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The Alaska Sessions - Accidental Tourists

Markus Burger / Peter Erskine / Bob Magnusson

The Alaska Sessions - Accidental Tourists

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917346824
Catnr: CR 73468
Release date: 15 February 2019
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917346824
Catalogue number
CR 73468
Release date
15 February 2019

"This trio plays jazz that will stand the test of time, purely because it's jazz that builds on tradition in everything."

Draai om je oren, 08-2-2020
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Artist(s)
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About the album

Markus Burger:
"Since I was a child, I have loved the outdoors and fell in love with the vast wilderness of Alaska and Iceland. In 2000 I visited Iceland for the first time and wrote most of the songs for my solo piano release Ultreya, which came out in 2001 on Jazzline Records.
It took me until 2002 to go to Alaska and visit Valdez and the Kenai Peninsula.
I was blown away by the beauty of Alaska and the uniqueness of the folks that live there. Through my affiliation with Idyllwild’s Jazz Academy director Marshall Hawkins, one of the finest bassists on the Westcoast and a great Jazz Educator, I was fortunate enough to start teaching for a few summers in Homer, Alaska.

In 2015 and 2016 I got to visit Kodiak Island, which left a lifetime impression on me.

The songs on this album were written in Alaska over the years of my trips to this wilderness state. When planning this album’s recording session, I asked Bob Magnusson to play bass, because we share the love of musical elegance and simplicity - and because I truly love Bob’s bass sound (like so many others before me). I have admired Peter Erskine since I first heard him perform with his ECM Trio featuring John Taylor and Palle Danielsson. I love his playing and his compositions, and I was thrilled when he agreed to be part of this musical project. We had a great two days in the recording studio and produced this collection of “Music for the years.” Jim Linahon has been the “sound wizard” behind all of my albums for Challenge Records and he is in my humble opinion one of the finest engineers and producers for Jazz in the U.S. today. He was delighted that Microtech Gefell and DPA send him their finest microphones to capture every nuance of our trio’s playing.

It was an honor and privilege to play with two of my musical influencers and heroes. What made the session even more special as a pianist was that I got to record on the new Bösendorfer VC 280 - their premier ‘Vienna Concert Grand Piano’ (compliments of Ferdinand Bräu in Vienna) which they brought to Los Angeles for this recording session!

I have been working hard to make this release a very special one and was excited when Challenge Records shared the vision with me and decided to release the album. A special dedication goes out to my loving wife Cibelle and daughter Sasha Marie. They continue to encourage me to be creative and working and it means the world to me to have them be a part of my life and musical journey.

I hope you enjoy the music!"
Markus Burger:
„Seit meiner Kindheit liebe ich die Natur, und ich habe mich in die weite Wildnis Alaskas und Islands verliebt. 2000 habe ich Island zum ersten Mal besucht und die meisten Songs für meine CD für Klavier solo Ultreya geschrieben, die 2001 auf Jazzline Records veröffentlicht wurde. Erst 2002 besuchte ich Alaska, Valdez und die Kenai-Halbinsel. Die Schönheit Alaskas und die Einzigartigkeit der Leute, die dort leben, haben mich umgehauen. Durch meine Beziehung zu Marshall Hawkins, Direktor der Idyllwild Jazz Academy, einer der besten Bassisten der Westküste und ein großartiger Jazzpädagoge, bekam ich glücklicherweise die Gelegenheit, ein paar Sommer in Homer, Alaska, zu unterrichten.

2015 und 2016 besuchte ich die Kodiak-Insel, ein Erlebnis, das ich mein Leben lang nicht vergessen werde.

Die Songs auf diesem Album schrieb ich in Alaska, in den Jahren von Reisen in dieses wilde Land. Als wir die Aufnahmesession für dieses Album geplant haben, bat ich Bob Magnusson, Bass zu spielen, weil wir die Liebe zu musikalischer Eleganz und Einfachheit teilen – und weil ich Bobs Basssound (wie so viele andere vor mir) wirklich liebe. Peter Erskine bewundere ich, seit ich ihn zum ersten Mal mit seinem ECM Trio mit John Taylor und Palle Danielsson spielen hörte. Ich liebe sein Spiel und seine Kompositionen, und ich habe mich wahnsinnig gefreut, als er für dieses musikalische Projekt zugesagt hat. Es waren zwei großartige Tage im Studio, aus denen diese Sammlung für „Music for the years“ hervorgegangen sind. Jim Linahon war der „Klangzauberer“ hinter all meinen Alben für Challenge Records und meiner bescheidenen Meinung nach ist er heute einer der besten Tontechniker und Produzenten für Jazz in den Vereinigten Staaten. Er war begeistert, dass Microtech Gefell und DPA ihm ihre besten Mikrophone schickten, damit er jede Nuance unseres Trios einfangen konnte.

Es war eine Ehre und ein Privileg, mit zwei meiner musikalischen Vorbilder und Helden zu spielen. Was die Session für mich als Pianisten noch besonderer machte war, dass ich auf dem neuen Bösendorfer VC 280 – ihrem führenden ‚Wiener Konzertflügel‘ (mit Dank an Ferdinand Bräu in Wien) – spielen durfte, den sie für diese Aufnahmesession nach Los Angeles gebracht haben!

Ich habe hart daran gearbeitet, diese Aufnahme zu etwas ganz Besonderem zu machen, und es war aufregend, als Challenge Records meine Vision teilte und beschloss, das Album zu veröffentlichen. Eine besondere Widmung geht an meine Frau Cibelle und meine Tochter Sasha Marie. Sie ermutigen mich immer wieder, kreativ zu sein und weiter zu arbeiten, und es bedeutet alles für mich, die beiden in meinem Leben und meiner musikalischen Reise zu haben.

Viel Spaß mit der Musik!

Artist(s)

Markus Burger (piano)

Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film. His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor,...
more
Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film.
His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and Kenny Werner.
He has released eight albums, featuring his own compositions and arrangements, among them, his two most recent releases, Genesis and Tertia. His CD Genesis, an avant-garde jazz collaboration with renowned drummer Matt Marucci, has received raving reviews from jazz critics in the United States while his latest Spiritual Standards project Tertia, with Berlin-based saxophonist Jan Von Klewitz, made its debut during a nationally televised performance in Germany on New Year's Day, 2005. His second album, The Smile of the Honeycake Horse, with his quartet Septer Bourbon, received wide acclaim from the European press and Down Beat Magazine in the United States and achieved something of a “cult following” in Germany. His Spiritual Standards project, a collection of contemporary jazz improvisations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s greatest chorals and masterpieces, was performed at sold out venues in Germany, Poland, Italy and the United States, later moving to the top 20 in the German Jazz charts in 1999.
In developing his signature sound over the years, Burger drew his influences from a wide range of musical styles including J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Sting.

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Peter Erskine (drums)

Peter Erskine has played the drums since the age of four and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He appears on 700 albums and film scores, and has won two Grammy Awards, plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music (1992). Fifty albums have been released under his own name or as co-leader. He has played with the Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson Big Bands, Weather Report, Steps Ahead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Kenny Wheeler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Brecker Brothers, The Yellowjackets, Pat Metheny and Gary Burton, John Scofield, et al, and has appeared as a soloist with the London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Frankfurt Radio, Scottish Chamber, Ensemble Intercontemporain,...
more
Peter Erskine has played the drums since the age of four and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He appears on 700 albums and film scores, and has won two Grammy Awards, plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music (1992).
Fifty albums have been released under his own name or as co-leader. He has played with the Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson Big Bands, Weather Report, Steps Ahead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Kenny Wheeler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Brecker Brothers, The Yellowjackets, Pat Metheny and Gary Burton, John Scofield, et al, and has appeared as a soloist with the London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Frankfurt Radio, Scottish Chamber, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Royal Opera House, BBC Symphony, Oslo and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. Peter premièred the double percussion concerto Fractured Lines, composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage, at the BBC Proms with Andrew Davis conducting, and has collaborated frequently with Sir Simon Rattle. He also premiered the Turnage opera "Anna Nicole" at the Royal Opera House in London. Turnage has composed a solo concerto for Peter titled "Erskine," which received its world premiere in Bonn, Germany in 2013, with a US premiere at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic. Peter has been voted 'Best Jazz Drummer of the Year' ten times by the readers of Modern Drummer magazine and was elected into the magazine's Hall of Fame in 2017. The Percussive Arts Society will be inducting Peter into its Hall of Fame at the November 2022 PASIC conference ins Indianapolis.
Peter graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and studied at Indiana University under George Gaber. In 1972 Peter commenced his pro career playing with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Four years later, he joined Maynard Ferguson before working with Jaco Pastorius in Weather Report and moving to Los Angeles. Peter recorded five albums with the band. He won his first Grammy Award with their album '8.30'. During this time in LA, he also worked with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Farrell and George Cables. Peter then moved to New York City where he worked for five years with such musicians as Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Eddie Gomez and Eliane Elias in Steps Ahead, John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Marc Johnson in the legendary group Bass Desires, the John Abercrombie Trio plus Bob Mintzer's Big Band.
Peter has lived in LA since 1987 but has been traveling around the world all of that time, working with such artists as Diana Krall, Joni Mitchell, Vince Mendoza, Steely Dan, plus European musicians Jan Garbarek, Kenny Wheeler, Palle Danielsson, John Taylor, Kate Bush, Nguyen Lê, Rita Marcotulli, the Norrbotten Big Band in Sweden plus Sadao Watanabe in Japan. He won his second Grammy Award as the drummer of the WDR big band in Köln along with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Vince Mendoza and others for the "Some Skunk Funk" album. Meanwhile, Peter keeps busy in on the road and in LA with such artists as Seth MacFarlane, Patrick Williams, plus John Beasley, Bob Sheppard and Benjamin Shepherd (all 3 musicians members of his Dr. Um Band), as well as playing in the studios. Films where Peter's drumming can be heard include "Memoirs of a Geisha," all three of the Austin Powers movies, "The Secret Life of Pets," plus the title music of the Steven Spielberg/John Williams collaboration, "The Adventures of Tintin." He also played on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack for "La La Land," and can be heard drumming on "The Orville," "Let Them All Talk," "Mank" and "Babylon." Peter produces jazz recordings for his record label, Fuzzy Music, with 4 Grammy nominations to its credit. Peter is also the author of several books including "No Beethoven (Autobiography & Chronicle of Weather Report)," "Time Awareness for All Musicians" and his latest book (co-authored with Dave Black for Alfred Publishing), "The Musician's Lifeline." "The Drum Perspective" will enjoy a re-release including added content in late 2022. Peter has also authored a series of iOS Play-Along apps suitable for all instruments.
Peter is Professor of Practice and Director of Drumset Studies at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California. Peter plays Tama Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, Remo Drum Heads, Meinl Percussion, and uses Shure Microphones and Zoom digital recording devices.

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Composer(s)

Markus Burger (piano)

Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film. His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor,...
more
Markus Burger (born September 30, 1966) is a German pianist, composer and music educator currently residing in Santa Monica, California, who teaches at Los Angeles City College and Fullerton College in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, New Age, chamber and film.
His music has been performed in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and most recently in the United States. He began studying piano at age six and later earned his Diplom in Performing Arts from the Essen Folkwang Hochschule in Germany, a B.A. in piano and Composition from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and a Certification in Popular Music from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He studied with Peter Walter, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and Kenny Werner.
He has released eight albums, featuring his own compositions and arrangements, among them, his two most recent releases, Genesis and Tertia. His CD Genesis, an avant-garde jazz collaboration with renowned drummer Matt Marucci, has received raving reviews from jazz critics in the United States while his latest Spiritual Standards project Tertia, with Berlin-based saxophonist Jan Von Klewitz, made its debut during a nationally televised performance in Germany on New Year's Day, 2005. His second album, The Smile of the Honeycake Horse, with his quartet Septer Bourbon, received wide acclaim from the European press and Down Beat Magazine in the United States and achieved something of a “cult following” in Germany. His Spiritual Standards project, a collection of contemporary jazz improvisations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s greatest chorals and masterpieces, was performed at sold out venues in Germany, Poland, Italy and the United States, later moving to the top 20 in the German Jazz charts in 1999.
In developing his signature sound over the years, Burger drew his influences from a wide range of musical styles including J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Sting.

less

Press

This trio plays jazz that will stand the test of time, purely because it's jazz that builds on tradition in everything.
Draai om je oren, 08-2-2020

... melodic, lilting, balanced and poetic.
Jazzism, 18-10-2019

The musical craftsmanship and cheerful character is "The Alaska Sessions" a pleasant album listen
Jazzenzo, 06-3-2019

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Often bought together with..

True North
Morten Ramsbøl
Spiritual Standards - Songs Inspired by Martin Luther
Markus Burger / Jan von Klewitz
Team and Variations
Isaac Darche
Headland
Batik
Eno Supo
Estafest

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