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Jazzics

Matangi Quartet

Jazzics

Format: CD
Label: Buzz
UPC: 0608917611427
Catnr: ZZ 76114
Release date: 10 September 2014
1 CD
 
Label
Buzz
UPC
0608917611427
Catalogue number
ZZ 76114
Release date
10 September 2014

""In addition to passages that the members chose themselves, you can hear the respect for the work of the composers""

Jazzbulletin, 01-12-2014
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
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About the album

Jazzics! is the new album of Matangi Quartet and is an ode to jazz from a classical point of view. After years of collaboration with a wide variety of jazz-greats such as Eric Vloeimans, Wolfert Brederode and Michiel Braam, these collaborations have inspired and challenged Matangi to develop musically, both as individual musicians and as a quartet. With compositions of Chick Corea, Martin Fondse, Michiel Braam and Wolfert Brederode, this classical string quartet enters the spotlights of the jazz scene!

About the music:
‘The Adventures of Hippocrates’ is a suite of five movements, expressive and rhythmical with influences from jazz and latin-american music which will take you by the hand and lead you through the wonderful world of Chick Corea. Corea summarizes the five movements as tango, waltz, ballad, rock feel and a finale with a “swiftly moving” tempo.

The complex piece ‘Facing Death’ by Louis Andriessen is based on the idea that Charlie Parker had to play so many notes in such a short time because he knew he would die young. Bebop solos for string quartet, the alternating soundscapes and rhythmical features that unite at the end make this piece a challenge for every string quartet.

Michiel Braam wrote ‘Black to White’ especially for the Jazzics! album. After working and recording with Michiel during his successful tour with the Hybrid Tentet, we asked him to write a piece for the four of us. His “out-of-the-box” way of composing, makes his music an essential addition to this album.

In the heartbreaking but unsentimental novel ‘Schaduwkind’ (Shadow Child), by P.F. Thomése (1958), the author desperately searches for the right words to describe his desolation after the sudden loss of his daughter who passed away in her infancy. Wolfert Brederode, deeply touched by the words, decided to compose a piece with the same title. We feel privileged that this beautiful and introvert piece is
dedicated to us!

A few years ago, Martin Fondse wrote an amazing piece called ‘Testimoni’ for trumpeter Eric Vloeimans and the Matangi Quartet. The album Testimoni was rewarded with the highest Dutch jazz-album price, the Edison Jazz. Playing more and more with Martin, we thought it was time to ask him for a piece just for string quartet. We are very happy he agreed and finished this breathtaking piece just in time for the recording.
Jazzics! is het avontuurlijke jubileumalbum van het Matangi Quartet en beoogt het samensmelten van klassieke muziek en jazz, en aan de andere kant de spanningsvelden en contrasten tussen deze genres hoor- en voelbaar maken. Daarbij weerspiegelt het programma zowel de klassieke eigenheid van het kwartet als de onbedwingbare hang naar avontuur en het opzoeken van de grenzen van het genre.


Geïnspireerd door de jazzlegende Charlie Parker, schreef Louis Andriessen “Facing Death”. Als centraal thema voor deze compositie, gebruikte hij voornamelijk het hoge tempo waar Parker zo bekend voor was. “Hij had haast in zijn leven, vandaar ook de titel”, zei Andriessen in een interview. Ook verwijzingen naar het bekende Ornithology zijn terug te horen in dit werk. Het Matangi Quartet heeft persoonlijk contact met de Louis Andriessen en reeds toestemming om het werk op te nemen en uit te voeren.

Origineel gecomponeerd in opdracht voor het Orion String Quartet in 1994, is “Adventures of Hippocrates” het eerste werk van pianist Chick Corea waarbij hij niet rondom een solist schreef, maar vier gelijke partijen componeerde. Een uitdaging, voornamelijk om de “groove” in noten om te zetten binnen de traditie van een klassiek strijkkwartet. Het is een intrigerend stuk, waarbij de distinctieve stijl van Corea niet te missen valt.

In uitbereiding op deze stukken en ter verrijking van het repertoire heeft het Matangi Quartet componist/jazzpianist Michiel Braam, componist/pianist Wolfert Brederode, componist/toetsenist Martin Fondse en componist/pianist Jef Neve gevraagd een stuk voor strijkkwartet te componeren. Zij zullen vanuit hun jazztraditie als componist in het klassieke genre van het strijkkwartet duiken. Oene van Geel heeft een 3-delig werk geschreven, opgedragen aan het Matangi Quartet, getiteld “Brazilian Heroes”.
Jazzics!, das neue Album des Matangi Quartets, ist eine Ode an den Jazz aus einem klassischen Blickwinkel. Nach Jahren der Zusammenarbeit mit einer Vielzahl an Jazz-Größen wie Eric Vloeimans, Wolfert Brederode und Michiel Braam haben diese Begegnungen Matangi inspiriert und auch zur musikalischen Weiterentwicklung herausgefordert, als individuelle Musiker und auch als Quartett. Mit Kompositionen von Chick Corea, Martin Fondse, Michiel Braam und Wolfert Brederode steht dieses klassische Streichquartett auch im Scheinwerferlicht der Jazz-Szene!

Artist(s)

Matangi Quartet

The Matangi Quartet was founded in 1999 by four young musicians then studying at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Conservatory of Rotterdam. In 2003 Matangi completed the two-year, full-time course at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy under the direction of Stefan Metz (cellist, Orlando Quartet). At the Academy, the Matangi Quartet had the opportunity to take lessons from international renowned musicians, including the members of the Amadeus Quartet. The quartet also received intensive mentoring from Henk Guittart (violist, Schönberg Quartet) for several years. The Matangi Quartet has since developed into a regular performer in the Dutch chamber music scene and abroad. With their impassioned playing and smart presentation, Maria-Paula, Daniel, Karsten and Arno epitomize a new generation of...
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The Matangi Quartet was founded in 1999 by four young musicians then studying at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Conservatory of Rotterdam. In 2003 Matangi completed the two-year, full-time course at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy under the direction of Stefan Metz (cellist, Orlando Quartet). At the Academy, the Matangi Quartet had the opportunity to take lessons from international renowned musicians, including the members of the Amadeus Quartet. The quartet also received intensive mentoring from Henk Guittart (violist, Schönberg Quartet) for several years.
The Matangi Quartet has since developed into a regular performer in the Dutch chamber music scene and abroad. With their impassioned playing and smart presentation, Maria-Paula, Daniel, Karsten and Arno epitomize a new generation of classical musicians. They are often characterized by words such as communicative, provocative and refreshingly versatile. The Matangi Quartet has shared the stage with various top-class classical musicians such as the Schönberg Quartet, the Royal Quartet, Miranda van Kralingen, Tania Kross, Ivo Janssen, Paolo Giacometti and Severin von Eckardstein.
The quartet has also been invited to perform in various festivals and concert series, including the Delft Chamber Music Festival, the Amsterdam Grachtenfestival, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Orlando Festival, the Robeco Summer Concert Series in Amsterdam, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Festival van Carthage in Tunisia, the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai and the International Conservatoire Festival in St Petersburg. Since 2005 the quartet has presented its own concert series in the ‘Beurs van Berlage’ in Amsterdam.
In 2002 Matangi was awarded the prestigious Kersjes van de Groenekan Award, an annual prize awarded to exceptional chamber music talent in the Netherlands. In 2008 the quartet won third prize at the International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition in Weimar. The Matangi Quartet released several CDs issued by Challenge Records International which all received great critical acclaim. The latest releases were the CDs ‘Mendelssohn’ (2009) and ‘Candybox’ (2010). Together with viola da gamba player Ralph Rousseau the quartet won the Edison Audience Award 2009, for their CD ‘Chansons d’amour’ (Challenge Records 2008).
Matangi regularly participates in innovative crossover projects and has performed in collaboration with artists such as cabaretiers Herman van Veen and Youp van ’t Hek, bandoneon player Carel Kraayenhof, jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, DJ Kypski, jazz vocalists Mathilde Santing and Renske Taminiau, singer songwriters Lory Liebermann and Tom McRae. These pioneering excursions beyond the borders of classical music have resulted in Matangi winning an enthusiastic new public for the string quartet. No less important, this has provided a source of inspiration for infusing performances of the rich classical repertoire built up over the past 250 years – from Haydn to Adès – with new élan. For essentially, the Matangi are focused on just one thing: letting the audience palpably experience the energy, passion and excitement that is inherent in all good music.
All four musicians perform on instruments of Dutch workmanship. The cello and first violin have been provided on loan by the Dutch National Musical Instrument Foundation.
Who is Matangi? Matangi is the Indian goddess of speech, music and writing. The vina that she carries in her hand is an instrument that produces deep sounds with pleasing overtones. Matangi transports her listeners with her playing on the strings of passion, fervour, love and ecstasy.

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Composer(s)

Chick Corea

Early careerCorea's first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition 'Chick's Tune', a clever retooling of 'You Stepped Out of a Dream' that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.)His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now...
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Early careerCorea's first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition "Chick's Tune", a clever retooling of "You Stepped Out of a Dream" that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.)His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Roy Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitouš on bass.
He made another sideman appearance with Stan Getz on 1967's Sweet Rain (Verve Records).
Avant garde periodFrom 1968 to 1971 Chick Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis, his recordings with Circle, and his playing on Joe Farrell's Song of the Wind album on CTI Records.
In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis' band and appeared on landmark albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis' rhythm section of Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette combined elements of free jazz improvisation and rock music. Corea experimented using electric instruments with the Davis band, mainly the Fender Rhodes electric piano.
In live performance he frequently processed the output of his electric piano with a device called a ring modulator, producing sounds reminiscent of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970, with a great touring band of Steven Grossman, tenor sax, Keith Jarrett, additional electric piano and organ, Jack DeJohnette, drums, Dave Holland, bass, Airto Moreira, percussion, and Miles on trumpet.
Holland and Corea left to form their own group, Circle, active between 1970 and 1971. This free jazz group featured multi-reed player Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. This band was documented on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972 Corea struck out on his own.
The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life — in 1968, 1969 or so — was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.
Jazz FusionIn the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements. He founded Return to Forever in 1971. This band had a fusion sound and even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. On its first two records, Return to Forever featured Flora Purim's vocals, the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and Joe Farrell's flute and soprano saxophone. Airto Moreira played drums. Corea's compositions for this group often had a Brazilian tinge. In 1972 Corea played many of the early Return to Forever songs in a group he put together for Stan Getz. This group, with Stanley Clarke on bass and Tony Williams on drums, recorded the Columbia label album Captain Marvel under Getz's name.
Only Clarke remained from the group's first lineup; Bill Connors played electric guitar and Lenny White played drums. No one replaced vocalist Purim. (Briefly, in 1977, Corea's wife, Gayle Moran, served as vocalist in the band.) In 1974 Al Di Meola joined the band, replacing Connors. In this second version of Return to Forever, Corea extended the use of synthesizers, particularly Moogs. The group released its final studio record in 1977. Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.
Corea's composition "Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists. There are also a variety of subsequent recordings by Corea himself in various contexts, including an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999, and a collaborative piano and voice-as-instrument arrangement with Bobby McFerrin on the 1992 album Play. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' "Sketches of Spain".
In 1976 he issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Moran and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
The late Ana Mazzotti, a Brazilian jazz pianist and vocalist, dedicated what is perhaps her last ever recorded track, "Grand Chick", to Chick Corea. The song may be found on her "Ao Vivo Guaruja 1982" album. As Ana Mazzotti worked with Brazilian jazz fusion masters Azymuth in her first album, it was further testament to Chick Corea's influence in the genre.
Duet projectsIn the 1970s Corea started working occasionally with vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums on ECM, including 1972's Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called The New Crystal Silence (which has received 3 nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards) was issued shortly into 2008. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc featuring the Sydney Symphony.
Later, toward the end of the 1970s, Corea embarked on a series of concerts and two albums with Herbie Hancock. These concerts were presented in elegant settings with both pianists formally dressed, and performing on Yamaha concert grand pianos. The two jazz greats traded playing each other's compositions, as well as pieces by other composers such as Béla Bartók.
In December 2007 Corea recorded a duet album, The Enchantment, with banjoist Bela Fleck. Fleck and Corea toured extensively behind the album in 2007. Fleck was nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category at the 49th Grammy Awards for the track "Spectacle."In 2008 Corea collaborated with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara on the live album Duet (Chick Corea and Hiromi). The duo played a concert at Tokyo's Budokan arena on April 30.
Later workCorea's other bands include the Elektric Band, the Akoustic Band, and Origin.
The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989, and featured John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a turn back toward traditional jazz in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have been acoustic ones. The Akoustic Band also provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short Luxo Jr. with their song The Game Maker.
In 1992 Corea started his own record label, Stretch Records.
In 2001 the Chick Corea New Trio, with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard on bass and drums, respectively, released the album Past, Present & Futures. The 11-song album includes only one standard composition (Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals.
He also participated in 1998's Like Minds, which features Gary Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Dave Holland on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.
Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in contemporary classical music. He composed his first piano concerto — and an adaptation of his signature piece, Spain for a full symphony orchestra — and performed it in 1999 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work not to feature any keyboards: His String Quartet No. 1, specifically written for and performed by the highly acclaimed Orion String Quartet on 2004's Summerfest.
Corea has continued releasing jazz fusion concept albums such as To the Stars (2004) and Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
In 2008 the second version of Return to Forever (Corea, keyboards; Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums; Al Di Meola, guitar) reunited for a worldwide tour. The reunion received positive reviews from most jazz and mainstream publications.Most of the group's studio recordings were re-released on the compilation Return to Forever: The Anthology to coincide with the tour. A concert DVD recorded during their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was released in May 2009. He is recently working on a collaboration CD with the Grammy Award winning jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, due to be released in August 2009.
A new group, the 5 Peace Band, which features Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin began a world tour in October 2008. Corea previously worked with McLaughlin in Miles Davis' late-1960s bands, including the group that recorded Davis' album Bitches Brew. Joining Corea and McLaughlin in the 5 Peace Band are saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and bassist Christian McBride. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta played with the band in Europe and on select North American dates; Brian Blade played all dates in Asia and Australia, and most dates in North America.

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Louis Andriessen

Louis Andriessen undoubtedly belongs to the most influential Dutch composers of his generation. He studied under Kees van Baaren en Luciano Berio and formed together with Peter Schat and Reinbert de Leeuw a composers collective who together composed the famous operia Reconstruction. As a member of de Notenkrakers (a Dutch political movement) he was rebelling against the established musical order and he became an advocate for progressive music. Andriessen's true breakthrough came with his large-scaled work De Staat (The Republic) from 1976. Here you can influences of Stravinsky, jazz and American minimalism in favour of his earlier neoclassicism and serialism. De Staat was soon followed by monumental works such as Mausoleum (1979), De Tijd (1981) en De Snelheid (1983) which all culminated in his magnum opus De Materie (1989). In this work, all...
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Louis Andriessen undoubtedly belongs to the most influential Dutch composers of his generation. He studied under Kees van Baaren en Luciano Berio and formed together with Peter Schat and Reinbert de Leeuw a composers collective who together composed the famous operia Reconstruction. As a member of de Notenkrakers (a Dutch political movement) he was rebelling against the established musical order and he became an advocate for progressive music. Andriessen's true breakthrough came with his large-scaled work De Staat (The Republic) from 1976. Here you can influences of Stravinsky, jazz and American minimalism in favour of his earlier neoclassicism and serialism. De Staat was soon followed by monumental works such as Mausoleum (1979), De Tijd (1981) en De Snelheid (1983) which all culminated in his magnum opus De Materie (1989). In this work, all of Andriessen's characteristic elements come together.

As a professor in composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, he is regarded as the founder of the so-called The Hague school, of which the musical elements can be described as loud, aggressive, and stripped of every neo-romantic sentiment, just like Andriessen's music.


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Press

"In addition to passages that the members chose themselves, you can hear the respect for the work of the composers"
Jazzbulletin, 01-12-2014

"The quartet provides excellent and catchy interpretations"
Music Emotion, 01-11-2014

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Often bought together with..

Candybox
Matangi Quartet
Edvard Grieg, David Monrad Johansen, Julius Röntgen
Scandinavia
Matangi Quartet

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