Bandcamp is again waiving their share of sales today – Pivotal Arc, the upcoming release on Whirlwind Recordings of my Violin Concerto, String Quartet and large ensemble work is now available for pre-orders!
Get it here as LP (180 gram, limited edition), CD, DL: wwr.dj/2Mwkuiv
It features violin soloist Nathalie Bonin, Quatuor Molinari, vibraphonist Michael Davidson, bassist Mark Helias and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi with conductor JC Sanford leading a chamber ensemble of outstanding Québec musicians
Whirlwind Recordings is donating a portion of all sales today to the George Floyd Memorial Fund https://tinyurl.com/y9xkcxbc
Woodwinds: Jean-Pierre Zanella, Yvan Belleau, Brent BesnerBrass: Jocelyn Couture, Bill Mahar, David Grott, Robert EllisMolinari String Quartet: Olga Ranzenhofer, Antoine Bareil, Frédéric Lambert, Pierre-Alain Bouvrette
Tonmeister: David Travers-Smith Album artwork from the collection “Touch base, Arctic Solargraphy” by Udo Prinsen with layout+design by Lee Hutzulak (Leisure Thief)
This project was made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada
Excited to announce that Pivotal Arc, a 12-yr project that began with a Violin Concerto commission from the inimitable soloist Nathalie Bonin, will be out on Whirlwind Recordings on August 7th!
Also including my first standalone String Quartet, written for the Quatuor Molinari, and a chamber ensemble work featuring bassist Mark Helias, drummer Satoshi Takeishi and myself
The album also features conductor JC Sanford, vibraphonist Michael Davidson and a wind and brass ensemble from Quebec: Jean-Pierre Zanella, Yvan Belleau, Brent Besner, Jocelyn Couture, Bill Mahar, David Grott and Robert Ellis
…more details and pre-orders coming soon!
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Album cover and photo from the collection “Touch base, Arctic Solargraphy” by Udo Prinsen with layout+design by Lee Hutzulak
Portrait photo by Bo Huang, stylist Liz Parker, artwork by Paula Arciniega
Bandcamp is foregoing their profits today to go directly to artists! Most of my catalog’s up there, along with many friends’ and other new music to be discovered. If you are able, please consider stocking up on new music today! Hoping that everyone’s staying safe and healthy.
As we welcome in a new decade, thank you to the critics that have included ‘Path of Totality’ in their yearend lists! Gratitude to the musicians (David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood) and to everyone involved in this album and mini-film series!
Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen Top of the lists of both Best of Canadian Jazz 2019 and Top Jazz Albums of 2019 (worldwide) “…saxophonist and bracing composer Quinsin Nachoff, whose mind-expanding double album tops my list, thanks to its broad range of stimulations and the intense and creative contributions of saxophonist David Binney and Nachoff himself, keyboard wizard Matt Mitchell and drummers Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood.”
Dave Sumner, Bandcamp The Best Jazz Albums of 2019 “All kinds of albums are inspired by all kinds of events, but rarely do they translate so vividly to the final recording as they did on the 2019 release from Quinsin Nachoff. Inspired by a total solar eclipse, the saxophonist fills his compositions with the grandeur and wonder associated with celestial events, giving the music the dual qualities of a hyper-focused sprawling majesty. It’s as if he’s trying to take in the vastness of it all while drilling down on each tiny detail. It’s an outstanding work in its totality, and fascinating in each individual moment.”
Keith Black, Winnipeg Free Press Canadian albums of the decade “Canadian saxophonist’s album here gets better and more complex with each listen; jazz to satisfy the fussiest fan.”
Steve Provizer, Arts Fuse Best Jazz Recordings 2019 “A recording of distinction, with a wide musical palette, put together with great attention to form and detail and performed with tremendous skill.”
Six cutting-edge filmmakers create works for release of ‘Path of Totality’ on Whirlwind Recordings
It’s been a thrill to see six filmmakers each interpret a track from my new release ‘Path of Totality’ on Whirlwind Recordings
The sixth and final film, ‘Orbital Resonances’, is by filmmaker/musician Trent Freeman! It explores celestial mechanics and features the stellar drumming of both Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood
Always, thanks to the amazing musicians David Binney on alto sax and Matt Mitchell on piano
You can check out the series of six films here Thanks to all the filmmakers for their original work, fascinating to see as a collection: Lee Hutzulak, Anne Beal, Udo Prinsen, Gita Blak, JiYe Kim and Trent Freeman
Six cutting-edge filmmakers create works for release of ‘Path of Totality’ on Whirlwind Recordings
The fifth film, ‘Toy Piano Meditation’, is by NYC-based filmmaker JiYe Kim! Inspired loosely by John Cage‘s Suite for Toy Piano, it is a mediation on his music and ideas.
Always, huge thanks to the amazing musicians: David Binney, Matt Mitchell and Kenny Wollesen. Thanks to guest musician Mark Duggan, layering to create a percussion ensemble of marimbas, vibraphones, glockenspiels, crotales and Tibetan singing bowls.
Six cutting-edge filmmakers create works for release of ‘Path of Totality’ on Whirlwind Recordings
The fourth film, ‘March Macabre’, is by NYC-based filmmaker and animator Gita Blak! It features tap dancer Orlando Hernández in both the film and music. Exploring themes in the current political climate, immigration, order and freedom, it is not coincidentally premiering on April Fools’ Day.
Always, huge thanks to the amazing musicians: David Binney, Matt Mitchell and Kenny Wollesen. That’s Kenny Wollesen’s March Machine heard in the opening. Thanks to the guest musicians layering to create a Big Band: Carl Maraghi, Dan Urness, Matt Holman, Ryan Keberle and Alan Ferber.
Six cutting-edge filmmakers create works for release of ‘Path of Totality’ on Whirlwind Recordings
The third film, ‘Splatter’, is by Dutch filmmaker and animator Udo Prinsen! It was shot in the Arctic, accompanying a scientific expedition. The music was developed and recorded at the National Music Centre in Canada, during an Artist-in-Residency, and makes use of their extensive keyboard and synthesizer collection.
Always, huge thanks to the amazing musicians: David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Nate Wood and David Travers-Smith! (That’s Matt Mitchell tearing it up on the harpsichord and David Travers-Smith with a plethora of synthesizers!)
Filmmaker Udo Prinsen talks about the experience: “When Quinsin and I first talked about the design and mood for a short film for one of his tracks we met in similar thoughts about Nordic atmosphere,” says Prinsen. “The mystic of the arctic, the half time between the sun and the moon, mist, water and mountains all seemed to connect with one or the other of his tracks. The choice fell on Splatter, like all the tracks it has a storyline hidden within, but the quirky beginning had a sense of character that I could work with. The build-up of the track, even within 2 minutes, brings about an energy that moves and disturbs. Starting with very distant sounds it’s almost like a world is waking up, we are slowly traveling towards a land that’s gaining strength and speed and turning into a chaotic whirlwind of elements. The pace of the music was my guidance in what the shape of events was going to be. I was picturing a distant foggy world divided into two horizontal sections that come clearer and closer to one another during the film, while player of animation would bring life to the edit.”
“At the time we started our collaboration, I was about to take a photographic journey with sailing vessel Noorderlicht in the area of Spitsbergen. This brought about the opportunity to shoot footage in the arctic for our film….Back home the music track of Splatter dictated the edit and the ideas for a layer of animation started to grow. This intuitive approach gave birth to small wobbly creatures that live on the edge of reality and fantasy, old and new. The film, to me, feels like we are witnessing the end of one world and the birth of a new.
“Quinsin’s music is diverse, difficult, daring, and above all, very inspiring. What he has boldly decided to do, to commission 6 filmmakers to create 6 art tracks fitting to his music is a great example of a modern, global approach for creating art. Even though I haven’t met Quinsin in person yet, we have been able to find common ground in a visual and musical rhythm that feels like the beginning of a long friendship and hopefully inspires other artists to find similar collaborations.”
