Press Enter by Romain Collin

Romain Collin

Press Enter

Price: € 22.95
Format: CD
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427958327
Catnr: ACT 9583-2
Release date: 15 May 2015
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Label
ACT music

UPC
0614427958327

Catalogue number
ACT 9583-2

Release date
15 May 2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

"I always associate visuals with music - and music with visuals," says New York based, french-born pianist and composer, Romain Collin. From the very first note on his ACT debut, Press Enter, his music creates evocative moving pictures which cast a spell on the listener. Vivid musical storytelling is at the core of Collin's vision. His compositions, built around powerful melodic themes, fascinate with their far-reaching dynamic and emotional range. Alongside drummer Kendrick Scott and bassist Luques Curtis, Collin's music moves seamlessly between dramatic crescendos and subtle ensemble interplay, whilst all at once creating striking imagery for the listeners.
Romain Collin first came to the piano at an early age through classical music. Shortly thereafter, he discovered Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner and Herbie Hancock, which unearthed a passion for jazz. After visiting New York for the first time at the age of fifteen, Collin made a vow to someday call this place his home. In 2001 - soon after his 20th Birthday - Collin took a major step towards his goal when he took up a scholarship to attend Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music. Romain was then accepted the highly coveted Masters Program at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA, after auditioning in front of his musical heroes, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter. Soon after, Collin got the chance to tour Vietnam and India with his mentors, of which recalls: "It was a unique opportunity not only to get to know them first hand as musicians, but also as human beings. We would all spend a lot of time together, go sightseeing before playing big shows where I would trade fours with Herbie! He's one of the reasons I became a pianist in the first place, so that was an unforgettable and incredibly formative experience."

After graduating from the Monk Institute, Collin fulfilled the dream of his youth and moved to New York City. On life as a NY musician, Collin says “...what makes New York special is its sheer intensity. There are so many amazing musicians on the NY scene that I am lucky to call my friends, and who are constantly inspiring me. Nothing really ever sits still here - it's all growth and discovery.”
Since moving to New York, Collin has rapidly made a name for himself, recording alongside the likes of Mike Stern, John McLaughlin, and Christian McBride, whilst also releasing two critically acclaimed albums as leader: The Rise and Fall of Pipokuhn (2009) and The Calling (2012). NPR (National Public Radio) calls him "a visionary composer, an extraordinary jazz pianist and a very bright young rising star in the jazz world", while The Boston Globe named him as being "among the leading lights of a new breed of jazz players". Meanwhile, Collin's flair for creating music with a strong visual element was given further expression over the course of several award-winning movie scores.

Press Enter merges Collin's influences into one cohesive and unique artistic vision; blending contemporary and traditional American jazz with European classical music and film scoring, framed within a modern production sensibility. The album title is indicative of Romain Collin's singularity of vision and uncompromised dedication to his path, qualities exemplified by the great Wayne Shorter. Collin remembers "While I was in India with Wayne, we had a discussion about having big plans - in life, or in music - but oftentimes not really acting upon them. Wayne then paused, and said to me "PRESS ENTER!". Then he left...but that stayed with me."

Artist(s)

Luques Curtis

Jean-Michel Pilc

Pianist and composer Jean-Michel Pilc has performed with numerous jazz giants including Roy Haynes, Billy Hart, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Rick Margitza, Kenny Werner, Martial Solal, Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Lenny White, Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, the Mingus Dynasty & Big Band, Lew Soloff andRichard Bona, among others. He has also worked with Harry Belafonteas his musical director and pianist, and has performed a duet with the legendary opera singer Jessye Norman. Jean-Michel’s renowned trio featuring bassist François Moutinand drummer Ari Hoenig has released numerous standout recordings, including Together - Live at Sweet Basil and NYC - Vol. 1 & 2 (2000),Welcome Home (2002), Cardinal Points (2004) and Live at Iridium, NYC(2004). The group later released Threedom in 2010 after reforming under the collective name Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig. An active solo performer who’s appeared in concert internationally,...

Jean-Michel’s renowned trio featuring bassist François Moutinand drummer Ari Hoenig has released numerous standout recordings, including Together - Live at Sweet Basil and NYC - Vol. 1 & 2 (2000),Welcome Home (2002), Cardinal Points (2004) and Live at Iridium, NYC(2004). The group later released Threedom in 2010 after reforming under the collective name Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig.

An active solo performer who’s appeared in concert internationally, Jean-Michel has released four critically-acclaimed solo piano records: Follow Me (2004), Essential (2011) and What Is This Thing Called? (2015), and a new solo double album, Parallel, released on Challenge Records in June 2018.

In addition to extensive work as a sideman in a variety of ensembles, Jean-Michel’s diverse other personal projects include Modern Lights, a composition reflecting on Charlie Chaplin’s work that was premiered at the Caramoor Jazz Festival in August 2009. The project was funded through a New Works Grant from Chamber Music America.Additionally, in 2013, Jean-Michel was granted a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, in the Music Composition category for the creation of Big One, a project featuring all new original music for octet. He was also the subject of a 2009 documentary by filmmaker John McCormick, titled Jean-Michel Pilc – A Portrait.

Jean-Michel has built a strong international reputation as a very unique educator. From 2006 to 2015, he was a NYU Steinhardt faculty member and gave private lessons (piano and other instruments), taught ensemble classes and held improvisation workshops. He also acted as Co-Director of NYU Summer Jazz Workshop in 2010. Jean-Michel also taught for the New School in New York City, as well as offering private lessons in his own studio.

Since September 2015, Jean-Michel has acted as Associate Professor at theSchulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. There, he teaches piano, jazz improvisation to all instruments and a Seminar on Improvisation in All Styles to 40 McGill jazz and classical students. He has acted as Schulich’sJazz Area Chair between 2016 and 2018. During this time, Jean-Michel has also founded the Improvisation Workshop Projectwith Rémi Bolduc, Kevin Dean and Jean-Nicolas Trottier, a research project funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC).

He is now a Challenge Records recording artist, and has released a new solo double album Parallel, in June 2018. He performs solo as well as with NYC-based groups such as: Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig, Total Madness Quintet, duo with Sam Newsome, and NYC Trio with Sam Minaie and Jerad Lippi.

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Romain Collin

Romain Collin is a Grammy-nominated pianist who has been praised by NPR as a 'visionary composer' and hailed by the Boston Globe as one of the 'leading lights of a new breed of jazz players.' The NY-based, French- American musician has developed “a highly personal and contemporary vision” (A Blog Supreme, NPR), a style “unique and engaging without obvious influences” (All About Jazz) that seamlessly blends improvisation, electronic sound design, indie rock, and film scoring. Collin's latest solo release, Tiny Lights... (XM, 2019), has been celebrated as 'a unique voice, a crystal clear vision' by UK VIBE. He followed this up with a full-length album of remixes, Tiny Lights... RMXS (2021). To accompany this record, Collin created a long-form music video...

Romain Collin is a Grammy-nominated pianist who has been praised by NPR as a "visionary composer" and hailed by the Boston Globe as one of the "leading lights of a new breed of jazz players." The NY-based, French- American musician has developed “a highly personal and contemporary vision” (A Blog Supreme, NPR), a style “unique and engaging without obvious influences” (All About Jazz) that seamlessly blends improvisation, electronic sound design, indie rock, and film scoring.

Collin's latest solo release, Tiny Lights... (XM, 2019), has been celebrated as "a unique voice, a crystal clear vision" by UK VIBE. He followed this up with a full-length album of remixes, Tiny Lights... RMXS (2021). To accompany this record, Collin created a long-form music video entitled SHE, in collaboration with director Matt Palmer, choreographer and dancer Alina Fatieieva, and lauded fashion designer Alexander Chen. SHE was selected for the Canada International Fashion Film Festival and the Istanbul Fashion Film Festival (2020), and was screened at the DeYoung museum in San Francisco. In 2022, Collin also founded FOSS, a project that combines original electro-pop music with breathtaking visuals. FOSS has performed at Burning Man's famed Robot Heart, Catharsis in collaboration with digital artist Refik Anadol and visionary architect Arthur Mamou-Mani, the Shed for the Sonic Sphere, various art galleries and other cutting-edge performing arts venues.

Collin's debut album as a leader, The Rise and Fall of Pipokuhn (Fresh Sound, 2009), was hailed as "an astonishingly mature and ambitious debut that secures Collin a placeholder in the continuing evolution of the grand tradition of the piano trio" by All About Jazz. He was soon after invited by legendary pianist Marian McPartland to her prestigious Piano Jazz show on NPR to discuss his artistic vision and perform solo piano. In 2012, Collin released his second album as a leader, The Calling (Palmetto). This opus was described as "a tour de force that showcases Collin’s strengths as an accomplished composer and virtuoso pianist of the highest order" by JazzEd Magazine, and as “a work of art that is worthy of being held onto for generations to come” (Eric Sandler, The Revivalist). His third release, Press Enter (ACT, 2015), was described by the New York Times as a "winning new album," hailed by Jazz journal, UK as an "absolute masterpiece," and praised by All About Jazz as an "extraordinary album."

Collin attended Berklee College of Music ('04), where he majored in Music Synthesis. He graduated from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz in 2007, where he held a Full Scholarship as the pianist of an ensemble handpicked by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Terence Blanchard. During this time, he toured internationally with Hancock and Shorter, shared the stage with Marcus Miller, Jimmy Heath, and Terence Blanchard, and studied with the likes of Larry Goldings, Russell Ferrante, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Mulgrew Miller, and Wynton Marsalis.

Collin is a co-leader of several critically acclaimed projects, among them a group with harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret and guitarist Bill Frisell, which released Americana (ACT, 2019) and earned a Grammy® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. He has released two duo records with singer Sachal Vasandani, Midnight Shelter (Edition, 2021) and Still Life (Edition, 2022), which have been praised by RadioFrance as “music that speaks with emotion and feeling, that does not allow virtuosity to take precedence over the meaning, expression and feeling of the song”. Collin is set to release a couple of duo records in collaboration with Björk’s longtime engineer and music director, Bergur Thorisson.

Romain has composed numerous scores for films such as This Land (a feature documentary directed by Matthew Palmer), Anthem and Syria (mini-documentaries produced by Peace Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai), Le Brésil par la Côte (five-part feature documentary, 2014), Les Airventuriers (two-part feature documentary, 2015), various short documentaries for the United Nations Refugee Agency as well as numerous award-wining short movies.

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Kendrick Scott

Drummer Kendrick Scott is a technically proficient and intuitive modern jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and bandleader with a bent toward expansive post-bop. Steeped in the lineage of Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, and Elvin Jones, he is best known as the leader of the Kendrick Scott Oracle, and has also toured and recorded with a host of jazz all-stars including Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, the Crusaders, Kenny Garrett, Gary Burton, Roy Hargrove, Pat Metheny, and many others. His playing style is at once imaginative, lyrical, and versatile. As a bandleader, he arrived in 2007 with the Oracle's The Source, issued by his own World Culture Music label, and he's garnered an abundance of attention for his canny senses of swing and groove. Since then, he has recorded under his own name with his longstanding Oracle band that includes...

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