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| NEW RELEASE FROM CAROL LIEBOWITZ & NICK LYONS “THE INNER SENSES”  Pianist Carol Liebowitz and Alto Saxophonist Nick Lyons have a highly personal duo concept that has developed through nearly two decades of playing together (their collaboration began in 2007). Their original music possesses a natural and beautiful ensemble sound and incorporates wide ranges of texture, dynamics, mood, rhythm, and form. Through a shared drive to express their musical imaginations spontaneously and intuitively, and through their instrumental virtuosity, Carol and Nick create pieces of intrinsic character and feeling, each unique to their moment and setting. Their range on standard tune repertoire stretches from the momentum and expansive exploration of a hard-swinging jazz band to the poignancy of pure song, and their music created through "free" improvisation (with no set song form or structure) emerges through the discovery of each next note and musical gesture. The music flows seamlessly through these dimensions in a continuous exchange. In the words of Bruce Lee Gallanter of the Downtown Music Gallery, "This is a great duo…""Well into the 21st century, we are still uncovering original ways to find the truth of the moment in sound. With their personal expression displayed on The Inner Senses, Carol Liebowitz and Nick Lyons help open our ears to the past, present, and future of jazz." —Vinnie Sperrazza, October 2024 (from the liner notes for The Inner Senses) "Such ease, Carol & Nick have a gem here" —Mark Weber, poet, DJ Carol Liebowitz brings a uniquely expressive and personal sound to the jazz and free improvisation scene. After studying classical repertoire through college, she turned her focus entirely to improvisation, studying with celebrated pianist Connie Crothers. She has been part of New York's creative music community since the '90s and has toured Europe frequently over the past decade. She has several highly-regarded albums on Line Art and Leo Records. Her 2024 quartet release Ephemeris—on the Danish Marsken label with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Tom Blancarte and John Bernard Wagner—was called "a blissed-out masterstroke of 21st century improvised music" by The New York City Jazz Record. Another NYCJR review described her trio date with Adam Lane and Andrew Drury, Blue Shift, as "a feast of dynamics and color, " further remarking "Liebowitz's pianism knows no boundaries." Carol lives in NYC. Saxophonist Nick Lyons was born in 1982 and raised in the New York City area. He can be heard leading an eponymous trio, performing solo, and playing in a variety of other combinations in New York, nationally, and abroad. He has worked in groups led by drummer Roger Mancuso, bassist/composer Adam Lane, vocalist Cheryl Richards, and guitarist/composer Adam Caine. His recording credits include work with William Parker, a trio record with bassist Gene Perla and drummer John McCutcheon, Cheryl Richards, Carol Liebowitz, and Sam Ospovat. He was mentored by the improvising pianist Connie Crothers, with whom he performed at The Stone (NYC), and studied at Oberlin where his teachers included Donald Walden, Donald Byrd, and Gary Bartz. Enthusiastic response from this duo's 2018 release First Set: " … the music proceeds intimately, almost as in a flashback of ideas, dense with meaning…. 'Roy's Joy, ' with the alto sax's beautiful lines, clean and precise, is a truly inspired performance…. The two musicians know how to seduce the listener and leave a deep mark in his state of being." —Vittorio Lo Conte, musiczoom.it "This improvisational pair recalls the duo performances of Steve Lacy and Mal Waldron in style and intensity…. almost telepathic… hypnotically engaging…" —Roger Farbey, All About Jazz Artist: CAROL LIEBOWITZ & NICK LYONS Title: THE INNER SENSES Artist Websites: carolliebowitz.com, nicklyonsmusic.com Release Date: June 1, 2025 Label: Steeplechase/LookOut Catalog Number: SCCD 33152 UPC Code: 716043315222 TRACK LISTING 1. Hidden Source 3:10 2. The Inner Senses 5:46 3. Ontology (Connie Crothers) 5:46 4. Aurora 3:13 5. River that Flows Both Ways 5:28 6. Night Sunflower 6:24 7. Phantasm 8:24 8. Crystalline Moon 5:31 9. It's True 7:52 10. Imaginary Colors 8:41 Total Time 60:46 Recorded November 15, 2023 Recording: Todd Carder Mixing/Mastering: Jon Rosenberg Liner Notes: Vinnie Sperrazza Photo: Reuben Radding Cover illustration by Johanna Kopp Produced by Nils Winther All tracks by Carol Liebowitz & Nick Lyons, except "Ontology" composed by Connie Crothers Carol Liebowitz piano Nick Lyons alto saxophone write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |