Morning Glory

MCD1001
CD + (free Bonus CD)
€ 20.00
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Agustí Fernándes - Piano
Barry Guy - Double Bass
Ramón López - Drums, Perc.

Morning Glory + Live in New York (free Bonus CD)

“... Morning Glory se levanta como un monumento a toda la música que ha venido, que está naciendo en este mismo instante y a toda la que vendrá. Cualquier género, cualquier emoción y cualquier referente tienen cabida en este trabajo, pues aquí se dan la mano la introspección (“An Anonymous Soul”) y la euforia (“Morning Glory”), el amor (“La niña de la calle Ibiza”) y el dolor por un amor que no se podrá volver a demostrar (“Mourning”), un guiño a las formas barrocas (“Benito”) y a Ornette Coleman (“Zahorí”)... Dos caras de una misma moneda que deberían ser argumentos suficientes para aceptar la invitación que nos hacen estos tres barqueros y sumarnos a esta travesía de búsqueda constante, resultados inciertos y sorpresas seguras. Para ellos, pero también para nosotros.

... Morning Glory rises as a monument dedicated to all music; music that has come and gone, music in the making, and music yet to come. Any genre, any emotion, any referent finds expression in this work, where introspection (“An Anonymous Soul”) mixes with euphoria (“Morning Glory”), love (“La niña de la calle Ibiza”) with grieving over a love that shall remain unspoken (“Mourning”), and a wink at baroque forms (“Benito”) with one at Ornette Coleman (“Zahorí”)... Two sides of a coin, and a strong enough argument to accept the invitation extended by these three boatmen to enlist on a journey where relentless search, uncertain outcomes, and constant surprises are the leitmotiv for them surely, but for us as well.

from the liner notes by Ferran Esteve

Reviews

By intent, this trio stays away from the jagged total improv that its members have explored in myriad other encounters. Likewise they steer clear of the electronic hall of revolving mirrors that Barry Guy and Agustí Fernández navigate as part of Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble in favor of a pristine acoustic sound- stage: even the live bonus CD that reprises material from the trio’s first al- bum, Aurora, is quite cleanly recorded. It’s more pertinent to remember that Guy has a parallel career playing baroque music, and to note that Bill Evans once performed a tune called “Morning Glory.”

This trio isn’t trying to sound like Evans, but they adhere to some of his aesthetics of clarity, elegance and restraint. Instead of the avalanche of in- side-the-piano rumbling he has used to confront power players like Mats Gustafsson, Fernández plays sparse figures that leave plenty of space for Guy to suspend isolated knots of sound, pluck serene melodies, or bow ghostly harmonics. Even when Fernández does get nimble, as on the group improvisation “Perpetuum Mobile,” his line is easy to follow. Lopez’s role is key; he adorns and shapes the music, but rarely propels it. The result will sound abstract to followers of conventional piano trios, but genteel to any- one familiar with the participants’ other efforts.
(Bill Meyer )

… Staunen und Sprachlosigkeit ist angezeigt nach so viel Poesie
voller Bilder und wechselnder Emotionen …. es ist das Hohe Lied
der Improvisation, ebenso frei wie an bestimmte Melodien gebunden, voller unsterblich scheinender Schönheit….
(Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen)

In what could easily be mistaken for a release on the ECM label, Morning Glory inhabits that crisp minimalist style so familiar to producer Manfred Eicher. Surprisingly enough, this studio recording, with bonus Live In New York disc, is delivered by three of today's most zealous improvisers and outcats.
Each player also has a dedication to classical and chamber musics and perhaps that is where these compositions and improvisations intersect.
Disc one, the studio session Morning Glory, is a combination of six composed pieces by Fernández and six group improvisations. While the compositions are influenced more by melody, the improvised parts stick to the trio's minimalist guidelines for music-making. That is, their brush strokes are nominal, like shodo or Japanese calligraphy. The trio performs simple melodies and improvised ballads, speaking softly with a very big brush. The music is a cross between the 1960s trios of Bill Evans and the modern work of Marcin Wasilewski.
The bonus CD, recorded live in 2009 at New York's Jazz Standard, finds the trio stretching out a bit from the punctiliousness of the studio set, slightly departing from its reserve. Playing the music first heard on Aurora, the three take a few liberties to move a bit more outward for the audience. Still, nothing detracts from the intimacy created by these masters.
(Mark Corroto)