The Squid's Ear Magazine


Levin, Daniel / Fala Mariam / Sei Miguel: Panorama (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Performing in the liminal space between free improv, jazz & chamber-oriented improvisation, the trio of American cellist Daniel Levin with long-time Portuguese collaborators Sei Miguel on pocket trumpet and Fala Mariam on alto trombone, come together for these authoritative recordings in Lisbon, captured in the studio and at a live performance of solos & duos at Galeria Ze dos Bois.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Daniel Levin-cello

Fala Mariam-alto trombone

Sei Miguel-pocket trumpet


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UPC: 752156710523

Label: ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd
Catalog ID: ezz-thetics 1051
Squidco Product Code: 35164

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: Switzerland
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 (trio) recorded at Namouche Studio, in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 1st, 2023, by Joaquim Monte

Tracks 4, 5, 6 (solos and duo) recorded live in concert at Galeria Ze dos Bois, in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 7th, 2022, by Kellzo.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"What is the form of coincidence? That is to say, that which provides an identity, a perceptible realization of meaning, to an experience which is neither planned nor an accident, but a co-incident, a correspondence of simultaneous events that may seem unrelated on the surface but result in substance and coherency. Do independent circumstances that inhabit a shared space and time naturally reveal an inherent systematic relationship, or do we impose our own desire for sense and significance on experiences beyond our control? (My dictionary submits the word "harmonious," but didn't John Cage assume that even an unexpected, disorienting construct can manifest harmony, like beauty, in the mind of the beholder?)

After concluding a solo recital in Lisbon in 2012, the inquisitive, risk-taking American cellist Daniel Levin was introduced to Sei Miguel. Miguel, though born in Paris, from the 1980s on became one of Portugal's most exploratory and unique instrumentalists, arrangers, and sound artists. Some ten years later, Levin was once again in Lisbon to perform, and having some free time, went to an art gallery with a friend, this time to hear Miguel perform. Miguel was surprised to recognize Levin, and following their subsequent discussion they decided to further investigate their idiosyncratic improvisational interests. An initial performance, without rehearsal or predetermined details, and recorded in the same venue at which they had first met, established their creative compatibility, and a few months later a second performance and a studio session were arranged, the latter including Miguel's long-time collaborator, trombonist Fala Mariam, who is also an established abstractionist visual artist with multiple exhibitions and awards over the past 40 years.

Given their distinct backgrounds and individualistic sense of creative process, it's not surprising to discover that in each other's company the sounds they generate do not fall into common improv tactics, stylistic clichés, or the isolation of chance. Despite the sense of commitment audible throughout, I hesitate to call their venture a trio, if only because they largely avoid an obvious display of recognizable structure - the responsive give-and-take and/or supportive maneuvers - that typically defines an ensemble. Rather, they exist as discrete agents in the moment of production, yet confirming what Daniel Levin described to me as acknowledging "the integrity of their contributions" in a context of "trust and intimacy" relative to the moment, absolving the consequences of control in favor of the immediacy of human variables, and, coincidently perhaps, emphasizing the physical and personal space in which their sounds resonate, overlap, alternate.

Such spatial considerations are a primary factor in identifying how the situational sounds energize and articulate each moment, in the manner in which Impressionist painter Henri Matisse was given to confess, "I don't paint things. I paint the relation between things." In much the same way - alluded to in Sei Miguel's dedication - the few surviving pieces by Chinese landscape artist Fan Kuan (c. 960 - c. 1030) reflect an awareness of space as the energizing principle in which objects and images (or in this case, sounds) discover their significance within an environment of possibilities - an implied relationship of details that coexist independently throughout the perspectives of foreground, background, and beyond. The next step is merely the abstraction of space and imagery (or the predetermination of song form) into its essential qualities, akin to Kandinsky's improvised "Compositions" or the "push/pull" reciprocity of Hans Hofmann's abstracts.

That said, there are individual characteristics that affect our perception of the flow, cessation, and singularity of events heard here, and serve to identify and intensify the moment - acute spontaneous gestures of tone, timing, phrasing, rhythmic placement, and silence. Sei Miguel's pocket trumpet conveys equal measures of narrative weight and cautious restraint, sharp accents and breath-contoured colors, melodic fragments and wistful, detached asides. Fala Mariam's trombone offers wry commentary, echoes clouds of opaque breath, grasps the shadows between the notes. Daniel Levin's cello slides in and out of areas of mysterious pitch, plucks subtle percussives, illuminates the contrast of brass and string textures, injects clues to a dramatic subtext.

Out of the ritualistic creative impulse that provokes such inspired activities, personal feeling generates form, just as form acknowledges the complexity of multiple viewpoints coexisting as an exacting fullness of their function. In this light, as Yogi Berra once reasoned, "That's too coincidental to be a coincidence." "-Art Lange, Chicago, December 2023


Artist Biographies

"Daniel Levin is "one of the outstanding cellists working in the vanguard arena" (All About Jazz), "ridiculously fluent, virtually overflowing with ideas" (New York City Jazz Record) and "very much the man to watch." (Penguin Guide to Jazz). No matter what setting he plays in, cellist Daniel Levin occupies a musical space bordered by many kinds of music, but fully defined by none of them.

"Demonstrating an impressive breadth of texture and contrast, the cellist Daniel Levin comes well prepared for a career in jazz's contemporary avant-garde." (Nate Chinen, The New York Times).

Elements of European classical music, American jazz, microtonal and new music, and European free improvisation all figure prominently in his unique sound. As critic John Sharpe observes in The New York City Jazz Record, "he invokes all manner of musics with prodigious skill: jazz, classical, improv, noise, vocal chorus. His technique is unquestioned and he revels in the physicality of the instrument. Those with an adventurous streak or interest in the outer reaches of the cello universe will find much to savor."

Born in Burlington, Vermont, he began playing the cello at the age of six. In 2001, he graduated with a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, and arrived on New York City jazz scene shortly therafter. Since then, Daniel has developed his own unique voice as a cellist, improviser, and composer. Ed Hazell noted upon release of Levin's first record as a leader, "Cellist Daniel Levin is a major new voice on his instrument and in improvised music." He has performed and/or recorded with Billy Bang, Borah Bergman, Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Gerald Cleaver, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Dresser, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, Joe Morris, William Parker, Ivo Perelman, Warren Smith, Ken Vandermark, and many others. Daniel is the recipient of a 2010 Jerome Foundation award."

-Daniel Levin Website (http://daniel-levin.com/about)
10/2/2024

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

"Born in Lisbon. Some academic training did not foster in her an interest for musical creation. In 1980, during a trip to the north of India, she intuited the sacred fire of true music, that she will find again in the more initiatic jazz and the gratifying discovery of several trombonists. Sei Miguel´s "sideman" since 1983, she partakes in all his works."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
10/2/2024

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

"Plays his trumpet with complete awareness of the whole Jazz history while dealing, as a music director, with the full spectrum of sound sources in a broad range of innovative (and often strange) solutions, including frequent use of electronics. He has created his own music system, allowing him to take his open pieces to a high degree of perfection.

Director, arranger and trumpeter, Sei Miguel considers himself a simple jazzman, which, he says, isn't always easy. Born in 1961, Paris, lived in Brazil and France until settling down in Portugal during the 80's. Since 1986 he has been directing formations of variable geometry. Having performed in Portugal, Germany, Italy and Brazil, among his many regular collaborators are not only guitarists Rafael Toral and Manuel Mota, but also extraordinaire trombone player and painter Fala Mariam and virtuoso percussionist César Burago. Miguel has also written music for theater and ballet."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
10/2/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Song One 4:42

2. Aviones 4:56

3. The First Lady 5:32

4. Atrributed To Fan Kuan 6:20

5. Triptych 7:36

6. Ich-Du 12:41

7. Earth Song 4:43

8. As Carnival Masks 4:52

9. Dead Lips And Heaven 7:06

Related Categories of Interest:


Hat Art
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Chamber Jazz
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions
Collective Free Improvsation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Recent Releases and Best Sellers
New in Improvised Music

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