Discography – Quinsin Nachoff

Stars and Constellations

Stars and Constellations (2023)

Quinsin Nachoff – Tenor Saxophone
Mark Helias – Acoustic Bass
Dan Weiss – Drums

Bergamot Quartet
Ledah Finck – Violin I
Sarah Thomas – Violin II
Amy Huimei Tan – Viola
Irène Han – Cello

The Rhythm Method, additional contributors on Pendulum
Josh Henderson – Violin I
Erica Dicker – Violin II
Leah Asher – Viola
Meaghan Burke – Cello

Matt Holman – Conductor

“Stars and Constellations” features Nachoff on tenor sax with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Dan Weiss, alongside the Bergamot Quartet and The Rhythm Method string quartets. This album showcases a seamless integration of jazz and classical players, blurring the boundaries between genres. Inspired by mythology and the cosmos, Nachoff’s compositions explore the interconnectedness of opposites, bridging the gaps between extremes. The album reflects his lifelong interest in science, drawing on collaborations with physicist Dr. Stephen Morris, and takes the listener on a compellingly unconventional musical journey. “Stars and Constellations” demonstrates Nachoff’s ongoing pursuit of innovative musical exploration, cementing his position as a fearless and forward-thinking artist.

Commissioned Short Films

Pendulum
Film by Jules Roze

Stars and Constellations: Sagittarius
Film by Alex Van Gils

Stars and Constellations: Scorpio
Film by Lara Lewison

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Liner Notes by Michael Ullman

Scores

More info coming soon...

Order String Quartet Score

Musictronic
Productions

Magic Numbers (2006)

Quinsin Nachoff – tenor and soprano sax, compositions
Mark Helias – bass
Jim Black – drums

Nathalie Bonin – violin I
Noémi Racine Gaudreault – violin II
Jean René – viola
Julie Trudeau – cello

Nachoff established his boundary-crossing artistic persona with this groundbreaking set of compositions for string quartet let by Natalie Bonin and jazz trio featuring Mark Helias on bass and drummer Jim Black. Encompassing a wide range in dynamics and atmospheres, the music moves from melancholy and introspective to vibrant and aggressive, but is always exhilarating and imaginative.

To Solar Piazza (excerpt)

How Post-Modern Of Me (excerpt)

October (excerpt)

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Horizons Ensemble (2008)

Quinsin Nachoff – soprano and tenor sax, compositions
Nathalie Bonin – violin I
Parmela Attariwala – violin II
Ernst Reijseger – cello
John Taylor – piano

This chamber jazz ensemble features the talents of legendary British pianist John Taylor, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijeseger and reunites Nachoff with Nathalie Bonin and Parmella Attariwala on violins for a series of beautifully poised performances of original compositions balancing improvisation and imaginatively written passages to stunning effect.

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Forward Motion (2010)

David Binney – alto sax
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax, compositions
Matt Mitchell – piano, fender rhodes, organ, wurlitzer, moog synth
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion

Based around the rich, funky textures of Adrean Farrugia’s Fender Rhodes, Nachoff is joined on the frontline by Russ Johnson on trumpet, and Mark Kelso in the drummer’s chair, this bass-less quartet offers a lighthearted but utterly compelling reworking of modern jazz with rock and fusion influences. Original compositions range from the intimacy of a piano trio to the bombastic energy of the organ trio tradition.

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Flux (2016)

David Binney – alto sax
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax, compositions
Matt Mitchell – piano, fender rhodes, organ, wurlitzer, moog synth
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion

David Binney’s alto sax joins Nachoff’s distinctive tenor in a set of original compositions that draws on sounds and influences from the 1970’s filtered through a 21st century lens. Matt Mitchell provides piano, fender rhodes, organ, wurlitzer, moog synth and Kenny Wollesen on drums and percussion round out the unit that tackles the challenges of Nachoff’s playfully intense arrangements with ample space for individual improvisation.

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Mythology Records

Flux

Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Includes:

From Path of Totality:
Path of Totality
Bounce
Orbital Resonances

From Debut:
Tightrope
Complimentary Opposites
Mind’s Ear II
Tilted

Recorded and released on Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings, 2019) by David Binney, alto saxophone, Quinsin Nachoff, tenor saxophone, Matt Mitchell, keyboards, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood, drums.
See album for additional personnel.

Recorded and released on Flux (Musictronic Productions, 2016) by David Binney, alto saxophone, Quinsin Nachoff, tenor saxophone, Matt Mitchell, keyboards, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood, drums.

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Musictronic
Productions

Ethereal Trio (2018)

Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax
Mark Helias – bass
Dan Weiss – drums

This album reunites Nachoff with bassist Mark Helias and brings in drummer Dan Weiss for a series of scintillating three-way conversations which blend through-composition and improvisation with each piece having its own plot and internal logic. Recorded in a single session, the album gives the musicians the freedom to explore the characteristically ambitious compositions to the limits.

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Ethereal Trio

Complete Scores

Includes:

Clairvoyant Jest
Imagination Reconstruction
Gravitas
Subliminal Circularity
Push-Pull Topology
Portrait in Sepia Tones

Recorded and released on Ethereal Trio (Whirlwind Recordings, 2017) by Quinsin Nachoff, saxophone, Mark Helias, bass, and Dan Weiss, drums

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Musictronic
Productions

Flux, Path of Totality (2019)

Quinsin Nachoff – tenor, soprano sax, compositions
David Binney – alto and C-melody sax
Matt Mitchell – piano, keyboards, Esty pump harmonium, synthesizer
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion
Nate Wood – drums

Special Guests:
Orlando Hernández – tap dance

David Travers-Smith – synthesizer

Mark Duggan – percussion

Carl Maraghi – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Dan Urness, Matt Holman – trumpet
Ryan Keberle – trombone
Alan Ferber – trombone, bass trombone

Jason Barnsley – Kimball Theatre Organ

Working with saxophonist David Binney, pianist/keyboardist Matt Mitchell, drummers Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood, in addition to a wide-ranging and eclectic supporting cast of musicians, Nachoff creates a series of his most ambitious and wide-ranging pieces to date. Initially inspired by the lunar eclipse of 2017, the compositions incorporate aleatoric structures borrowed from the classical realm alongside electronic textures and passages of free improvisation to make the music more open and expressive. The long forms allow the outstanding band to stretch out, augmented by such exotica as a Kimball Theatre Organ, tuned percussion and tap dancer Orlando Hernández, plus the addition of brass and winds.

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Flux

Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Order Flux: Select Scores

Musictronic
Productions

Path of Totality

Six Commissioned Films

Six cutting edge filmmakers create original work in response to Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings)

Lee Hutzulak

Bounce

Udo Prinsen

Splatter

JiYe Kim

Toy Piano Meditation

Anne Beal

Path of Totality

Gita Blak

(ft. Orlando Hernández)

March Macabre

Trent Freeman

Orbital Resonances

Pivotal Arc (2020)

Nathalie Bonin – violin soloist / violoniste soliste

Molinari String Quartet / Quatuor Molinari
Olga Ranzenhofer – violin I / 1er violon
Antoine Bareil – violin II / 2e violon
Frédéric Lambert – viola / alto
Pierre-Alain Bouvrette – cello / violoncelle

JC Sanford – conductor / chef d’orchestre
Michael Davidson – vibraphone / vibraphone
Mark Helias – bass / basse
Satoshi Takeishi – drums, percussion / batterie, percussions
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor saxophone / saxophone ténor

Jean-Pierre Zanella – piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano sax / piccolo, flûte, clarinette, saxophone soprano
Yvan Belleau – clarinet, tenor sax / clarinette, saxophone ténor
Brent Besner – bass clarinet / clarinette basse

Jocelyn Couture – trumpet 1 / 1ère trompette
Bill Mahar – trumpet 2 / 2e trompette
David Grott – trombone / trombone
Bob Ellis – bass trombone / trombone basse

The many diverse threads of Nachoff’s career are triumphantly woven together in this stunning, ambitious realization. ‘Pivotal Arc’ brings together virtuoso violin soloist Nathalie Bonin with a jazz-inflected unit comprising two established giants of the NY scene, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Satoshi Takeishi, and the striking young vibraphone player Michael Davidson, and a wind and string ensemble conducted by JC Sanford for a concerto that boldly mixes written and improvised sections. A contemporary string quartet performed by the renowned Molinari String Quartet and the extended title piece round out the album. Consistently unpredictable, fearlessly innovative, breathtakingly accomplished, and full of creative passion, Nachoff’s work as composer and improviser is constantly increasing its scope to encompass ever greater horizons.

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Pivotal Arc Videos

About the project and teasers

Play

Pivotal Arc Mini-interview Series

Short interviews with each member of the ensemble

Play

#17 Nathalie Bonin, violin soloist
& Quinsin Nachoff, composer, tenor saxophone, producer
#1 Mark Helias, bass
#2 Antoine Bareil, violin II, Molinari String Quartet
#3 Olga Ranzenhofer, violin I, Molinari String Quartet
#4 Satoshi Takeishi, drums
#5 JC Sanford, conductor
#6 Frédéric Lambert, viola, Molinari String Quartet
#7 Michael Davidson, vibraphone
#8 Pierre-Alain Bouvrette, cello, Molinari String Quartet
#9 Yvan Belleau, woodwinds II
#10 Bill Mahar, trumpet II
#11 Jean-Pierre Zanella, woodwinds I
#12 David Grott, trombone
#13 Brent Besner, bass clarinet
#14 Bob Ellis, bass trombone
#15 Jocelyn Couture, trumpet I
#16 David Travers-Smith, audio engineer, producer

String Quartet (from Pivotal Arc)

Commissioned by the Molinari String Quartet and Nathalie Bonin through the generous support of The Canada Council for the Arts

First perfomance on November 24, 2018 by the Molinari String Quartet at Salle Gesù, Montreal, Canada

Duration is approximately 16 minutes

Recorded and released on Pivotal Arc (Whirlwind Recordings, 2020) by the Molinari String Quartet (Olga Ranzenhofer, Antoine Bareil, Frédéric Lambert, Pierre-Alain Bouvrette)

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Musictronic
Productions

Commissioned by the Molinari String Quartet, through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the String Quartet was initially conceived as a work to be performed alongside Nachoff’s Violin Concerto (2018). Each of the four movements is a miniature concerto for each member of the quartet. The first movement features Violin II, the probing second movement showcases the Viola, the vacillating third movement is for the Cello and the intense final movement is for Violin I. It represents some of Nachoff’s most intricate writing to date, allowing him to explore his deep attachment to the tradition and his engagement with contemporary iterations.

With a strong sense of rhythmic vitality, subtle and tangential jazz influences permeate the work. The pizzicato solo cello in the third movement is reminiscent of an improvised bass solo. Interlocking rhythmic figures in the fourth movement at times bring to mind the counterpoint of a drumset. Quarter tones are woven into the melodic vocabulary of the work as a means of expression and dimensional shifting and at numerous times overtones and glissandi are used to generate textures that lean towards electronica. The theme of the individual and their relationship and responsibilities to the group are explored in different ways in each movement.

String Quartet was premiered in 2018 at Salle Gesù, Montréal, by the Molinari String Quartet and can be heard on Pivotal Arc (2020) on Whirlwind Recordings.

This project was made possible through the generous support of The Canada Council for the Arts

The photograph used in this video is part of ‘Touch Base, arctic solargraphy’ a global collaboration between visual artist Udo Prinsen and approximately 25 scientists working at field research locations on, around and above the Arctic Circle. They helped capture the mystique of the environment with pinhole cameras on long-exposures.
Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada)
In collaboration with Dr. George Tanski

Le photographe utilise dans ce video font partie de ‘Touch Base, arctic solargraphy’ une collaboration mondiale entre l’artiste visuel Udo Prinsen et environ 25 scientifiques travaillant sur le terrain, sur le cercle arctique et autour et au-dessus de cercle arctique. Ils ont aidé à capturer la mystique de l’environnement avec des appareils photo à sténopé lors de longues expositions.
Qikiqtaruk (île Herschel, Yukon, Canada)
En collaboration avec le Dr George Tanski

Stars and Constellations (2023)

Commissioned Short Films

Liner Notes by Michael Ullman

Scores

More info coming soon...

Order String Quartet Score

Magic Numbers (2006)

Order Magic Numbers

Horizons Ensemble (2008)

Order Horizons Ensemble

Forward Motion (2010)

Order Forward Motion

Flux (2016)

Order Flux

Flux

Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Order Flux: Select Scores

Ethereal Trio (2018)

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Ethereal Trio

Complete Scores

Order Ethereal Trio: Complete Scores

Flux, Path of Totality (2019)

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Flux

Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Order Flux: Select Scores

Path of Totality

Six Commissioned Films

Bounce

Splatter

Toy Piano Meditation

Path of Totality

March Macabre

Orbital Resonances

Pivotal Arc (2020)

Order Pivotal Arc

Pivotal Arc Videos

Pivotal Arc Mini-interview Series

String Quartet (from Pivotal Arc)

Order String Quartet Score

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