborative music as she brings together a band that gels and has balanced chemistry. It’s been my honor to write these liner notes as a part of a lineage of women’

Written, arranged and produced by Fiona Ross

Vocals and Piano: Fiona Ross

Guitar: Gibbi BettiniBass: Derek DaleyDrums: Marley DrummondSaxophones and Flute: Loren Hignell

Trumpets: Dave BoaBacking vocals: Ashaine WhitePercussion: Warren Woodcraft

Guest appearance on ‘Push Me Around in a Pushchair’: Nancy Richardson

Recorded at Studio XYZ by Gibbi Bettini. Mixed at Highfield Studio by Elliot Richardson and Warren Woodcraft

Mastered by Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering

Front Cover photo by Monika S Jakubowska taken at Jazz Cafe Posk, London.

Artwork by Chris CunninghamPhotos by Ron Milsom and Tatiana Gorilovsky

Liner notes by Jordannah Elizabeth

Thoughts, Conversations and To Do Lists will be available on April 28th and can be pre ordered here