As we were going into lockdown for the first time - and a whole season of cancelled concerts - Frédéric Leibovitz of Cezame Music Agency came up with an exciting proposal: "Why don't you do another thematic album like Méditerranées ten years ago, all based around the double bass, we could call it Cinematic Bass?”

First off, we were drawn to the film noir soundtracks of the 50s and 60s, in which the “walking” double bass would inevitably accompany the suspense, the chase, the anxious nocturnal doubts and fears... whether in French or American gangster films, B movies or the Nouvelle Vague. Film composition has, for decades, successfully yielded to the influence of jazz. Now we are seeing the emergence of wider influences: world music, east and west, the continent of Africa…

The double bass is a multi-facetted instrument and can be played in many ways - pizzicato, bowed, pizz d'arco, percussion and used with many different effects - which allowed the project to diversify, taking in new colours and opening up a great variety of soundscapes and moods.

Drums, vibraphone, voice, percussion and the occasional keyboard complete these orchestrations resolutely centred on the multiplicity of the double bass, from lows to extremely highs, every aspect of the instrument. Dare I say it? In all its glory.

You have in your hands the results of this exploration, under the generic title of Cinematic Double Bass, 44 pieces grouped in 2 Cds, In a Jazzy Mood, and In a Spirit of Travel, two collections of music for films yet to be made...

“snap-reading method”

"Observation technique based on mathematical sampling theory. The frequency of previously determined types of processes is recorded with the help of randomly conducted short-term observations in order to be able to derive statistically validated statements about the temporal structure of these processes".

This is the definition of the “snap-reading method”, which can also be applied to the musical communication of the trio without any problems. With the new program Fabian Dudek(sax), Oliver Lutz(e-bass) and Alex Parzhuber (comp., drums, synth) give free rein to their own interpretation of these short-term observations in the context of the compositions. The music turns out hardly tangible and free in one moment and compellingly concrete seconds later.

The album will be released on 26th January 2024 on Owl Way Records, a newly founded label by saxophonist and composer Johannes Ludwig.

Oriane Lacaille, singer-songwriter and percussionist from Reunion Island, presents iViV, the first album under her name. In the Lacaille family, the accordionist René was one of the renewers of Reunionese music in the 1970s, with his accomplices Alain Péters and Danyel Waro. Oriane his daughter, who grew up in France but is steeped in the island's maloya and sega ryhthms, is perpetuating this family tradition which, in the generations before hers, was forbidden to women. Having also inherited the idea that music is a collective gesture that embraces the community, she has long expressed herself with others, notably within the duos Titi Zaro (with Coline Linder) and Bonbon Vodou (with JereM Boucris).

Oriane Lacaille, singer-percussionist who also plays ukulele and aouicha (a small gnawa guembri), is not alone on iViV, for which she composed most of the tracks. She is accompanied by Héloïse Divilly on drums and Yann-Lou Bertrand on double bass, trumpet, & flute. They also bring the vocal harmonies to her songs which are underlaid by the undulating ternary rhythms of Reunion Island. She has also invited some great guests: Piers Faccini, who encouraged her to take the plunge, Leyla McCalla, Laura Cahen, Loy Ehrlich (Hadouk Trio) and of course René Lacaille. With the sweetness of nursery rhymes or the intensity of trance music, Oriane Lacaille sings about joy and about rage, assimilating her family heritage into her own affirmed personality; iViV marks the blossoming of her Creole trajectory.

PERICO SAMBEAT

In 1980 he began playing sax self-taught. He moved to Barcelona in 1982, where he ended his flute classical studies. At the same time, he started attending Taller de Mùsics, where he studied harmony and arrangements with Zé Eduardo. In 1991 he moved to New York, where he attended New School. There he had the chance to play with great musicians such as Lee Konitz, Jimmy Cobb, Joe Chambers, etc.

He also worked professionally with Steve Lacy, Daniel Humair, Fred Hersch, Bob Moses, Louis Bellson, Michael Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Maria Schneider, Pat Metheny, Kenny Wheeler, etc.

He has been tecahing in some of the most important jazz schools in Spain: Taller de Músics, Musikene, ESMUC, etc, and has been doing workshops all around the world. He has played in festivals and jazz clubs all around the world.

Nowadays he combines teaching in Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus with his activity as a jazz performer and Big Band conductor.

RONEANDO

Perico Sambeat presents his new project with another twist on the fusion of jazz and flamenco. "Roneando" is a proposal where all the themes are composed by him, except for the standard "I didn't know what time it was".