Lou Tavano, For You, 2016

Deep stories told impressively inside beautifully composed jazzy music... I would describe For You, Lou Tavano's debut album in ACT, with these words if you asked me to make it short. However, these stories, impressive vocal and unique sound deserve more, even if it is hard to define music with sentences. Lou Tavano's unique way of singing is the first thing that hit me in the album. She has a style of almost flowing-words. It feels like she can sing every lyrics within every composition just by tuning the pronunciations a little bit. On the other hand, her expressions are clear and definite too. She uses her vocal as an equal partner of other instruments rather than being the main character above all. The instrumental performances are also extraordinarily remarkable compared to a vocal album - some of them can be shown as stand alone pieces even if you mask the vocals virtually. The pianist Alexey Asantcheeff seems to be the hero of the album with his name visible in almost all compositions, arrangements and lyrics. The dedicated "thank you" in the liner notes from Lou Tavano to him is another solid evidence of that. They have been working together for a long time (released the previous album together) and you can feel it also in the organic harmony between piano and the vocal in this album.

Quiet Enlightenment starts with "wake up" whispering repeated within the song from time to time. Full of touchy words possibly of a children for a passed away dad, lyrics are far away from being part of an ordinary song carrying chorus-like structures. Actually, this is more or less the general characters of lyrics, which are written mostly by Alexey Asantcheeff and Lou Tavano. 

Emotional Riot starts with a dark ambiance followed by some increase in tension through the middle - consistent with the title. Lou Tavano tries some high registers and becomes successful both in tone and speed. The contribution of the woodwinds to the overall energy and Ariel Tessier's groovy performance on the drum-set are highlights. The Letter is a short and hopeful piece with naive piano partitions from Alexey Asantcheeff and nice accompaniment from Alexandre Perrot (bass) and Maxime Berton (saxophones).  

Rest Assured is among pop-smelling pieces of the album with dance-rhythms pushing you to hands-up state. L'Artiste makes me very happy as someone fond of French speaking vocals. Different than well-known jazz divas from France, Lou Tavano's French style is more crispy and sounds more like the streets of France - I almost feel like listening to first times of Edith Piaf. 

The title track is an impressive one with vocals travelling beautifully between highs and lows both in octaves & emotions, minors from the piano and muted trumpet of Arno de Casanove. It's A Girl is about a new baby and the parents. So the music carry its energy. Attack-full drum partitions and lively solo of flugelhorn are all results of this energy. Lou Tavano supports her vocal with her own scats. 

The Call is like the serious brother of the album and its lyrics (from Arno De Casanove) sounds like they are written for a lost friend. Especially the poem-like part with energetic rhythms in the middle are impressive. Bavoushka is just a Russian dialogue connected to the next piece. Petite Pomme is another French piece including also Russian poem-like parts. All Together is like a message to whole world - wishing for a border-less, fearless, war-less life on earth. The vocal is supported with children's performances. How essential it sounds in these hard times! 

Afro Blue (Bali Hues) is one of the most impressive covers I have heard for this amazing, time-less composition. It all starts with a hard-to-recognize texture and with first naive words from Lou Tavano, I decide that she turns into a successful black singer in this performance. Percussive movements and backvocals give a very groovy overall feeling and the tensional changes in the performance results in a very catchy, dance-able and moving ambiance. The last track Through A Nightmare's energetic trio piano performance between quiet vocal parts shows how successful the instrumental structure of the album is too.

The album is recorded at Studio de Meudon, July 2015 by Philippe Teissier Du Cros (assisted by Clement Gariel). Mixing is achieved at Studio Boxson by Philippe Teissier Du Cros too. Raphael Jonin mastered the album at Jraphing. The album is produced by Sebastien Vidal and the executive producer is Onde Libre. The record quality is fairly good for the crowded setting for most of the time. 

They will be performing for the release party of the album in Duc Des Lombards in Paris for 3 days starting from tomorrow - March 31st.

Here is the youtube link from ACT's making of From You video: 

Here is a sample from the album again from youtube: 

Medbøe, Eriksen, Halle - The Space Between, 2015

Includes no bass, no drums, but it is a trio album... It is so Nordic that you can notice this signature only by hearing some seconds from the album without looking at the cover. Born in Norway but living currently in Scotland, the guitar player Haftor Mødboe collaborates with two famous other Norwegian musicians in this album: Espen Eriksen on piano (and harmonium) and Gunnar Halle on trumpet (and voice). Mødboe is a known figure in UK jazz scene and he is actually on the academic side of the jazz music too. Espen Eriksen and his trio are among internationally active stars of the Norway and Gunnar Halle is one of the most visible trumpeter of Nordic scene with an amazing discography. This extraordinary trio recorded The Space Between in Castlesound Studio just after their first concert in Edinburgh Jazz Festival in 2015. Being the composer of all pieces, Haftor Mødboe chooses to be just a part of the trio, instead of the leader in the album. More than this, he usually prefers to stay in the background except some parts in some pieces. The absence of explicit percussion seems to have created a clean and vast area for all these musicians of nuances. Even the compositions are catchy, I can easily say that the power of the album resides at the style it is played rather than what is played. All instants and movements, the highs and lows... They are all almost visible rather than audible thanks to musicians' concentrated performances. 

With some transistor radio sounds and first riffs of the piano, the guitar starts to present the nice main theme of the East Pier, which can give a good idea about the overall feeling of the album. The following trumpet line is very touchy and controlled. Espen Eriksen's solo is also very promising for the rest of the album. This is certainly one of the best performances of the album and it catches the audience right from the heart in the beginning.  

With the piano and the guitar on the rhythm line, the introduction part of the Bell Rock is like a playground for the the trumpet. The body between 2:00 and 4:00, where trumpet is increasing the tension with upper registers and improvising collaboratively with the piano, is impressive. Gunnar Halle's unique tone needs attention too. The breathful-sound creates a very organic texture for the whole ambiance.

The main theme of Utsira High feels like the soundtrack of an independent film, which is about a man living with an endless nostalgia. The voice by Gunnar Halle appears right when the guitar starts a solo part and then Espen Eriksen's piano tells its idea about the main theme. 

Forty Mile Ground starts with a minimal duo performance of piano and trumpet. The guitar slowly touches to the sound just before a beautiful solo of Espen Eriksen. The trumpet is then accompanied by some electric guitar and piano. Gunnar Halle is really good at controlling the tension with slow changes in trumpet's sound and level of lyricism. 

Bass line piano is followed by main storyteller guitar and trumpet in the first part of Skagerrak. Then the roles are exchanged and the guitar and trumpet start to create a mystic background for a short solo performance of the piano, followed by trumpet accompaniment. There is also an interesting three-sided conversation part through the end. 

A paralel line between the piano the guitar is accompanied by a deep effect-carrying voice - probably from Gunnar Halle in Fladen. The acoustic guitar performance of Haftor Mødboe is like something above all Nordic characteristics of the whole album. The reverberant vocal performance in the background is really beautiful.

The touchy trumpet tone of Gunnar Halle over Espen Eriksen's harmonium creates a wonderful introduction for the last piece of the album, More Viking Than You. Harmonium creates a heavenly sound as if a church organ is on the stage. The melancholic aura leaves the listener in a state where nothing is resolved or resulted into anything at the end of the album. 

The record quality is at top notch. The localisations of the instruments on the stage and resolution supplied for each individual are all impressive. Especially the trumpet sound is very detailed. The recording and mastering is made by Garry Boyle. Mixing and production belongs to Graham Coe. The label of the album is Losen Records. 

Here is a sample from the album over youtube: