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Nabatov, Simon / Mark Dresser / Dominik Mahnig: Equal Poise (Leo Records)

Live at the LOFT in Cologne, Germany, the trio of German-based Russian pianist Simon Nabatov with NY Downtown double bassist Mark Dresser and relative newcomer Dominik Manhig on drums, expressive collective improvisation using edgy techniques in impressive dialog.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Simon Nabatov-piano

Mark Dresser-doublebass

Dominik Mahnig-drums


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UPC: 5024792074525

Label: Leo Records
Catalog ID: LEOR745.2
Squidco Product Code: 21942

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2015
Country: UK
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded live at the LOFT in Cologne, Germany, on May 31st, 2014, by Hannes Plattmeier.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Push and pull, jabs and hooks, gloves on and off, circling around and direct engagement, one-word insistency and loose chatter, sprawling stances and elegant dance-floor moves, falling apart and keeping it together - Simon Nabatov, Mark Dresser and Dominik Mahnig deliver it all in their first collective bout at Cologne's LOFT. In spite of the vast difference in backgrounds, age and experience, the three melt into one in a hurry, navigating each twist and turn with mutual trust and rapport. The renowned German artist Norman Junge contributes a delightful drawing underpinning the essence of the trio."-Leo



"Simon Nabatov/Mark Dresser/Dominik Mahnig: Equal Poise Russian born pianist Simon Nabatov has been composing since early childhood. His career has placed his residences in Italy, New York (where he studied at Juilliard), and Germany, where he finally settled. He has worked or recorded with Barre Phillips, Ray Anderson, Ed Schuller and, as a leader, has recorded in a variety of settings from solo to octet. Trombonist Nils Wogram has been one of Nabatov's frequent partners but the pianist's most unusual work has been Nature Morte (Leo, 2001), a music and spoken word interpretation of a Joseph Brodsky poem. On Equal Poise he teams with bassist Mark Dresser, with whom he issued the duet recording Projections (Clean Feed, 2014) and relative newcomer, drummer Dominik Mahnig.

Nabatov has worked with a number of trios, often with Mark Helias on bass. Tom Rainey filled the drummer seat on Tough Customer (Enja Records, 1993) and several other Nabatov outings. His work with Gerry Hemingway, Barry Altschul, Gerald Cleaver, Paul Motian and even Han Bennink are among the indications of the pianist's eclectic affinity for superb drummers. The style of Equal Poise is decidedly more overtly percussive than Nabatov's trio work with Motian and Rainey. Mahnig's style is heavier and more punctuated and brings out similar qualities in Nabatov's own playing.

Equal Poise opens with "Full Circles," lyrical but with sharp elbows that intermittently poke and prod the piece to abstraction. "Wind Up and Down" has Dresser coaxing an array of sounds from the bass, using bow and plucking and leading Nabatov to an diverse solo that alternates between delicate and pounding. Mahnig shows discretion as he pulls back in the face of his trio-mates more aggressive approach. "Sambar é Bom" and "Minor Force" are further along in their abstract explorations with fragments of melody loosely holding together an assortment of outside excursions. The closing "Lithe Moves" begins with Mahnig's versatile solo and concludes with Nabatov immersed in Cecil Taylor-like territory with torrents of notes and heavy, low register chords pounding their way through the ruckus.

Nabatov has been a bit of a chameleon throughout his career. He can be as lyrical as Bill Evans or as progressive an improviser as Alexander Hawkins, moving back and forth from hyper-kinetic percussive effects to impressionism. Not nearly as well known in the U.S. as he should be, Nabatov's long overdue recognition should be furthered with Equal Poise, an adventurous and edgy collection with high energy performances all around."-Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz


Get additional information at All About Jazz

Artist Biographies

"Simon Nabatov's musical education began at the age of 3, his father, himself a musician, being the first teacher. The Central School of Music and Moscow Conservatory were the next steps. After the whole family emigrated and settled in New York in 1979, Nabatov continued his studies at the Juilliard School Of Music. By that time his interest and involvement in jazz and improvised music grew strong enough to make them his main activity.

Since then he performed and recorded with many fine musicians such as Paul Motian, Tony Scott, Sonny Fortune, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Skidmore, Herb Robertson, Louis Sclavis, Charles McPhearson, Billy Hart, David Murray, Paul Horn, Ricki Ford, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway, Jim Snidero, Herb Geller, Dave Pike, Attila Zoller, Matthias Schubert, Barry Altschul, Vladimir Tarasov, John Betsch, Ed Schuller, Arto Tuncboyaci, Adam Nussbaum, Paul Heller, Jay Clayton, Ron McClure, Mark Feldman, Drew Gress, Phil Minton, Michael Moore, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Wolter Wierbos, Paulo Alvares, Gareth Lubbe, Ben Davis and many others.

He enjoyed continuous work with Ray Anderson Quartet, Arthur Blythe Quartet, Perry Robinson Quartet, NDR Big Band (Hamburg,Germany), Steve Lacy - Simon Nabatov Duo, Nils Wogram Quartet, Nils Wogram - Simon Nabatov Duo, Matthias Schubert Quartet, Matthias Schubert - Simon Nabatov Duo and Klaus König Orchestra.

His own projects and activities included, since three decades, hundreds of solo recitals.In the early 90s Nabatov founded the trio with the bassist Mark Helias and the drummer Tom Rainey; the quartet "Nature Morte" with the British vocalist Phil Minton, multireed-player Frank Gratkowski and trombonist Nils Wogram (both from Germany); and the quintet including his trio plus the violinist Mark Feldman and the trumpet player Herb Robertson.In 2003 another trio was formed, with the cellist Ernst Reijseger and the drummers Michael Vatcher (and later Michael Sarin).

As co-leader Nabatov played and recorded in duos with Steve Lacy, with the German tenor sax player Matthias Schubert, American drummer Tom Rainey, Dutch drummer Han Bennink, German trombonist Nils Wogram, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger and the Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, just to mention a few. His current duo partners are the South-African born viola player and vocalist Gareth Lubbe, the Turkish clarinetist Oguz Buyukberber and the Brazilian pianist Paulo Alvares.

In the 1999-2000 season a large-scale radio production project (co - sponsored by WDR and Bayer AG) saw him write and record over 6 hours of music for solo piano, duo (with the American reed player Michael Moore), his trio, the quartet "Nature Morte" and the quintet. Beginning of 2000 the Swiss label HatHut Records brought out the first recording - the trio release "Sneak Preview". The next three recordings, quartet "Nature Morte", quintet "The Master and Margarita" and solo "Perpetuum Immobile" have been released by Leo Records.

Two more CD´s - " Chat Room" ( duo with Han Bennink ) and "Autumn Music" ( trio with Ernst Reijseger and Michael Vatcher ) were brought out by this independent English label.The next project produced by WDR in 2004 was a 90 - minute piece " A Few Incidents" based on the texts of Russian writer Daniil Charms. The octet included Phil Minton, Frank Gratkowski, Nils Wogram, Ernst Reijseger, Cor Fuhler, Matt Penman, Michael Sarin and Simon Nabatov. Leo Records released the recording of this composition in 2005. Together with "Nature Morte" and "Master and Margarita" it completed the "Russian Trilogy", 3 musical projects based on the Russian literature.

In 2009 Nabatov, sponsored by the Cologne culture institutions, completed a 5-day project called "Roundup" (involving M.Schubert, N.Wogram, E.Reijseger and T.Rainey), resulting in 3 CD's released on Leo Records: quintet "Roundup", a trio with E.Reijseger and M.Schubert - "Square Down" and another one with N.Wogram and T.Rainey - "Nawora".

Starting around 2000, parallel to his jazz activities, Simon Nabatov developed a deep interest for the culture and music of Brazil. This led him to study the Portuguese language, travel number of times throughout the country and learn a great deal about a number of different musical genres.

Some of the more structured activities in that field were a CD release "Around Brazil" on the ACT label (2006), and the two-months long Goethe-Institut "Artist-in-Residence" in Porto Alegre, which allowed Nabatov to learn more about the regional "musica gaucha". Since 2007 he often performs his solo program based on Brazilian music.

In the recent years Nabatov also delved into the field of electronic music, learning MAX/MSP programming environment; in April 2013 he premiered his new solo program for piano and computer, developed together with the German composer and electronic music specialist hans w. koch. In December 2016 excerpts from this program made up a half of the program of his most recent CD "MONK 'N' MORE".

Another musical adventure of the recent years was Nabatov's solo program dedicated to the music of the great jazz composer and pianist Herbie Nichols. Leo Records released a highly acclaimed CD of that program, and the PanRec label brought out a DVD.2015 saw Nabatov realize a four-part project "...still crazy after all these years" (celebrating 25 years in Cologne), which resulted in forming 4 new trios: with two young Cologne musicians Stefan Schoenegg and Dominik Mahnig, with Andre de Cayres and Rodrigo Villalon (dedicated to Brazilian music), with two giants of improvised music Barry Guy and Gerry Hemingway, and a trio with two string players, Gareth Lubbe (viola) and Ben Davis (cello). The first documentation of the project - Simon Nabatov Trio "Picking Order" was released August 2016 on Leo Records. Other 3 releases are planned for 2017.

Simon Nabatov performed and recorded numerous pieces of chamber music, some of them written specially for him: "Piano Concerto "Baba" by the American pianist/composer Kenny Werner, "Sonata for violin and piano" by the Irish bassist/composer Ronan Guilfoyle,"Trumpet Sonata", "Cello Sonata", "Trio for flute,cello and piano" by the Swiss reed-player/composer Daniel Schnyder. He also performed and recorded some of the more known "crossover" works, such as "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin (NDR Symphony Orchestra Hannover,1998) or "Concerto for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra" by Rolf Liebermann (NDR Symphony Orchestra and Big Band, Hamburg,1996).

Nabatov was among the winners of the 3rd "International Great Jazz Pianist Competition" in Jacksonville, USA (2nd prize) in 1985, and of the "Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition" in Paris, France (3rd prize) in 1989. In 1987 he was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Simon Nabatov made numerous radio productions for most of the major European broadcasting companies: WDR, NDR, HR, BR, SFR, Radio France, Radio Zürich, Radio Ireland etc.

He played on countless international jazz festivals including Paris, Antibes, Helsinki, Zagreb, Nevers, Berlin, Dublin, Cork, Vilshofen, Bergamo, Groeningen, Vilnus, Karlsbad, Genua, North Sea, Brugge, Voss, Bergen, Riga, Vilnius, Ulrichsberg a.m.o.

Simon Nabatov gave concerts and workshops in over 60 countries, he appears on ca. 70 recordings, and his own music and projects are documented on over 25 CD's and 3 DVD's (all DVD's on PanRec).

He has taught at the Folkwang Hochschule (Essen), Musichochschule Lucerne (Switzerland) and at the International Jazz and Rock Academy (Remscheid).2012 - 2014 he was the substitute professor of Jazz piano and Ensemble at the Conservatory of Hannover, Germany.

Since 1989 he resides predominantly in Cologne, Germany, but keeps an apartment and a part of his heart in New York."

-Simon Nabatov Website (http://www.nabatov.com/biography.htm)
3/13/2024

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

Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. At the core of his music is an artistic obsession and commitment to expanding the sonic, musical, and expressive possibilities of the contrabass. He has recorded over one hundred thirty CDs including three solo CDs and a DVD. From 1985 to 1994, he was a member of Anthony Braxton's Quartet, which recorded nine CDs and was the subject of Graham Locke's book Forces in Motion (Da Capo). He has also performed and recorded music of Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, Roger Reynolds, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn. Dresser most recent and internationally acclaimed new music for jazz quintet, Nourishments (2013) his latest CD (Clean Feed) marks his re-immersion as a bandleader. Since 2007 he has been deeply involved in telematic music performance and education. He was awarded a 2015 Shifting Foundation Award and 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego.

- Website (https://www.mark-dresser.com/bio)
3/13/2024

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

"Mahnig received his first drumming lessons at eleven years. In June 2012 he graduated from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences with Gerry Hemingway, Norbert Pfammatter and Marc Halbheer . In the fall of 2012 he took his master's degree at the Cologne University of Music and Dance with Jonas Burgwinkel and Frank Gratkowski ; He has masterclasses and workshops with John Hollenbeck, Heiri Känzig, Henning Berg, Steve Coleman and Christy Doran . He is a member of The Great Harry Hillman, the bands of Frank Haunschild, Jens Böckamp, Tamara Lukasheva and Liza Pflaum, the Move Dove quartet around Luis Reinhard, the trio Botter and Massive Schrage . He presented himself at concerts in Hungary, Germany and Switzerland, among others at the Langnau Jazz-Nights and the Jazz Festival Willisau (with Kenny Wollesen ).

Mahnig is a multiple winner and winner of the Swiss drummer and percussionist competition. At the Convento Jazzpreis NRW 2011, he was honored as the best soloist: "Drummer Dominik Mahnig impressed with his subtle and biting bespoke, which supported the melodies in a tone -colored manner and at the same time rhythmically brushed against the line." Wilhelm-Fabry- He received a special prize for a strong creative statement in 2013. The Great Harry Hillman won the ZKB Jazz Prize in 2015."

-Wikipedia (translated by Google) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominik_Mahnig)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Full Circles 11:38

2. Wind Up And Down 6:24

3. Sambar E Bom 8:52

4. Minor Force 9:07

5. Lithe Moves 8:11

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Trio Recordings
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Leo Records

Search for other titles on the label:
Leo Records.


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