FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Alanna Stone
alannamaharajh@yahoo.com
917-359-4449
Andy Laster presents Riptide from Tzadik
Release Date: November 16, 2011
“a beautiful CD of lyrical and complex 21st-century chamber music”
John Zorn
Composer and multireedist Andy Laster presents Riptide, his first chamber music release and his first release on the Tzadik label. Laster has previously recorded seven CDs as a composer-performer, forging a highly contrapuntal style that synthesizes elements of early and modern jazz, the downtown New York City improv scene, and western European art music. Riptide is a collection of recent instrumental chamber music, programmed like a recital, with contrasting instrumentation from piece to piece.
Riptide features some of New York City’s most exciting young players, plus more established players like Erik Friedlander, Stephanie Griffin, and Mick Rossi, all of whom Laster has collaborated with since the 1990s. Although the six compositions on the CD are not jazz, three of the pieces (Genk, String Trio No. 1, Movement 2, and Concrete Floor and Sailfish) contain moments of structured improvisation, illuminating Laster’s continued commitment to taking risks and the often-beautiful moments that result, regardless of idiom. The title track is a world premiere performed by pianist Stephen Beck.
Riptide is available via the following sources:
iTunes, ArkivMusic, CD Universe, Amazon, and Tzadik.
Notes on Riptide by Andy Laster
1. Genk (2006)
Ning Yu – piano; Jennifer Choi – violin; Moran Katz – clarinet; Hamilton Berry – cello
Genk (2006) is an aural representation of my state of mind when I was holed up for days in a spartan hotel room in Genk, a town in eastern Belgium, waiting to perform at a jazz festival there. It rained continuously. Genk was originally orchestrated for baritone saxophone, electric bass, and trap set. Since then, I’ve played it with many different ensembles; it works with a wide variety of instrumentations.
2-3. String Trio No. 1 (2010)
*recorded live December 3, 2010, at Roulette, NYC
I. lent et calme
II. très animé
III. majestueusement
Jennifer Choi – violin; Stephanie Griffin – viola; Erik Friedlander – cello
String Trio No. 1 (2010) was written for cellist Erik Friedlander, violist Stephanie Griffin, and violinist Jennifer Choi, all of whom I have previously worked with, in both improvised and nonimprovised settings. My intention was to highlight each player’s virtuosity. The middle movement includes sections of structured improvisation. This work was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center.
4. Riptide (2011)
Stephen Beck – piano
Riptide (2011) for solo piano attempts to capture the emotional and physical qualities of what it would be like to be caught in a riptide: the speed, the loss of control, and the sudden change from pleasure to terror. This performance by Stephen Beck is a world premiere.
5. Concrete Floor and Sailfish (2009)
*recorded live December 3, 2010, at Roulette, NYC
Leo Adamov – violin; Stephanie Griffin – viola; Erik Friedlander – cello; Kermit Driscoll – bass; Moran Katz – clarinet; Mick Rossi – conductor
Concrete Floor and Sailfish (2009) The melodic and harmonic materials of Concrete Floor and Sailfish are purposefully static. Themes do not return, but a timbral motive played by clarinet and violin reappears at key points, in rondolike fashion. It ends with a micro viola concerto, highlighting Stephanie Griffin’s improvisational skills. The Argento Chamber Ensemble premiered Concrete Floor and Sailfish as part of the American Composers Forum (Philadelphia Chapter) New Voices program in April 2009.
6-7. Flagella (2001)
I. mystérieuse
II. très agité
Eliran Avni – piano; Jennifer Choi – violin; Moran Katz – clarinet; Hamilton Berry – cello
Flagella (2001) is based on Piero della Francesca’s fifteenth-century painting “The Flagellation.” For centuries, “The Flagellation” has puzzled viewers because of its unusual diptych structure and mysterious symmetries. The two movements of Flagella are interpretations of the narratives of the two halves of the painting.
8. Territories (2008)
*recorded live December 3, 2010, at Roulette, NYC
Leo Adamov – violin; Jennifer Choi – violin; Stephanie Griffin – viola; Erik Friedlander – cello
Territories (2008) has a narrative of success yet is constructed of contrasting and seemingly discontinuous blocks of sound. The theme of success is introduced near the work’s middle and fully emerges at its conclusion. The Momenta Quartet premiered Territories at Advent Lutheran Church, NYC, in May 2008.
Andy Laster, alto/baritone saxophonist, clarinetist & composer
Composer and multireedist Andy Laster was born in 1961 and grew up on the south shore of Long Island. He studied short fiction writing at the University of Michigan and jazz at Seattle’s Cornish Institute before moving to New York City in 1985. His first recording, “Hippo Stomp,” appeared on the Sound Aspects label in 1989. This album was followed by two more Sound Aspects releases, “Twirler” and the first eponymously named CD by Hydra, one of Laster’s key ongoing projects in the 1990s. “Interpretations of Lessness,” based on a poem by Samuel Beckett, was released in 1997 and was named one of the year’s top ten jazz recordings by Billboard Magazine. “Window Silver Bright” was released in 2002, with an expanded version of his Lessness ensemble. While leading these two groups, Laster contributed to collaborative ensembles Orange Then Blue and New and Used, as well as performed in Erik Friedlander’s Topaz; the Julius Hemphill Sextet; the Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet; Bobby Previte's Weather Clear, Track Fast; and Matt Darriau’s Ballin’ the Jack. He has also performed with Mark Helias, Hank Roberts’ Birds of Prey, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, Marty Ehrlich, Dave Douglas, Elliot Sharp, Roy Nathanson, Satoko Fujii Orchestra, and Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra.
Laster’s chamber music has been premiered at New York City venues including Advent Lutheran Church, the Cornelia Street Café, and Roulette. He has been awarded residencies at the Blue Mountain Center and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. He wrote incidental music for the play “Cast a Spell” by Traci Parks, which was performed at HERE Arts Center. In 2010, his piece Concrete Floor and Sailfish was selected as part of the American Composer Forum, Philadelphia Chapter, New Voices program and was premiered by Argento Chamber Ensemble. He has also received grants from the American Music Center, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and Meet the Composer.