Outsider from Outsider by Matt Lambiase

Outsider

I’ve been fascinated with solo improvisational horn playing for many years. This fascination was born out of several factors: after developing a severe overuse injury in the early 1990s I felt I could no longer play brass instruments the way I had been able to prior to this time. At the time it was devastating, but to shorten a long story, I began playing again in 2006 after the encouragement of two people very close to me, and with the help of a group of phenomenal teachers I was able to resume playing. However, when I started to play again, I had basically fallen out of the scene of creative instrumental music, in some respects I had never really gotten to enter it in the first place; the upshot of this is that I had very few people I could play with easily. Most of the time I was playing alone by myself, trying to figure out what, if anything, I could still do as a musician.

Although there is a long history of creative solo improvisation in the 20th and early 21st centuries, and within that, solo horn improvisation, my first real exposure at that time was attending a solo concert by Kirk Knuffke at Douglass St. Music Collective in Brooklyn. Aside from Kirk’s beautiful playing, I was transfixed by the sight and sound of a horn player offering creative improvised music completely alone for an hour, and making it work! At the time I remember thinking, “I didn’t know you could do that!” I began to experiment with it on my own and quickly realized how difficult, and how worthwhile, this pursuit could be. I also began to learn more specifically of the long history of solo horn improvisation ranging from that of Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Wadada Leo Smith, George Lewis, and Steve Lacy up through more recent exponents such as Nate Wooley, Peter Evans, Steve Coleman, Ellery Eskelin, Dave Ballou, and Sam Newsome; the list goes on and on.

What is the attraction to solo improvising? Is it its intimacy, vulnerability, nakedness, solitude, freedom?
Is it the physical and creative stamina required, the courage it demands, or the composite sheer challenge of it? For me, it is all of these things.

Though many speak of the goal of getting to the point in one’s playing where the instrument is under one’s complete control and functions only as a conduit to the inner world of the musician, solo playing requires, for me, at times, a willingness to let the instrument show me where I was really going, and a subsequent willingness to go there instead!

Since my initial long break from improvisational playing I have been forced to stop playing music at other times in my life, to care for a loved one, for lack of time, sometimes for a brief lack of hope. This has forced for me a return to fundamental questions: Why do we make music? Is it important? Is it necessary?

Is it to have fun, is it to share oneself?
Is it to reach the spirit within and without, the infinite, the intrinsic and extrinsic divine?
Is it simply that one likes the way it feels in one’s own body to make these sounds, as it did when we were children?

Again, for me, it is all of these things.

I hope you enjoy this offering of sound. — Matt Lambiase

from Outsider, released October 9, 2020
Matt Lambiase – flugelhorn, trumpet
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jim Clouse at Park West Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Front cover photo by Matt Lambiase
Design by Qua’s Eye Graphix
Produced by Matt Lambiase and Jack DeSalvoThank you to:
Jack DeSalvo and Unseen Rain Records
Jim Clouse and Park West Studios
My teachers, including, Mark Stewart, Lucinda Lewis, Ralph Alessi, Laurie Frink, Dave Ballou, Richie Vitale, and Sherwood Finley
My mother and brother, my friends and family and, especially, my wife and son, Sandra and Ravi, everything is for both of you…ML
© ℗ Meyefi Rights Management LLC
all rights reserved

Eight Hands from Eight Hands One Mind by Dom Minasi

The Dom Minasi Guitar Quartet
Eight Hands One MindDom Minasi, Hans Tammen, Harvey Valdez and
Briggan Krauss

In Memory of Bern Nix

I thought about writing for four guitars for a while, but I didn’t want it to be another ordinary jazz record and since I am very much into contemporary 21st Century music, I thought why not go that route?

After I finished writing I thought about who could I use? They have to be able to read and play free form improv. I immediately thought of Hans. We had already recorded together, and he understood the concept. I had been listening to Harvey for a while and I loved the way he played. For guitar one I asked Bern Nix. Bern had played with Ornette and we played together, too.

The group was intact. Just as we were about to have the last rehearsal before recording, Bern passed away. It was a shock to us and the whole jazz community. I put the project on hold for about six months . I asked Hans if he knew someone and he told me about Briggan Krauss. Briggan agreed to come over for a rehearsal and he fit right in. We rehearsed for a while and recorded. What you hear is the result.

Each piece, even though they have names, are like movements. Each movement related to each other that moves forward.

I would like to thank Jack DeSalvo for his confidence in all that I do and letting my music be heard through Unseen Rain Records.

Dom Minasi

from Eight Hands One Mind, released March 12, 2021
DOM MINASI – guitar
HANS TAMMEN – guitar
HARVEY VALDES – guitar
BRIGGAN KRAUSS – guitarRecorded, mixed and mastered by Hans Tammen
Cover painting by Tom Cabrera
Photo of Hans Tammen by Scott Friedlander
Design by Qua’s Eye Graphix
An Unseen Rain Production

All music by Dom Minasi
Dedicated to Bern Nix

© ℗ Meyefi Rights Management LLC
all rights reserved

Take Flight from Zone II by Zone

On Zone’s second album the focus is again on the nexus between cutting edge improvisation and music written to stimulate it. The group creates music with protean forms, unflagging melodic sensibility and structural transparency. Tom Cabrera’s drumming is a study in listening, with one foot in the tradition and the other in the cosmos. Virtuosic bass player Dmitry Ishenko produces rich counter melodies to Rocco John Iacovone’s fiery saxophones, Chris Forbes’ multidimensional pianistics and Jack DeSalvo’s unparalleled guitar playing.
From Zone II
ROCCO JOHN IACOVONE
alto and soprano saxophone
JACK DeSALVO
guitar
CHRIS FORBES
piano
DMITRY ISHENKO
double-bass
TOM CABRERA
drums

Recorded (Xavier Studio), mixed and mastered by Larry Hutter
Cover painting by Denise Iacovone
Design by Qua’s Eye Graphix
Produced by Jack DeSalvo

© ℗ Meyefi Rights Management LLC
all rights reserved