Free Music

Feb 1 2016

The Wayne Horvitz free download series: “Woman of Tokyo 10-11”

 

wayne horvitz 52 weeks of downloadsThere’s a cool new track being offered now as part of the Wayne Horvitz weekly free download series.

Horvitz wrote a score to the movie Woman of Tokyo, a 1933 film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, and “10-11” is one section of thirteen total.

Note:  Tracks are only free for one week, and Horvitz typically posts them on Tuesday, so this particular track is only available for about another 24 hours… so jump on this now while it’s still up.  You can either follow the link below the audio or just hit the download button in the right hand corner of the player just below.

Your song personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (piano), Marty Ehrlich (bass clarinet), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Rob Jost (bass) and Bobby Previte (drums).

And be sure to keep up to date with Horvitz’s weekly free track offering on his Bandcamp page (LINK).

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Oct 9 2015

The Wayne Horvitz free download series: “You Were Just Here (for Philip)” from Way Out East

 

Wayne Horvitz - "Way Out East"Wayne Horvitz created two Gravitas Quartet albums, the companion pieces Way Out East and One Dance Alone, and served up just about the most compelling mix of Jazz and Classical music I’ve ever heard.  Centerpiece is the trumpet of Ron Miles, whose sound is a pure distillation of heartbreak.  Even when he’s turning up the temperature, Miles emits a quavering vulnerability that makes each note sound honest and sincere.  In a chamber jazz setting like on Way Out East, he’s given plenty of room to express those sentiments.  With Peggy Lee’s cello and Sara Schoenbeck’s bassoon adding lovely moodiness to Horvitz’s compositional template, the quartet glides through a series of thoughtful expressions and delicate sentiments.

There are tracks like “Ladies and Gentleman” and “A Remembrance…” that bubble with avant-garde bassoon gurgles, pensive trumpet sighs, sharp cello lines, and twittering piano notes.  Others, like “Way Out East” and “Berlin 1914,” have a slow meander as serene as a walk in the park and as a warm as a fireplace on a winter afternoon.  But most, like album-opener “LB” and this week’s free track “You Were Just Here (for Philip),” include both approaches, and effect an intoxicating contrast of beauty and scar, of fresh pure snow and sharp glistening ice.

You can download that track either by hitting the “download” button on the audio player below or by going directly to Horvitz’s Bandcamp page.  The added reward of downloading from the Bandcamp page is that Horvitz has been writing something about each track in the free series and posting it there.

Your album personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (piano, electronics), Ron Miles (trumpet), Peggy Lee (cello), and Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon).

Released in 2006 on the Songlines Recordings label.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon: CD & MP3

Explore more of Wayne’s music on his Bandcamp page.

 

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Sep 30 2015

The Wayne Horvitz free download series: “Philip” from Bring Yr Camera

 

Wayne Horvitz - "Bring Yr Camera"Today’s free Wayne Horvitz track comes from his 1988 release Bring Yr Camera, featuring his ensemble The President.  This was one of my early introductions to Horvitz.  My first was another of his The President recordings, the 1992 release Miracle Mile.  And like that one, Bring Yr Camera had Horvitz really accentuating the ambling electronic style that is gradually subsumed by his strange folk-jazz-classical constructions on later recordings.

Bring Yr Camera doesn’t rank very high for me as far as favorite Horvitz recordings, but I tend to look favorably upon the recordings that introduced me to a particular musician, regardless of how I think they stack up against other recordings discovered later.  And besides, I’ve found it interesting to hear the seeds of early recordings that manifest with more substantive effect down the road.  Comparable to later recordings is Horvitz’s talent for allowing beautiful melodies to emerge in abrasive environments.  For me personally, that dichotomy always fed divergent aspects of my personality.  There was the part of me that kept demanding, “Yes, more noise!”  And there was that part of me that just wanted to hear something pretty.  These President recordings always found a way to satisfy both of those needs.  Today’s free track, “Philip,” definitely did, as did the album’s opening track, “Hearts Are Broken.”

The track “Wish the Children Would Come On Home” closes the album out.  It’s also the title of the Horvitz songbook tribute album by The Westerlies, an album which has received several recommendations on this site.  Of interest perhaps to no one, my favorite track on Bring Yr Camera is “Our Hands of Water.”  There are times that Horvitz is able to generate the most introspective moods and it creates a palpable serenity that I find absolutely arresting.  It’s one of those too rare instances when I am able to completely submerge myself in a song.

Bobby Previte - "Claude's Late Morning"There are several Horvitz tracks over the course of his discography that have accomplished that for me.  Bobby Previte, who plays drums on this recording, does something similar on his curious 1988 release Claude’s Late Morning.  This album has a similar sound to Horvitz’s The President recordings, which isn’t terribly surprising considering their collaborative efforts… including Claude’s…, which Horvitz contributes to on organ (and also has contributions from Bill Frisell and Carol Emanuel among others).  But a tune like “First Song for Kate” totally reflects that potent contemplative ambiance Horvitz is able to cast.

Anyways, here’s today’s free track.  You can download from the player or go to the Bandcamp site and take care of business there. An additional bonus of downloading from the Bandcamp site is that Horvitz writes little anecdotes for each of the tracks.

Your album personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (keyboards, harmonica, drum programming), Bobby Previte (drums), Elliott Sharp (guitars), Dave Hofstra (electric bass, tuba), Doug Wieselman (tenor saxophone) and Dave Tronzo (slide guitar, national steel guitar).

Released originally in 1988 on the Elektra label, then, later, digitally on Nonesuch Records.

Available at: Amazon

Explore more of Horvitz’s music on his Bandcamp page.

And be sure to read more about the music of Wayne Horvitz on this site.

 

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Sep 9 2015

The Wayne Horvitz free download series: The Four Plus One Ensemble – “From a Window”

 

Wayne Horvitz promoIn honor of his 60th birthday, of which 35 years has been spent recording (and releasing) his music, Wayne Horvitz has announced that he will be giving away a free track once a week for the entire year.  That’s fifty-two songs to add to your library as you begin (or continue) to explore his wonderful catalog.

And me, I’m going to write something about every one of those downloads after each is released.  Now, keep in mind, these tracks will only be free for the week of their release… so be sure to check in here often.  Also, you can stay up to date on the status of these free tracks by following Wayne on his Facebook page and also on Twitter.  He’ll be releasing these tracks each Tuesday.  Today’s new, free track is #2.  At the bottom of this column will be a link to the previous write-up, which gives a lot more background on the project and the music of Wayne Horvitz.

Let’s begin…

 

Wayne Horvitz: The Four Plus One Ensemble – From A Window

Wayne Horvitz - "From a Window"Horvitz’s 4+1 Ensemble is, without a doubt, my favorite project.  It brings together elements of chamber music, modern jazz and some tasteful electronics & effects.  The music is unclassifiable, and it has a very strong presence.  It possesses a perspective that rings with clarity.  The closest thing by way of comparison would be a later Horvitz project, his Gravitas Quartet.  It, like the 4+1 Ensemble, sculpts a heavy serenity out of harmonies and melodies that, when viewed on their own, don’t seem like the building blocks of tranquility.  But they are.

Today’s free track comes from the 2001 release From A Window.  Opening track “Crispin & Lisa’s Duet” gets right to the heart of this music.  Slashing melodic lines from violist Eyvind Kang snap into place with the deep resonance of trombonist Julian Priester.  Meanwhile, you’ve got piano and keyboards and effects contributing both a sharp lyricism and a cloudy ambiance.  The song seems to possess no form, yet, at times, is so undeniably tuneful that a semblance of structure and intent manifests at any number of moments.

This week’s free track is “Sweeter Than the Day”… a composition performed by many of Horvitz’s different ensembles, and, thankfully, each with their own dramatic take.  The 4+1 Ensemble rendition is ethereal and it is sublime.  It has an alluring disposition in the way melodic fragments float enticingly in the center of things as the song seems always on the verge of taking shape… but never quite fully emerging.  On the other hand, “Julian’s Ballad” shows how the ensemble can suddenly coalesce and surge forward, shading sometimes toward a groove and sometimes toward unbounded volatility.

From A Window was the second and final album released by this ensemble.  Their first, the self-titled 4 Plus 1 Ensemble, ranks as my all-time favorite Horvitz recording.  At some point, I’m hoping to see a free track from that recording released as part of this series.  If it is, I’ve got plenty of more to say.  For now, go download and explore… and if it’s something you like, follow one of those retail links at the bottom of the column to take care of business.

Your album personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (piano, keyboards), Reggie Watts (piano, keyboards, vocals), Julian Priester (trombone), Eyvind Kang (violin, viola), Tucker Martine (live electronic processing) and Skerik (baritone sax).

Download the free track by using the embedded audio player above or direct from Horvitz’s Bandcamp page.

Released in 2001 on Avant Records.

Read more about this ensemble on Wayne’s site.

Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon

And here’s A LINK to the inaugural column of this series. It’ll give you some information on Horvitz as well as a rundown of the first featured album.

 

By • Free Music, Jazz Recommendations, The Old Stuff • 0

Sep 5 2015

Free Download: Wayne Horvitz – “Monologue: Twenty Compositions for Dance”

 

Wayne Horvitz promoFor some time, I’ve been wanting to write a series of columns about one of my favorite musicians, Wayne Horvitz.  Aside from the typical scarcity of time, the unexpected problem I encountered was how to present the material.  The question of how to structure a column(s) idea was more troublesome than I realized in the days before I first began this site.  Thankfully, Wayne Horvitz has just provided the method to accomplish this.

In honor of his 60th birthday, of which 35 years has been spent recording (and releasing) his music, Wayne has announced that he will be giving away a free track once a week for the entire year.  That’s fifty-two songs to add to your library as you begin (or continue) to explore his wonderful catalog.  He mentions in the announcement that some of this material was either previously unavailable or released in a limited format, so even if you, like me, have amassed a huge collection of Horvitz’s music to date, there are likely going to be items that we haven’t yet encountered… not to mention those projects which we can rediscover with the spotlight clearing the dust from their surface.

And me, I’m going to write something about every one of those downloads after each is released.  Now, keep in mind, those tracks will only be free for the week of their release… so be sure to check in here often.  Also, you can stay up to date on the status of these free tracks by following Wayne on his Facebook page and also on Twitter.  He’ll be releasing these tracks each Tuesday, so as far as the current free track goes, you have only a couple days to get to it.  So, about that free track…

Let’s begin.

 

Wayne Horvitz – Monologue: Twenty Compositions for Dance

Wayne Horvitz - "Monologue"So much of the music of Wayne Horvitz has a cinematic quality to it, eliciting vibrant, sharp imagery, and voiced with a definitive point of view not unlike the framing of a storyline plot.  Even the casual music listener, once exposed to enough of Horvitz’s music, will begin to recognize his singular form of expressionism.  Horvitz has been involved in a vast array of projects, and many of them manifest with very different sounds, but the more that Horvitz’s fingerprints appear on a particular recording, the easier it becomes to recognize the music as belonging to him.  His solo project resulting in the 1997 release Monologue: Twenty Compositions for Dance definitely fits that bill.

Horvitz has a long history mixing modern jazz, folk, rock, pop and classical with an arsenal of electronics and effects.  It’s remarkable that he’s able to avail himself of so many influences and conjure up a piece that rings with such clarity.  These pieces, even those that behave more as sonic vignettes than they do “songs,” they have very clear lines of definition and are colored and shaded in ways that allow the nuance and detail to shine as brightly as the boldest, broad strokes.

Of great appeal on Monologue is how Horvitz fuses ambient, introspective passages with the harsh, industrial personality of electronics and effects.  Opening track “Shehechianu” gets right to the heart of this approach with its mix of short melodic bursts from piano juxtaposed against the sizzle and burn of electronics.  “Hand Over Fist” also mines this vein, with its free form piano landing squarely against the dissonance of electronic effects… no less active and random than their acoustic counterpart.

The focus on motion is especially evident in tracks like “Brand Spankin’ New,” with its infectious exuberance and playful bounce, as well as tracks like “Duke” and “The Kiss,” which aren’t so much love songs as they are the embodiment of supremely romantic moments spent slowly dancing into the late hours of the night.

Some of the pieces present a single face, allowing one aspect of the music to shine strongest.  “Doo Wop” is all about the contemplative keyboard, of a tranquil place covered with grey skies.  And “Portsmouth Stories” arrives a similar place, but it’s bathed in a cold moonlight.  “Down” is awash in effects, and somehow draws out a melody from within its cloudy exterior.

Monologue presents a curious beauty and a cryptic personality that is slowly revealed over time, but doesn’t create an obstacle to appreciating the former by making the latter quality inaccessible.  For those of you just now becoming acquainted with the music of Wayne Horvitz, it’s a great introduction to both the sound and spirit of this musician, and to those who have been long-time fans, it’s a nice reminder of the compelling nature of his music.

Your album personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (piano, keyboard, harmonica, electronics & effects) and Ed Pias (percussion).

Download the free track by using the embedded audio player above or direct from Horvitz’s Bandcamp page.

Released on Cavity Search Records.

Available at:  eMusic | Bandcamp | CDBaby | Amazon

 

By • Artist Overviews, Free Music, I Listen To All Of This, The Safety Net • 0

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