The Battle Rages . . . !

We primarily mix within 2 categories: #ambient & #etherjazz.

As to which one rules a particular day/week/month . . . that depends
on the level of schizophrenia working in our mixological brains (and ears)!

u n f o c u s e d (ambient) v|s elements (ether-jazz)

;- )

i i i [3]

Coming in 2023 . . . additional Construct-tion . . .

The Construct iii

Part one | Part two

elements_cornerstone

elements cornerstone | Avant Garde/Ether Jazz/Jazz/Noise | 80:31

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
Isaiah 28:16

Experimental excursions into heretofore uncharted, Jazz-ish territory . . .

I’ve been associated (by way of crafting podcasts) with this genre of avant-garde jazz, predominantly of out of Belgium, since 2018 (TONUS Tribute mix).
At first, I sprinkled the TONUS tracks in amongst other, avant-garde & experimental sounding artists. Slowly, however, I began to appreciate more and more the tone, texture & timbre of the work of Dirk Serries & Company’s ‘A New Wave of Jazz’.

At first blush, the listener may hear only discordant, improvised ‘noise’ – but I would encourage you to re-listen to the intricate nuances & balance contained within the scope of their work.
Improvised? Yes, indeed! But, in sync with one another’s sense of musical timing and “erratic harmony”, the flow can be utterly captivating. It goes without saying that I have acquired a distinct taste for this New Wave of Jazz!

This edition is both a retrospective as well as an embracing of some of the group’s newer offerings (tracks 4, 6, 10, 12, 13 & 16). Track 14, courtesy of ECM.

Previous New Wave of Jazz elements editions include:
Obstreperous, Quiet Monster, Graphic, u n f o c u s e d [jolt!], Arid Desert Flower & Brick by Brick.

Enjoy!

Listen/stream via Hear.This

01 Dirk Serries & Asmus Tietchens – Air Concertina (edit)
02 TONUS – Ear Duration 03, Set 1 (edit)
03 Benedict Taylor & Anton Mobin – Slicing Ups
04 Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries – A Palm
05 Dirk Serries & Tom Malmendier – Coded Ideal
06 Asmus Tietchens & Dirk Serries – Höfner Akte 3
07 Goncalo Almeida – Monólogos a Dois III
08 Daniel Thompson & Colin Webster – BOSKAGE 02/II
09 Serries, Vanderstraeten & Verhoeven – Tangent
10 Colin Webster, Emilie Škrijelj, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven & Tom
……Malmendier – Oud Klooster (excerpt)
11 Vanderstraeten, Russell & Keune – On Sunday 2 (edit_2)
12 Jackson, Serries & Vanderstraeten – Dandelion
13 Philipp Ernsting & Hugo Costa – Oase
14 Stefano Battaglia & Michele Rabbia – Spirits of Myths
15 Rubicon Quartet – Caught a Flying Ghost
16 Hugo Costa & Philipp Ernsting – Blind Spot

Other proposed iterations of the podcast’s artwork:

Moving our Podcast location

As #Mixcloud has just announced it will limit Tier 1 accounts to 10 published shows as of December 2022 (no new uploads allowed unless previous podcasts are deleted – to a maximum total of 10), we will be making shows available via #HearThis. This is a promotion of Mixcloud’s “Pro” business model ($180/year, U.S.) — which I’m sure works for radio stations and professional D.J.’s . . but not for those of us uploading for the sheer love of the mix.

You may stream or download the podcasts on Hear.This for a total charge of
. . . ZERO!

Our three November shows will be the last new releases on Mixcloud.
Beginning in December, we’ll post on ello, HearThis & Twitter (as well as right here).

Happy listening!

https://hearthis.at/ambient-landscape/

1st podcast w/ Hear.This as the flagship content provider:
‘elements_cornerstone’ – https://hearthis.at/ambient-landscape/elementscornerstone/

Best ECM Albums

The best ECM albums reveal why the label’s unique style and sound has made it one of the most forward-thinking jazz record labels of all time.

Published on March 15, 2021 | By Charles Waring

It wouldn’t be totally inaccurate to describe the German jazz label ECM as “the house that Keith Jarrett built.” After all, the American pianist’s 1975 album The Köln Concert has sold a staggering three and a half million copies and undoubtedly helped to establish – both financially and aesthetically – Manfred Eicher’s Munich-based imprint. More than that, Jarrett’s success transformed ECM into major contender in the jazz world, and the best ECM albums reveal an astonishing commitment to quality control that has more than ensured its place in the jazz pantheon.

But while Jarrett, who first recorded for the company in late 1971 and, 48 years later, still records for it, had a big part to play in the label’s success, it was producer Manfred Eicher whose vision made ECM a reality. Launching the company in November 1969 (with American pianist Mal Waldron’s album Free At Last), he steadily built ECM into one of the most unique labels in jazz, with its own distinctive sound, style, and look.

In 2019, ECM is still at the cutting edge of contemporary jazz, as our pick of the label’s 50 best albums prove. Think we’ve missed any? Let us know in the comments section, below.

Listen to the best of ECM Records on Apple Music and Spotify, and scroll down for our 50 best ECM albums.

Best ECM Albums: 50 Must-Hear Classics From The Legendary Jazz Label

50: Mal Waldron: Free At Last (1970)

On November 24, 1969, this well-regarded 44-year-old New York pianist/composer, who was then living in Europe, made history by leading ECM’s first-ever recording session. The resulting trio album, Free At Last, with its bold experimentation, encapsulated some of the musical virtues that later became synonymous with ECM’s unique philosophy.
Key track: “Balladina”

49: Julian Priester And Marine Intrusion: Polarization (1977)

An in-demand trombonist from Chicago, Priester has played with everyone from Dinah Washington to Sun Ra and Herbie Hancock, but only made a handful of solo albums. This was his second – and final – ECM album, recorded with a sextet in Germany. The music is by turns contemplative and energetic, but is sufficiently probing and cerebral to fit the archetypal ECM template.
Key track: “Wind Dolphin”

Full article

Vórtice, by Rafael Martini

Released November 29, 2020

Rafael Martini: Piano, Voz, Rhodes, Synths
Pedro Santana: Baixo
Yuri Vellasco: Bateria

Produzido por Rafael Martini

elements_brick by brick

elements_brick by brick | Jazz/Ether-Jazz/Avant Garde/Minimal | 69:06

An Avant-Garde/Experimental mashup (with a smidgeon of Jazz tossed in for balance) of texture & flavor. Using virtually the same artist roster, this is the follow-up to ‘Arid Desert Flower’.

The “bricks” were rearranged (last brick added was Chosen Spindle) at least three times before we set the mortar. It is, I think, the BEST iteration!

Links:
A New Wave of Jazz; Ensemble Ektòs; Matthew Whiteside; rand; Barre Phillips

Listen via Mixcloud or Hear.This

01 Dirk Serries & Asmus Tietchens – Höfner Akte 11
02 Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries – Landing II
03 Ensemble Ektòs – Semèia Kài Tèrata; parts 16 & 17
04 Matthew Whiteside – Quartet No. 6 (Remix)
05 Hydra Ensemble – Vista III
06 rand – Siegfried 2.0
07 Barre Phillips & György Kurtág Jr. – Chosen Spindle
08 Colin Webster & Matthew Grigg – Air Condition
09 Alan Wilkinson & Dirk Serries – Hobson’s Choice
10 Onno Govaert, Martina Verhoeven & Dirk Serries – IV_edit
11 Tullis Rennie, Cath Roberts & Dirk Serries – Found Within (excerpt)
12 Dirk Serries, Daniel Thompson & Martina Verhoeven – III
13 Dirk Serries, Anton Mobin & Quentin Stokart – 2.5

Dust & Ether

The Sage Flower, by Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries

Cellist GUILHERME RODRIGUES (Portugal, residing in Berlin) and guitarist DIRK SERRIES teamed up for a chamber music-esque session at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio (Anderlecht, Belgium). THE SAGE FLOWER is that collection of detailed interaction, acoustic outbursts and linear minimalism*. The album is released in a limited run of 100 copies on the prolific Creative Sources label from Portugal

Recorded, mixed and mastered at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio (Anderlecht, Belgium) on March 13th, 2022. Released on Creative Sources.
______________________________________________________________
[My two cents: outbursts of din, overlapping stochastic bursts, oft-times caustic reverberation, musical janglings, danglings . . as well as occasional chords and even . . . notes!].
A podcast is forthcoming . . . as soon as I can wrap my head (and ears) around this latest flurry . . !
;- )

Released July 12, 2022

Guilherme Rodrigues : cello
Dirk Serries : archtop guitar

Photography by Martina Verhoeven www.martinaverhoeven.com

www.creativesourcesrec.com
www.newwaveofjazz.com
www.guilhermerodrigues.net

elements_arid desert flower

Arid Desert Flower | Avant-Garde/Ether-Jazz/Jazz/Noise | 79:19

Eclectic combinations of scratchy noise disguised as music (sometimes bordering on melody!); extraneous machinations and utterances never before heard via strings, woodwinds & reeds!

Predominantly sourced from A New Wave of Jazz’s recent (June ~ August) catalog releases, this also introduces works by Ensemble Ektòs, rand (rand will appear on September’s #ambient podcast as well) & Matthew Whiteside — which fit in perfectly with the avant-garde/experimental sound for which I was striving.
(the title & art were driven by one of the albums represented herein: The Sage Flower, by Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries).

A pleasure in the construction, I’ve watched (and listened) to the various iterations of A New Wave of Jazz over these past several years — and have tried to keep up with the innovation & improvisation presented with each new bundle of releases. I think that this podcast represents, thus far, the best I’ve heard to date. It stands upon the shoulders of previous compositions and yet, incredibly, inches forward & onward!
(and, btw, check out Martina Verhoeven’s whirl-wind piano-work on track 12!)

Listen via Mixcloud or Hear.This

01 Hydra Ensemble – Vista IV (excerpt)
02 Dirk Serries & Asmus Tietchens – Höfner Akte 8A/8
03 Ensemble Ektòs – Semèia Kài Tèrata (parts 1 ~ 6)
04 Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries – Punctuation Marks
05 Dirk Serries, Anton Mobin & Quentin Stokart – Stochastic Regions (1.8)
06 Ensemble Ektòs – Semèia Kài Tèrata (part 14)
07 Dirk Serries, Daniel Thompson & Martina Verhoeven – Today & All the Tomorrows (l)
08 rand – 9.3
09 Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries – Temperal
10 Tullis Rennie, Cath Roberts & Dirk Serries – Moving Sideways
11 Matthew Whiteside – Quartet No. 5 (Remix)
12 Onno Govaert, Martina Verhoeven & Dirk Serries – Twofold (l)
13 Colin Webster & Matthew Grigg – Brain Free Circus
14 Alan Wilkinson & Dirk Serries – Upshot