Good Days At Schloss Elmau

Gwilym Simcock - Near and NowCD / digital Gwilym Simcock piano “Near and Now” is Gwilym Simcock's second full album for solo piano. The first, the highly successful “Good Days at Schloss Elmau” from 2011, was his ACT debut. That early album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and was an important step in establishing the Welsh-born pianist's reputation internationally. It has also stood the test of time, a fact which is at least in part due to the strong architectural sense that Simcock always brings to his work as both composer and improviser. As he says: “I have always enjoyed the challenge to make sure that a piece of music has a satisfying arc to it – it should take you on a journey whether it is composed or improvised.” As the Daily Telegraph’s Ivan Hewett’s wrote of “Elmau” at the time: “Simcock has a feeling for the way harmony can create architecture as well as momentary colours – a rare gift.” Simcock's talent was singled out as special in his early twenties, most notably by Chick Corea: “Gwilym’s an original. A creative genius.” In 2006 he achieved a unique distinction when he became the first ever jazz musician to be invited to join the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artists scheme. In more recent times, since May 2016 he has been travelling the world as a member of Pat Metheny's Quartet. But that high-profile involvement is just a part of the current story. Simcock is also an in-demand composer, whose recent commissions include the London Symphony Orchestra’s percussion ensemble, Sinfonia Cymru in Cardiff and a third major commission from Hamburg’s NDR Big Band.The time while travelling the world with Metheny and his all-star quartet has been put to good use. Simcock explains: “In the last six months or so, whilst away from home, I spent my spare time writing new music for a second solo album. I actually wrote much more, but quite a few of the pieces expanded.” In the new album, recorded at Simcock's home in Berlin, the pianist is aiming for an “honest and personal sound,” for which he cites Keith Jarrett’s home-recorded album “The Melody At Night, With You” as a model. The instrument is a newly-acquired Steinway “B” from around 1900, completely custom-rebuilt for Simcock by the Klangmanufaktur partnership in Hamburg. Each of the pieces on the album has another piano player as its dedicatee, and yet two things shine through consistently. First is the increasingly distinctive and individual musical personality of Simcock; and equally important is the sense of enjoyment which colours his whole music making process: his credo about listening is above all “to know why you are enjoying something.” And playing? “To be able to make music that you know you'd want to listen to yourself.” Each piece has a different trajectory. The first piece, in three tracks, dedicated to Billy Childs, is the one which has the most compositional input, whereas the last, a tip of the hat to Egberto Gismonti, is the most improvised, the most intent on the building of texture and atmosphere. The first part of that piece is a reverie. In the joyous epilogue to the piece, Simcock describes it as increasingly acquiring “a driving feel, but not in a virtuosic way," a description which could also be applied to other joyous and lively episodes of the album. "Inveraray Air", the piece for Yellowjackets pianist Russell Ferrante is an astonishing, mighty piece of organic construction, based at least in part on just one tiny four-note melodic cell. And Mehldau? An aspect of his solo playing that Simcock enjoys is “a specific rhythmic focus, quite a rocky side.” And at the mid-point of the album, perhaps its emotional heart, is a short and beautiful 'thank you', which stands in contrast to the larger structures around it. Simcock has dedicated the transparently poetic “You’re My You” to his first jazz piano teacher and mentor in Manchester from the ages of 14 to 18, Les Chisnall. “He has a very warm and giving approach to music, and that spirit is what I wanted to convey,” says Simcock. Warmth and generosity are what make a happy home, and this offering, direct from Simcock's own house has plenty of both. Plus dazzling beauty, and above all enjoyment.Credits: Recorded at home in Berlin, November 2018 Recording Engineer: Gwilym Simcock Studio Engineer: Florian Pfeifle Mixed and Mastered by Florian Pfeifle, Nils Nöhden & Gwilym Simcock Piano tuned by Teresa Hauptmann Cover art by Mimmo Paladino, by kind permission of the artist

Gwilym Simcock - InstrumationCD / digital Move!: City of London Sinfonia conducted by Clark Rundell Gwilym Simcock piano Yuri Goloubev double bass Martin France drums John Parricelli guitarSimple Tales: Thomas Gould violin Will Schofield cello Gwilym Simcock piano Yuri Goloubev double bass Martin France drums I wrote 'Move!' for myself on piano with the City of London Sinfonia in Spring 2011. When the opportunity came to record it I decided to enhance the rhythmic aspect of the music by creating a trio with Yuri and Martin at the heart of the piece. This allowed me to explore further the improvised sections of the music, and although I've been a little more selfish than usual in taking most of the solo spots, it is the interplay of the rhythm section as a whole which I feel gives the music its drive and energy. The suite runs straight through as one long piece of music, with solo interludes providing a link between the varying styles of the three movements, and providing a contrast to the through-composed nature of them. 'Clunky' is based on a very simple harmonic progression, the bass line of which is mapped out by the cello right from the initial statement. It blossoms out from this basic 4-section form, and develops with space for myself to improvise over an orchestral backing that builds underneath. This textural scheme reappears throughout the suite, and one of the interesting challenges in the mixing process was to weigh up the importance of the piano and the orchestra to create a satisfactory 'foreground' and 'background' to the music. For me the piano is simply an instrument of the ensemble, but sometimes the importance of the solo line needs to take precedence, and I hope we arrived at a successful 'blend' of these two in the end. 'Columns' refers to the initial theme, stated by the piano (coming out of the improvised interlude), which has a stately, almost chorale/organ-like feel to it. Again, the piano leads the movement from a soloist's point of view, but also has the job of fitting into the texture of the orchestra as a whole. As the movement develops, I wanted the harmonic progression to feel not only vertical but also have a strong sense of the horizontal, so the main improvised piano solo is accompanied by a lighter approach to the bass than would maybe be the case in a more conventional jazz context. At the end is a clearly stated progression of seven chords, which brings a conclusion to the harmonic arc that I wanted to create across this movement. The second piano interlude is quite programmatic - a firing up and winding up of the 'machine' that is the spirit of 'Industrial'. In recent years I’ve tried to develop the rhythmic side of my piano playing, as well as the exploring the possibilities of becoming more expansive and less restrained in my approach to music making in general. I owe a big thanks to my fellow pianists Michael Wollny and Iiro Rantala for their inspiration in this regard - I learned a lot from playing with them recently on an ACT piano summit tour. This movement has an almost constant mechanical drive to it - beautifully led by the energetic but sensitive playing of Martin and Yuri – and this, I hope, provides an exciting climax to the suite. 'Industrial' is dedicated to my Dad, and his love of all things industrial - not to mention his fondness for a tune you can actually tap your feet to! ‘Simple Tales’ requires a little less explanation. I feel, save to say that it was originally a commission for Classical piano trio (violin, cello and piano) that I wanted to augment (as with 'Move!') by adding bass and drums. The suite has been reworked to make it more suitable for this line-up, but essentially it is a collection of more straightforward tunes that are a little more conventional in form and hopefully a suitable contrast to 'Move!' Part of me wanted to expand this line-up further, along the lines of the excellent chamber music albums made by Billy Childs in America, but I concluded that a quintet would be a more effective way to complete this recording. 'Dance!' is dedicated to my Mum and her great enjoyment of Celtic folk music. 'Mr. Bricolage' is inspired by a French builders’ merchants.Gwilym SimcockCredits:Music composed by Gwilym Simcock Produced by Gwilym Simcock Executive Producer Siggi Loch Cover art by Tony Cragg, Outspan, 2007 © VG BildKunst Recorded on 19/20 November, 2012 at Angel Studios, London. Mixed and Mastered by Gwilym Simcock and Curtis Schwartz at Berry House Studios, Ardingly

Gwilym Simcock - Duo Art: Reverie at Schloss ElmauCD / digital Gwilym Simcock piano Yuri Goloubev bass It seems inevitable that the highly acclaimed, virtuosic pianist-composer Gwilym Simcock and multi-award winning double bassist-composer Yuri Goloubev would one day record together in a duo once their paths had crossed. That moment has come with the new recording Reverie at Schloss Elmau on the award-winning ACT label. One born in Wales, the other in Russia, most of Europe stands between them. But in terms of their musical journeys, they appear to have been leading parallel lives. Both were classical music prodigies and have world-class techniques on their respective instruments. Both of them were set on a lifelong career path in the concert hall, Goloubev the elder of the pair at 41, was for twelve years the principal double bassist for the Grammy-nominated Moscow Soloists, widely considered one of the most distinguished chamber ensembles in the world. As a child Simcock achieved the highest music exam grade for in the whole of the UK at just 11 years old. He studied piano, French horn and composition at Chetham's School of Music, before going on to study jazz piano at London's Royal Academy of Music. They first met in 2005 on a recording date with Klaus Gesing - Heartluggage (ATS 2006) and there was an instant rapport between the pair of them. They then went on to record a trio album with asaf Sirkis - "SGS Group, Inc. presents" (2008) then on Yuri's album "Metafore Semplici" with Klaus, Asaf and an Italian trumpet player Giovanni Falzone (Universal, 2009) plus a couple of other less significant works. In 2008 Goloubev recorded with Simcock for his second piano trio CD "Blues Vignette" (Basho 2009). Simcock has remarked on their closeness, as to how they both have perfect pitch, “so when the music is free, it’s easy to make instant music because we both know what we’re playing at any one time. It’s easier to second guess what’s coming next. What I like about Yuri’s playing is it’s very linear. It comes from a strong melodic background and when he plays arco it’s this incredibly rich tenor sound.” This is very much in evidence on Reverie at Schloss Elmau. Simcock has been before to the cultural retreat set in the Bavarian Alps, referred to in the album title. It was there that in 2011 he recorded his solo debut Good Days in Schloss Elmau for ACT, for which he was nominated for the high profile Mercury Music Prize in the UK. Simcock says the opening track of the new CD, ‘Pastoral’ is, “written with the beautiful surroundings of Elmau very much in mind”. The spontaneous, ambient free-interplay between bass and piano that opens the piece is punctuated by Simcock’s deliciously mysterious theme, perhaps also a dedication to his father’s great love for Russian classical music especially Prokofiev and Stravinsky, something that rubbed off on him while growing up. But nineteenth century ‘romanticism’ is the classical era that perhaps resonates the most with both musicians. This is apparent on Goloubev’s ‘Lost Romance’, as well a piece sprinkled with Simcock’s artfully sophisticated jazz harmony. The interaction between bass and piano at the piece’s climax has the fluency and give-and-take of a deep conversation between close friends. ‘Antics’ is more for fun, with its impishly dance-like rhythmic piano vamp, written by Simcock, “to be performed on 50 battered old pianos around the streets and parks of London in summer 2012 and with two dancers.” ‘A Joy Forever’ could be a song without words. The Russian’s richly-hued, singing arco bass is backed by a simple melancholic piano accompaniment by Simcock. Then Goloubev switches to fingered bass as he does seamlessly throughout the recording; his playing here reminiscent of a hero to both, the great Jaco Pastorious, especially the kind of highly expressive, interweaving lines on the classic recordings he made with Joni Mitchell. The album moves from an instrumental version of singer-songwriter jazz-pop to its classical equivalent: Goloubev’s ‘Non-Schumann Lied’ is a reflection of his “love of German composers of the nineteenth century although,” he says, “this one should really have been called ‘Non-Brahms Symphony’”. On ‘Flow’, Simcock’s galloping solo sees him merging both languages of jazz and classical as if they have always co-existed. The final track is the only non-original, ‘Reverie’ written by the nineteenth century Italian romantic composer and virtuoso double bassist Giovanni Bottesini. “ This one I know from my student years, as it forms part of the ‘standard’ classical bass repertoire,” says Goloubev. “Here rather than sticking to the original piano part, Gwilym follows the jazz charts that we derived from it.” It’s yet another example that reveals the duo’s twin ambitions. That is to integrate the worlds of classical and jazz as they hear and feel them, then to filter it into a freshly cohesive identity. On the exquisite duo recording Reverie at Schoss Elmau, they have certainly reached a new peak in that ambition. Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch with the artists Recorded at Schloss Elmau by Adrian von Ripka, March 13, 2013 Mixed & mastered by Adrian von Ripka. Piano Tuner: Rudi Moser The Art in Music: Cover art (Detail) by Philip Taaffe / ACT Art Collection

Various Artists - Duo Art: Creating MagicCD / digitalDuo Art – it is the most reduced form of making music together, while no less rewarding. When it succeeds it is the smallest big-band in the world. Two people all alone, in harmony and competition. Complementing each other, scrutinising, and telling each other their opinion – a fascinating ear-to-ear dialogue. Spontaneous and intense, call and response – jazz in its purest form. A musical tight-rope act without a safety net. Ideally, wonderful art results. The duet can be found all through the history of jazz. The oeuvre of every great jazz musician simply cannot be without its duet recording. The duet has also always been a source of fascination for ACT: "How will two musicians react to one another? Will they find a common ground and will it lead them to new heights?" To this day, ACT continues to seek new answers to these questions, and it dares to experiment with the most diverse of musician constellations. "Creating Magic" is a presentation of more than 20 years of ACT Duo Art and the musical trailer for the new ACT Duo Art series that documents magical dialogues. As early as in the initial ACT program in 1992, Jasper van‘t Hof, Bob Malach and Wayne Krantz joined forces in various duos. The Swedish pianist Jan Johansson is considered a pioneer of Scandinavian jazz. With "Jazz på svenska" (Jazz in Swedish) he paved jazz a road into folk music, significantly in a duet with Georg Riedel on the bass. Siggi Loch experienced the two musicians in 1964 in Hamburg at the NDR Jazzworkshop, and 30 years later he wrote further pages in the story of "Swedish Folk - Modern" together with Nils Landgren and Esbjörn Svensson. Together with the Polish piano high-flyer Leszek Możdżer, Swedish master bassist Lars Danielsson also achieves a harmonious symbiosis on "Pasodoble" that is rare to behold. Together they attain an unheard-of level of interaction and esprit. Iiro Rantala and Michael Wollny created an ethereal musical moment in their dialogue on two grand pianos on "Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic" in December 2012: "Tears For Esbjörn" is a poignant homage to the piano visionary Esbjörn Svensson, who died in 2008. Wollny can also be heard in duet on "Creating Magic": the unreleased "Polygon", recorded at Schloss Elmau, with the Norwegian saxophone shooting star Marius Neset, is the first ever meeting of these two, perhaps most important young European jazz musicians of our time, and it shows in no uncertain terms that the future is bright. The sampler ends with a track that has, in its own tragic way, gained a place in jazz history: "You Stole My Heart" is the last recording that Eddie Harris made, briefly before his passing. After the concert recordings with the WDR Big Band, which can also be heard on "The Last Concert", he asked pianist Gil Goldstein to stay for an extra night session. One last time he exposed his soul in the song he dedicated to his wife. Back in Los Angeles he was hospitalised and died on 5 November 1996.Credits: Compilation produced by Siggi Loch and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann The Art in Music: Cover art (Detail) by Philip Taaffe / ACT Art Collection

A masterful jazz trio blending Celtic influences, complex rhythms, and harmonic depth – Simcock, Sirkis & Garland in perfect symbiosis.

Gwilym Simcock piano Chick Corea calls him an "original, a creative genius" and Jamie Cullum, undisputed star of British jazz, declares him "our best young piano player". Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch with the artist Recorded at Schloss Elmau by Florian Oestreicher, September 2, 2010. Mixed and mastered by Curtis Schwartz and Gwilym Simcock