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| Dreams & False Alarms |
| Andy Milne |
| első megjelenés éve: 2007 |
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| (2007)
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*Super Audio CD* |
| 6.200 Ft
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| 1. | Amelia
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| 2. | Geewa
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| 3. | Message in a Bottle
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| 4. | I Shot the Sheriff
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| 5. | After the Goldrush
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| 6. | The Times They Are A-Changin'
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| 7. | The Metamorph
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| 8. | Don't Let It Bring You Down
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| 9. | Sensei-tions
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| 10. | The Circle Game
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| 11. | Danny Boy
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Jazz
Andy Milne - Piano, Liner Notes, Soloist, Producer, Mixing
David Simpson Assistant
Eli Bornowsky Design
Graeme Brown Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Mastering
Tony Reif Executive Producer
"Andy Milne is one of the truly original voices in the music world today. It's hard for me to be delighted, surprised or shocked at what I hear anymore, but Andy manages to do it to me."
- Kenny Werner
Canadian pianist and keyboard player Andy Milne has been based in the US since the early 90s, performing with Steve Coleman's groups and with Cassandra Wilson, then leading his own quintet Dapp Theory, a band which combines jazz grooves with funk and hip-hop. But in the last couple of years he has been playing a lot more solo piano, which serendipitously has resulted in the simultaneous release of two piano records. Dreams and False Alarms contains deeply considered re-workings of long-remembered pop/rock/folk/reggae classics (and three originals), reaffirming and expanding his creative process as a jazz improviser, while Scenarios (Obliqsound), an intimate duo with harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret, presents a more textural, almost cinematic series of encounters - complementary expressions of a questing musical personality.
On Dreams, the social and artistic idealism which Milne brings to his work has influenced both his choice of music and its interpretation. "For me, I have to discover how I'm going to assume my own temporary ownership of a song before I can determine my approach. So in the case of these songs, I played them a bunch of different ways for a while, until a path revealed itself. If a path didn't reveal itself, as was the case with "The Times They Are A-Changin'," I stepped away from the piano and tried to re-compose the sonic space the song would occupy. I came up with the idea of using the singing Tibetan bowl on this tune because it offered a meditative quality which I felt complemented the spirit of the original Dylan recording. Deciding what songs to record wasn't easy, but essentially I looked for material rich with meaningful, strong melodic content and just enough room for some personal harmonic development. What draws me to this music? I think it's the combined artistry of the poetry, songwriting and performance of their creators. Artists like Bruce Cockburn, Bob Marley, and Joni Mitchell use their songs to speak about important things that need to be heard in this world, yesterday and today. I guess I'm drawn to them for their courage and ideology."
"Dreams and False Alarms is actually taken from the refrain of 'Amelia,' the Joni Mitchell song which opens the CD. I chose it because I like how it expresses what we experience in our lives as we allow ourselves to grow and change. This CD represents a side of my musical self that, until recently, few listeners have had the opportunity to experience. It also marks a broadening of direction for me artistically and professionally. I guess I'm using the familiarity of these songs to float the listener back in time to different places in their (our) lives to remind them (us) of the idealism that existed whenever that was. We have so much information available to us in the digital age and our ability to store it expands daily. I think it's important to remind ourselves that information isn't necessarily the same as wisdom."
In terms of style, Andy cites a long list of keyboard heroes and mentors, from Tatum, Monk, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Nichols, Ahmad Jamal, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock to Muhal Richard Abrams, Mulgrew Miller, Geri Allen, Kenny Werner and Brad Mehldau, not forgetting Glenn Gould or Stevie Wonder. There's a two-handed creative alchemy going on here though that Andy has been working on since his summer at the Banff jazz workshop in 1990 under Steve Coleman's leadership. "These days it seems like every musician listens to a multiplicity of musical genres, or at least they frequently cite diverging influences in interviews. Blending those influences isn't quite as easy as citing them. For me, my goal is to do it in ways that don't sound contrived or insincere. Learning to work with who each of us is, while exploring the universe for inspiration and then expressing those things in creative and personal ways, is to me [a] humbling and inspiring thing...."
Dreams and False Alarms was recorded in the recital hall of UBC's School of Music in Vancouver. In such a venue "there's room to explore the entire range of the piano, because the instrument and the natural acoustics of the room dictate the dynamic range of the performance. Also, playing solo is proving to be a very liberating experience because I can give in to whimsical impulses at any given moment....The joy for me with both of these recordings was being able to express pianistic subtleties to a much greater extent than on Dapp Theory recordings.... Throughout this CD, an attempt was made to take the listener on a sonic as well as musical voyage. At times the mix shifts perspectives, enabling the listener to be in different positions in the room and perhaps even different points in history." And with high-resolution recording and multi-channel mixing, each musical gesture contains subtle aural/emotional resonances.
Andy Milne had no intention of recording a solo piano CD focusing on typical standards, so he instead chose to mine the relatively untapped music popular with rock audiences of the 1970s and 1980s, with surprising results. Milne is hardly the first jazz musician to record a work by Sting, but his lyrical, pastoral setting of "Message in a Bottle" unveils its potential in a jazz setting. Neil Young's work is a more startling choice, though Milne's dramatic improvisation of "After the Gold Rush" may not be easily recognizable to Young's fans, as his hints at its theme are fleeting. Milne slows down "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and sticks closer to its roots, offering a stunning interpretation. The pianist's approach to the late reggae giant Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" frees the tune from its trademark rhythm, which broadens its appeal to listeners who never investigated the genre seriously. His tense setting of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" incorporates an ominous vamp and signals a warning that there are clouds on the horizon. Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game" is another gem, cast as a reflective ballad suggesting a quiet day alone in the country. Milne's three originals are also compelling performances, highlighted by his playful "The Metamorph." He closes the disc with a touching one-chorus arrangement of "Danny Boy" that proves there is plenty of new ground to be found in this popular old Irish air. Highly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide |
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