a r t i s t : Patrick Zimmerli
t i t l e : Phoenix
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : Songlines
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2007
t r a c k s : 14
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 80,4 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
Patrick Zimmerli, composer & soprano saxophone;
Scott Yoo, violin I;
Yoon-Kyung Kwon, violin II;
Kevin Hays, piano;
Maurycy Banaszek, viola;
Stomu Takeishi, fretless electric bass;
Inbal Segev, cello;
Satoshi Takeishi, percussion, drum programming & electronics
Recorded at Avatar studio, March 27,28, 2003
Phoenix, the sixth CD by Patrick Zimmerli and his fourth on
Songlines, finds the New York-based composer/saxophonist
investigating new avenues of expression. The record integrates
saxophone and jazz instruments with electronics and strings to
create an appealing hybrid sound. It draws on ZimmerliÆs
wealth of experience in jazz, classical, and
electronic/popular and film music. Sonically lush, beautifully
recorded, and creatively mixed in 5.0 surround sound, Phoenix
offers a varied set of responses to contemporary life that is
both aesthetically intriguing and immediately approachable.
Loosely framed by the haunting, panoramic soundscape M,
Phoenix appeals to music lovers across genres. But jazz fans
will appreciate pianist Kevin Hays' solo on the up-tempo,
Latin-flavored The Bird Dances, Zimmerli's extended blowing on
Summer Passes, and the warm, understated rendition of How
Insensitive. Electronic-music enthusiasts will groove to the
interplay of electronic and acoustic instruments on such
pieces as Away from You, Feel, Clouds and Machines, and Gnosis
Crisis. And tours-de-force such as Wunderlichen Stadt, the
minimalist-influenced Only Surround, and the menacing
Beginning point in new compositional directions for classical
music. Each piece has its own mood and combines its influences
in quite different ways, and each is given a passionate and
committed performance.
Says Zimmerli: I would call this my most experimental record
to date. The idea that to be experimental music can't be
appealing sonically, that it has to exist within a narrow
tradition of dissonance and heightened expression, is itself
long out of date.This record has elements of popular music, a
genre I can't escape from and in any case wouldn't want to.
There's so much interesting stuff going on in pop music, so
many committed people doing things in an idealistic, visionary
way. The record partakes of that, and I'd love it if it
strikes a chord with people who are into pop as a result. What
I'm aiming for, in all these pieces, is a contemporary,
aesthetically viable, pan-stylistic art music. That to me is a
music that feels good, that is rich and inviting in its sound
and harmony, that draws a listener into its emotional journey,
but that at the same time doesnÆt lapse into predictability,
that remains fresh and vital and intellectually alert. It's
such a difficult thing to achieve, that balance between
listenability and interest, between tradition and novelty. But
it's the quality that all the very best music from every genre
past and present possesses.
____________________
Usually, when jazz and electronica get together, it's the
former that ends up taking a back seat to the latter -- a
string bass sample lopes along underneath laid-back synth
chords, or a saxophone tries to honk its way through a thicket
of over-produced keyboards. Either way, the strategy is to
take easy listening pap and give it a superficial gloss of
hipness. The sixth album by saxophonist and composer Patrick
Zimmerli takes just the opposite tack, and succeeds
brilliantly. Instead of using disconnected jazz elements to
spice up electronic Muzak, Zimmerli writes complex and
beautiful jazz charts and spices them up with tasteful
incursions of jittery, jungly breakbeats (courtesy of
percussionist and programmer Satoshi Takeishi). His approach
might sound gimmicky if it weren't for the strength of his
compositions, which manage to balance challenging formal
complexity with intuitive, completely approachable beauty. He
incorporates a string quartet into his arrangements in a way
that brings to mind the more successful moments of Gunther
Schuller's third stream experimentation of the 1960s; his
setting of the Jobim standard "How Insensitive" is one of the
most intriguing and lovely ever recorded, and his own "Gnosis
Crisis" combines cool strings with hot beats in a way that is
both surprising and immediately attractive. Only the slightly
bloated tone poem "Wunderlichen Stadt" (clocking in at over
ten and a half minutes) fails to consistently hold one's
attention; everything else is a revelation. Very highly
recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
_______________________________________________________________________
01-M [02:49]
02-Away From You [04:11]
03-Wunderlichen Stadt [10:43]
04-How Insensitive [03:45]
05-Clouds and Machines [03:38]
06-The Bird Dances [04:10]
07-Breath [04:48]
08-M [01:47]
09-Feel [05:13]
10-Gnosis Crisis [03:34]
11-Only Surround [06:22]
12-Beginning [05:21]
13-Summer Passes [05:14]
14-M [03:31]
-------
65:06 min