I am proud to announce that from today onwards my autobiography
A Life In Music will be available to order exclusively via amazon worldwide.
The book will be released in three formats:
A Life In Music – An Illustrated Chronicle / eBook version with over 200 photos
A Life In Music – An Illustrated Chronicle / printed version with over 200 photos
A Life In Music – A Chronicle / printed version, text only.
It’s the story of my life seen through the music I listened to, the music I worked with and the artists I encountered. After spending over 35 years in the music business, first with PolyGram in Vienna and then with PolyGram/Universal in London, before working from my home in Madrid with OKeh / Sony, I have a lot of stories to tell – about the artists, how the business works and about personal experiences. From Sting to Ornette Coleman, from Status Quo and Deep Purple to Pat Metheny, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Chick Corea, all these artists, and many more, played a role in my life. Written as a chronicle it starts with my birth in 1955 and ends after my retirement from the music business in early 2022, with me being directly involved in the making and release of over 100 recordings.
The Double C stands for many things here … first of all my two friends Claudia Acuña and Christian Muthspiel, whose new music I want to introduce to you. Secondly for the idea of duos, as on Claudia’s record. You double the number of artists when inviting a duo partner, multiply the possibilities of expressions. Thirdly for the two Double CDs Christian delivered, one with new music of his ORJAZZTRA VIENNA and the other one being a work show of his career so far, which was put together for his 60th birthday. Great music guaranteed.
Chilean singer and composer Claudia Acuña presents with her latest album ‘DUO’ a recording of songs from her homeland and she invited friends to the sessions – musicians with whom she had worked before or whose art she admired. The nine songs from various composers are performed with Kenny Barron, Christian McBride, Fred Hersch, Regina Carter, Arturo O’Farrill, Carolina Calvache and Russell Malone. The album kicks off with Patricio Manns & Horacio Salinas’ ‘MediaNoche’, Claudia here accompanied by the wonderful Kenny Barron on piano, whose reflective support gives Acuña space to shine and whose solo picks sensitively up where the vocals left the song. Christian McBride’s bass joins Claudia on Margarida Lecuona’s ‘Eclipse De Luna’, which he opens with a short intro, for the voice to pick up the mood. Acuña’s vocals are immaculate and full of emotions, on the point in delivering mood and passion. Pianist Carolina Calvache opens delicately the Victor Heredia song ‘Razon De Vivir’, another vocal highlight of the album, with Claudia Acuña delivering a wonderful reading of this song and Calvache flowing behind and around her beautifully. ‘Jurame’, by Maria Grever, features pianist extraordinaire Fred Hersch weaving a colourful carpet for Claudia to walk on. On these tracks Acuña shows that she must be counted as one of the most impressive and expressive (jazz) singers of today. As great as she is when singing in English, I always felt her stronger when she was singing in Spanish, and this great album just confirms that to me. It seems then her singing is coming from a deeper source within her. After Hersch’s amazing contribution, the following track is Victor Jara’s ‘Manifesto´ and the partner for this one is none other than the brilliant violinist Regina Carter. For me, this is the most touching and beautiful track of a really outstanding album – the way the two musicians communicate, react to each other and create something unique, is special and the emotions and respect can be heard throughout the song. Carter is holding back, supporting, then taking the story to tell her view on it and shortly after, inviting Claudia back in. Spectacular!!! Augustin Lara’s ‘Verdade Amarga’ partners Claudia with guitarist Russel Malone, whose minimalist accompaniment gives the singer a lot of freedom to express herself and for ‘Piensa En Mi’, from the same composer, Acuña invited pianist Arturo O’Farrill to be her duo partner. He brings his powerful Latin touch to the song and adds to the strong expressions of the singer. The last two songs, Chick Corea’s ‘Crystal Silence’ and her own ‘Yo’, Claudia Acuña is singing alone. Doing ‘Crystal Silence’ acapella is something else, but she pulls it off amazingly. ‘Yo’ speaks of her relationship with Mother Earth. ‘…at the end of the day we all walk alone, and we can discover our beauty when we see Earth and us as one’. As I know most of Claudia’s work and have seen her numerous times live, I can easily say that I think this is her best recording so far. The most personal, the album where she took the most risks and where in the end, she created something really special. One of the best releases of the year so far!
I first met trombonist, pianist, composer and conductor Christian Muthspiel in 1986, when he and his brother Wolfgang came to present me with their first recording, ‘Schneetanz’, released on a small label in Styria, Austria. They called themselves DUO DUE then and I signed them on to amadeo/PolyGram Austria and released the duo’s next two albums, ‘Focus It’ and ‘(TRE)’ in 1987 and 1989 respectively. That was the start of an ongoing friendship with both musicians. Christian released for his recent 60th birthday the double CD compilation ‘Diary 1989-2022’, with highlights from his recording career. None of the Duo Due recordings made it on the discs, but a few others I am proud to have been part of and lots of incredible and wonderful music – recorded with his brother Wolfgang or various bands, up to this year’s new ORJAZZTRA VIENNA release, about which I will write below. Christian always has been a musical traveller between jazz, Austrian folk music and classical music, between written parts and improvisation and mixed these various genres with feeling and taste. This compilation proves this perfectly and serves as well as a great introduction into Muthspiel’s music, but as well as a wonderful and diverse stand-alone album. Artists which are featured here include beside his brother, guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, bassists Gary Peacock and Steve Swallow, drum legend Paul Motian, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and vocalists Ernst Jandl, Sainkho Namtchylak and Anca Parghel.
‘Homecoming’, the new double live CD by the ORJAZZTRA VIENNA, is a reminder of the history of jazz big bands, from Ellington to the Vienna Art Orchestra, but points as well at the future for these ensembles. Group interaction, written sequences and free improvisation, all done within the unique sound of the ORJAZZTRA and based on Muthspiel’s outstanding compositions, written especially for this formation. The bands unusual instrumentation features Lisa Hofmaninger, Fabian Rucker, Astrid Wiesinger, Robert Unterköfler, Ilse Riedler, Florian Bauer – saxophones, clarinets / Gerhard Ornig, Lorenz Raab, Dominik Fuss – trumpet, flugelhorn / Alois Eberl, Daniel Holzleitner, Christina Baumfried – trombone / Philipp Nykrin – piano / Judith Ferstl, Beate Wiesinger – bass / Judith Schwarz, Marton Juhasz – drums. The music was recorded “live without audience” during three livestream-concerts March 22-24, 2021, at Porgy & Bess, Vienna. The ORJAZZTRA moves between powerful and energetic tracks and contemplative and subtle, almost affectionate, moments. Muthspiel uses many different influences in his compositions, from a modern blues to polyphony, from straight jazz to classical hints and gives the soloists space to express themselves. Precision in freedom comes to mind when hearing the band perform and the improviser takes flight. The playfulness in the compositions and their execution is a delight to listen to. I haven’t heard a better big band album coming from Europe in a while. Outstanding!
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