The Squid's Ear Magazine


Courvoisier, Sylvie / Mark Feldman: To Fly To Steal (Intakt)

Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman in a quartet with Gerry Hemingway and Thomas Morgan, brilliant and graceful music blurring the lines between composition and improvisation.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Sylvie Courvoisier-piano

Mark Feldman-violin

Thomas Morgan-bass

Gerry Hemingway-drums


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UPC: 7640120191689

Label: Intakt
Catalog ID: ITK168.2
Squidco Product Code: 12718

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2010
Country: Switzerland
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Recorded in New York on July 23rd, 2009 at Sear Sound Studio. Recorded and mixed by James Farber assisted by Chris Allen. Mastered at Algo-Rhythms by Michael MacDonald.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"After the success of the quintet CD Lonelyville, Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman recorded To Fly to Steal with the rhythm team of Thomas Morgan on bass and Gerry Hemingway on drums.

John Corbett writes in the liner notes: "It is organic, living, pulsing improvised music, made through listening and playing together, and it involves, in the case of four tracks, composed thematic melodic material. Nothing aleatory about it.

There are many places where the foursome moves together as a unit, elegantly so, whether at the explosive apex of "Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail," or in the quietude of the saltwater marsh at sunset on "Whispering Glades." That kind of commonality feels less like one leading and others following than it does an ensemble responding to a collective calling. But check the immaculate way that the other three create a space for Mark Feldman to solo, straight out of a jazzier crescendo, at the end of "Coastline," percussion, bass and piano sketching faintly behind his bold line. Or the way that Thomas Morgan and Gerry Hemingway beautifully improvise between the quicksilver opening statements of Courvoisier and Feldmanon "The Good Life," setting up the place where they all joyously convene. Good life, indeed.

At the core of the quartet is the bond between the pianist and violinist, a musical and personal partnership that clearly involves all the potentiality of give and take. They positively frolic on Courvoisier's "Messiaenesque," the pianist's sensitive and unsentimental harmonic acuity and limber rhythmic sense dove tailing with Feldman's brilliant bowing, which is always tasty and fully engaged. At a lower rpm, they build the pianist's title track together, the intensity rising and falling, swelling and relaxing, Feldman sitting out for some piano triangulation with the rhythm section, reuniting over the piano-bass motif, a violin cadenza in the brittlest and most delicate zone."-Intakt


Artist Biographies

"Sylvie Courvoisier is a pianist, composer and improviser. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Courvoisier moved to New York in 1998 and has lived in Brooklyn since that time.

Courvoisier has led several groups over the years and has recorded over 25 records as a leader or co-leader for different labels, notably ECM , Tzadik and Intakt Records and 30 cds as a sideperson. She has performed and recorded with John Zorn, Mark Feldman, Yusef Lateef, Ikue Mori, Tony Oxley, Tim Berne, Joey Baron, Joëlle Léandre, Herb Robertson, Butch Morris, Evan Parker, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Lotte Anker, Fred Frith, Michel Godard, Tomazs Stanko among others. She has been commissioned to write music for concerts, radio, dance and theater. Since 1996, she has been touring widely with her own groups and as a side person in USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe.

Currently, Courvoisier is the leader of her TRIO with Kenny Wollesen and Drew Gress. She performs regularly Solo and since 1997, in Duo with violinist Mark Feldman. She co-leads the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet with Scott Colley and Billy Mintz. Since 2000, she has been a member of Mephista, an improvising collective trio with Ikue Mori and Susie Ibarra. She is currently playing and touring in different projects of John Zorn including Cobra and Masada Marathon. She is also playing in Erik Friedlander's Trio, Herb Robertson's Quintet and Nate Wooley's Quartet. Since 2010, she has been working as a pianist and composer for flamenco dancer Israel Galvan's project "la Curva" with more than 150 performances around the world.

Awards include Switzerland's 1996 Prix des jeunes créateurs; Zonta Club's 2000 Prix de la Création; Switzerland's 2010 Grand Prix de la Fondation Vaudoise de la Culture; 2013's NYFA (NewYork Foundation For the Art) Music/Sound Fellowship."

-Sylvie Courvoisier Website (http://www.sylviecourvoisier.com/bio.htm)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Mark Feldman (born 1955 in Chicago) is an American jazz violinist. Feldman worked in Chicago from 1973-1980, in Nashville, Tennessee from 1980-1986, in New York City and Western Europe from 1986. He has performed with John Zorn, John Abercrombie, The Masada String Trio, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, and Billy Hart.

He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played in many bar bands in Chicago. He played on over 200 recordings in Nashville as a studio musician, was a member of the Nashville Symphony, and was a member of the touring groups of country western entertainers Loretta Lynn and Ray Price.

In 2003 he was soloist with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Guus Janssen's Violin Concerto and with the WDR Jazz Orchestra in Concerto for Violin and Jazz Orchestra by Bill Dobbins. At Newf York's Lincoln Center he performed in duo with pianists Paul Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams.

He has recorded with Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter and has played on over 100 recordings in New York City as a soloist in contemporary music and modern jazz.

Feldman has released several albums, including Music for Violin Alone (Tzadik, 1995); Book of Tells (Enja, 2000); What Exit (ECM, 2006 with British pianist John Taylor; To Fly to Steal (Intakt, 2010) with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway; and Oblivia (Tzadik, 2010) with his wife, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier. In September 2012, he and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty produced the debut album of Scott Tixier. Feldman wrote the liner notes."

-Mark Feldman Website (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Feldman)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Thomas Morgan (born 14 August 1981 in Hayward, California) is an American jazz musician (upright bass, cello) in contemporary jazz.

Morgan began playing the cello 7 years of age, before switching to upright-bass at 14. In 2003 he received his bachelor's degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Harvie Swartz and Garry Diall. He also took lessons with Ray Brown and Peter Herbert. Morgan worked with David Binney, Steve Coleman, Joey Baron, Josh Roseman, Brad Shepik, Steve Cardenas, Timuin ahin, Kenny Wollesen, Gerald Cleaver, Adam Rogers and Kenny Werner throughout his career. He is also cooperating with Jakob Bro, Dan Tepfer, Jim Black, John Abercrombie, Masabumi Kikuchi and the Sylvie Courvoisier-Mark Feldman Quartet. Morgan lead his own trio."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Morgan_(bassist))
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Gerry Hemingway has led a number of quartet and quintets since the mid 1980's. In addition he has been a member of a wide array of long standing collaborative groups including Brew with Reggie Workman and Miya Masaoka, the GRH trio with Georg Graewe and Ernst Reijseger, the WHO trio with Michel Wintsch and Bänz Oester, as well as numerous duo projects with Thomas Lehn, John Butcher, Ellery Eskelin, Marilyn Crispell, and others. Mr. Hemingway is a Guggenheim fellow and has received numerous commissions for chamber and orchestral works as well as being noted for his innovative and multifaceted work as a solo performer which began in 1974. He was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet between 1983 and 1994 and is also well known for his collaborations with some of the world's most outstanding improvisers and composers including Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, Derek Bailey, Leo Smith and many others. He currently lives in Switzerland having joined the faculty of the Hochschule Luzern in 2009."

-Gerry Hemingway Website (http://www.gerryhemingway.com)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Messiaenesque 5:41

2. Whispering Glades 8:20

3. The Good Life 10:22

4. Five Senses Of Keen 12:08

5. Fire, Fist And Bestial Wall 9:28

6. Coastlines 5:20

7. To Fly To Steal 10:48

Related Categories of Interest:

Intakt

Improvised Music
Jazz
Compositional Forms
NY Downtown & Jazz/Improv
Quartet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Intakt.


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