nuscope  CD 1021  Starmelodics

       Kaufmann / Dresser / Eisenstadt

Starmelodics features pianist Achim Kaufmann with the great bassist Mark Dresser and drummer/percussionist Harris Eisenstadt. This disc, which was recorded in Brooklyn, features challenging compositions by each musician and three well-realized improvisations. According to Bill Shoemaker’s liner notes, “The album’s six compositions and three improvisations circumscribe terrain Kaufmann, Dresser and Eisenstadt have respectively traversed many times, albeit taking different routes with various musicians.”

According to Bruce Gallanter from the Downtown Music Gallery, "A most impressive piano trio that doesn't quite sound like a piano trio. What I find most interesting about this disc is that although I can hear what is most distinctive about each individual player, it is the unique group that is most surprising or unexpected. The full dynamic range is almost too much for my computer's speakers, so I must listen to this on a more expansive stereo. The title track is skeletal and stark, yet it still evokes something much bigger than it appears. There are three shorter pieces that are wholly improvised; they sound improvised, yet still have an air of mystery as to where they will land. I love the way Harris' 'Vancouver' shifts through a variety of tempos, swinging joyously one moment and then turning in another direction soon thereafter. Achim's 'Birdz' consists of some extremely minimal, eerie sounds, like small sounds from the inside of the piano, minimal hand percussion and rubbed bass strings, the sound is almost invisible but still felt. Perhaps it should be called 'Insectz'? On Marc's 'Flac', Dresser repeats this melodic figure throughout, while the rest of the trio moves around him without landing on the figure completely, adding a bit of dislocation, yet still retaining a sense of calm. On Achim's 'Qualtinger', it sounds as if the trio is moving in separate waves, coming together, submerging and emerging within a form. Harris' 'Seattle' is a solemn ballad that is touching and lyrical in a most haunting way. Sometimes patience is required to see or hear what lies beneath the surface of expectation."

This recording, which was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the 24 bit domain, features an 8-page booklet with liner notes from journalist Bill Shoemaker, and intriguing cover art from Fort Worth-based artist Sevan Melikyan.

Starmelodics is also available as a download on HDTracks.

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nuscope  CD 1022  Talus

       Alberto Braida

Talus (CD 1022), the new disc by pianist Alberto Braida, was released on Tuesday, April 21.

This disc, which was recorded on November 28, 2008, features Braida on a beautiful Fazioli concert grand at Artesuono Studios in Udine, Italy with noted engineer Stefano Amerio. According to Francesco Martinelli’s liner notes, “This music is a new combination where strains of jazz, 20th Century music, and the past 40 years of European improvised pianism are the ingredients of an organically balanced musical architecture which is exquisitely pianistic without resorting to any pre-set approaches.”

According to Christian Carey from the Sequenza 21 website, "The free improv milieu currently has a crowded field of talented practitioners; particularly pianists – Georg Graewe, Steven Lantner, Matthew Shipp, Craig Taborn, and Fred Van Hove all immediately leap to mind. But Alberto Braida’s latest CD, Talus, reminds one that there’s certainly room for one more. This is especially true when one considers the distinguished playing and creative spontaneous composing displayed here. 'Sand in my Shoes' is a descriptive title, and it captures well the piece’s slithery chromaticism, frequent stabbing pokes inside the piano, and even dampened notes that ‘bend’ as they sustain (the latter is quite a nifty trick!). But lest one think that there’s no connection to more traditional improvising, Braida supplies bluesy licks. Also, amid the stacked verticals, there linger post-bop progressions, hanging tough amid the dissonance. 'Riding with Ghosts and Stones' goes still further, channeling the bumptious touch and spiky attacks of Thelonious Monk to season an otherwise sultry bebop ballad. On Talus, Braida makes his mark: pointedly."

This recording, which was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the 24 bit domain, features an 8-page booklet with liner notes from Pisa, Italy-based journalist Francesco Martinelli, and intriguing cover art from Norwegian artist Terry Nilssen-Love.

Talus is also available as a download and audiophile (88/24 FLAC) download on HDTracks.

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nuscope  CD 1023  Under the Roof

       John Butcher/Claudia Ulla Binder

Under the Roof (CD 1023), the new disc by saxophonist John Butcher and pianist Claudia Ulla Binder, has been officially released.

This disc, which was recorded on August 21 and 22 2008, features Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones and Binder on a fine Hamburg Steinway D concert grand and various preparations at DRS2 Studios in Zurich, Switzerland with engineer Martin Pearson, perhaps best known as Keith Jarrett's current engineer. As a result, this disc likely captures Butcher's finely-detailed sound as it has never been captured before. According to journalist Thomas Meyer, “Under the Roof suggests coherence (the last piece, sonically, returns to the first one), but above all, also suggests protection. Whether rapidly skittering or thoughtfully placed, the organic and discreetly balanced sounds in this manifold cycle of fifteen exceedingly transparent images appear fresh and new.”

According to John Eyles in the All About Jazz website, "...Under the Roof clearly benefits from the duo's time spent together, and the care lavished on faithfully capturing the sounds of the instruments. Butcher and Binder sound comfortable together, familiar enough with each other's playing to avoid any getting-to-know-you moments. Everything about the album is beautiful, right down to the minimalist cover art by German artist Michael Eul."

This recording, which was recorded and mixed in the 24 bit domain, features an 8-page booklet with liner notes from Zurich-based journalist Thomas Meyer.

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nuscope  CD 1024  For Bunita Marcus

       Louis Goldstein

On June 1, 2010,  nuscope releases Morton Feldman's For Bunita Marcus by pianist Louis Goldstein. Frank Martin of Media Production Associates, who also engineered Goldstein's acclaimed recording of Feldman's Triadic Memories, remained behind the desk as Goldstein recorded For Bunita Marcus on a recently-acquired Steinway D at Brendle Recital Hall on the campus of Wake Forest University late last fall.

Goldstein's interpretation of Feldman's Triadic Memories is considered one of the best of all of the currently available versions. According to Grant Chu Covell at the La Folia website, "This has got to be 2000’s best piano recording. These two discs (Triadic Memories coupled with John Cage's One⁵) had better garner prizes and commendations throughout the industry or else Western Civilization is coming to an end. Everything comes together in this phenomenally well-recorded 2 CD set. The piano is rich and closely miked, and the piano’s tuning is superb. Louis Goldstein plays with control and delicacy."

This version of For Bunita Marcus includes an 8-page booklet with liner notes from noted Dallas-based musicologist Laurie Shulman and abstract expressionist artwork from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth by the controversial Philip Guston, one of Morton Feldman's long-time friends.

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