contents

jazz
 
MARK WINGFIELD & GARY HUSBAND "Tor & Vale" album release    

MoonJune Records
announces
MARK WINGFIELD & GARY HUSBAND
"Tor & Vale"

"What if Terje Rypdal had recorded a duet album
with Keith Jarrett?" A beautiful document that
showcases the remarkable chemistry between
these two extraordinary players, it is a gem
of nuanced interaction and rare potency
by improvisers of the highest order.
- BILL MILKOWSKI

HD Download 24bit • $10
CD • $15 +shipping
2LP • $29.95 +shipping (PRE-ORDER)

• HD 24 bit Download: $10. - Available immediately upon the purchase.

• CD (digipack with 16 pages booklet): $15 +shipping. - READY TO BE SHIPPED!. (purchase of CD gets You instant HD 24bit download)

• 2LP 180 grams vinyl (gatefold): $29.95 + shipping. - Shipping around August 15-20. (PRE-ORDER; purchase of 2LP gets You instant HD 24bit download)

Direct link:
https://markwingfield-moonjune.bandcamp.com/album/tor-vale-hd

"Kinetic and focused jams, with frequent flights of fancy and elegantly improvised episodes of order & chaos. A sketchpad thrown open in the wind. There is a noteworthy synergy of this particular call-and-response guitar glissandi and enchanted piano, back and forth, together and contrasting. Two sound poets calling and finishing each other's musical expressions in an engaging telepathic give and take, in the progressive long jam tradition. Highly recommended." - Robin James, ImproviJazzation (USA)

"Wingfield represents the singing component, his slightly overdriven tone heard throughout the set, occasionally escorted/enhanced by lingering chordal reverberations. Five pieces are the fruit of the guitarist's creative power, the remaining three were improvised. Speaking of which, I was amused by Husband's illustration of his approach: 'I actually have the infuriating habit of listening to initial instruction or some kind of plan, only to then completely disregard it and let instinct and intuition take over'. If this is the result, let's hope he ignores the guidelines forever. This means that the music can't really be classified, and that's fine. It's at once elegiac, atonal, carefully organized, wavering between varying emotional states. One is attracted by diverse characterizations and nuances, the bulk of them apparently suggested by contemporary classical influences rather than anything related to jazz and fusion commonplace. What's particularly alluring for yours truly is the possibility to (finally!) enjoy some good, self-descriptive interplay minus the silent oppression deriving from the necessity of chronicling. Intelligible reciprocity and seriousness of intent speak for themselves, and it's definitely more than enough to spend a nice couple of hours without thinking, just letting the sounds grow inside and around. As it always should be." - Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes (Italy)

"The sound of Mark Wingfield has never been so sophisticated, diverse and lyrical. If we talk about the emotional impact, then, perhaps, the music of Tor & Vale will be stronger than any pictorial image, by virtue of greater abstractness, and, accordingly, more open space for the listeners' imagination. All shades of feelings, all emotions are subject to the guitar of this great master. But discard the idea that Gary Husband limited himself to the role of a modest accompanist. He is too big for this, sensitive and perfectly adapts to the ideas of the partner master. Without his piano, the sound palette of the album would have been much poorer. Both musicians were very pleased with the project and are now carrying out plans for joint tours in support of the album. And the hopeful walls of La Casa Murada will hopefully hear their new compositions in the future." - Leonid Auskern, Jazz Quad (Russia)

Mark Wingfield & Gary Husband 'Tor & Vale'
by Bill Milkowski

A true meeting of the spirits, Tor & Vale showcases the remarkable chemistry between two extraordinary players, guitarist Mark Wingfield and pianist Gary Husband. A gem of nuanced interaction and rare potency, this intimate session is brimming with sparkling call-and-response exchanges and dramatic rubato exploration between the intrepid improvisers. "This recording captures and reflects the mutual enthusiasm and easy kind of compatibility we found with each other that was present at all times throughout the sessions, " noted Husband. "None of it felt forced or seemed to require a lot of effort at all. It just happened, just as you hear it."

Recorded at La Casa Murada, a spacious studio located in a 12th century farmhouse in Catalonia (Spain) about an hour outside of Barcelona, Tor & Vale is comprised of five evocative Wingfield compositions and three purely improvised pieces, like the evocative 16-1/2-minute title track, that put a premium on space and find the two kindred spirits being wide open to the moment. "As soon as we started playing it was clear that there was an instant musical connection there and a willingness to really open up and explore, " said Wingfield. "We started the session with the composed pieces and things went so well that by the time we got to the improvised pieces we felt there was no need to discuss how to approach them."

Husband explained that the intuitive nature of this Tor & Vale session has been part of his modus operandi for years. "I actually have the infuriating habit of listening to initial instruction or some kind of plan, only to then completely disregard it and let instinct and intuition take over, " he said. "I love the conversational, instinctive process to make it's own way and present itself through us."

"Our wide range of common musical reference points meant that we were able to go on some extended improvised journeys, " added Wingfield. "Gary is such a great player and I knew his piano work, so I knew he was able to go way outside the usual jazz improvised format and reference lots of different musical worlds. I knew there was a real potential to do something like this with him but I had no idea beforehand that the session would go so well or that we would be able to communicate musically on the level we did."

The forward-thinking British electric guitarist is reshaping the sound of his instrument through his series of impressionistic recordings over the past decade. "Wingfield's guitar playing is mysterious, majestic and blazing in turns, " wrote Guitar Player magazine while All About Jazz crowed, "Wingfield makes his guitar howl, sing and cry for mercy amid flickering single note runs" and Music That Matters simply called him a "six-string winged, improvising shaman."

Fellow Brit Husband has long been regarded as one of the great drummers on the scene for his fabled association, since 1979, with the late, legendary guitarist Allan Holdsworth. A longtime doubler, he has also showcased his exceptional keyboard skills with his New Gary Husband Trio and Force Majeure, Billy Cobham's Spectrum Band and John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension. Husband has also released two luminous solo piano recordings, The Things I See: Interpretations of the Music of Allan Holdsworth and A Meeting Of Spirits: Interpretations of the Music of John McLaughlin.

Together, Mark Wingfield and Gary Husband made musical magic at La Casa Murada on Tor & Vale.

Video of the tune "Tryfan" from the album "Tor & Vale"
https://youtu.be/tejKnNMcnKc



write your comments about the article :: © 2019 Jazz News :: home page