Release-Highlights in Oktober 2021 4 Items

Altercat proudly presents the definitive reissue of one of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz's leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked Lopez Ruiz's departure from the traditional forms of jazz. The trio that recorded this album, consisting of López Ruiz joined by his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro, created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz's long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title (in English: 'Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate') readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.

180g vinyl, half speed mastered, heavy sleeve, obi, liner notes, sticker. We Release Jazz is very happy to announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui’s only solo piano al-bum, recorded live, June 4-5, 1994 at The Lutheran Hall in Sapporo. Sourced from the original mas-ters, this intimate offering from the Japanese jazz legend is available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD. Both formats come with liner notes by Yusuke Ogawa. Originally released on CD only by Sapporo Jazz Create in 1994, My Favorite Tune is a beautiful bop adventure which includes two superb compositions that Ryo Fukui wrote as an homage to his belo-ved Hokkaido region, the fan-favorite “Nord” and “Voyage", a tribute to his mentor Barry Harris ("No-body’s"), alternate versions of his mega classics “Scenery” and “Mellow Dream", and, last but not least, bewitching takes on timeless gems by Sonny Clark and Avery Parrish. My Favorite Tune plays like a cool summer night, full of contemplative notes and deep feelings, with Ryo Fukui baring his heart on the piano and displaying the soulful sophistication he is loved for. A true masterpiece completing his amazing discography. Points of interests - For fans of jazz, soul jazz, modal, hard bop, piano, Japanese jazz, Hokkaido, Scenery, cool sum-mer nights and intimate piano moments. - Official reissue of the only solo piano album by legendary Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui. - 11th release from We Release Jazz, notably following Hiroshi Suzuki’s Cat, Ryo Fukui’s Scenery and Mellow Dream, the soundtrack of Le Cercle Rouge by Eric Demarsan, and Marc Moulin’s Pla-cebo Live 1971. We Release Jazz is the sister-label of Geneva-based Wrwtfww Records.

This album is an assemblage… …glimpses of tradition …reflections on our collective present …luminous echoes between love and solitude. hope and absurdity. euphoria and mourning.

This album grapples with and transgresses these binaries because we have/and continue to cross borders. Yet, for us, the border is no metaphor—too much real staring back at us.

We embody the border. We (our families) have crossed it. We (our stories) are coated with its residues. And so… we cross the border of self through our art—out of necessity.

This album was imagined while touring the country as families were corralled in cages. We then fled the wildfire of a nascent pandemic poised to (especially) ravage our communities as we recorded in Los Angeles. And our sonic journey concluded in Chicago while the country rebelled against the murderous consequences of policing in the U.S.

Through this cascade of tipping points and tragedy, we summoned melody and verse to sound out verdant technicolor dreams of freedom and desire, mirroring the vortex of our time.

And borders were at the center of these struggles. Borders—of nation, of belonging—are the struggle.

And so, this album is a set of dispatches from that wondrous journey… …our journey across and into a sunburst surreal. …our astral meditations on loss and triumph. …our sonic trek across a landscape of trauma and effervescence.

…The border divides and defines places—yes. But it is equally a place unto itself—a borderland. It is the forbidden place where we dwell. The enchanting space where we are at home. The bustling city where we reflect. Look into our mirror. See us in you.

What were they up to? Nobody could tell—not even them. Bremer/McCoy recorded straight to tape so that they had as little time as possible to think about it. They just laid it down. They couldn’t really explain it.

“When it works for me,” says pianist Morten McCoy, “it’s pure meditation, pure prayer. Pure gratitude for simply being, without all kinds of jibber-jabber filling my thoughts.” A sentiment that tells you everything about the feeling and nothing about the sound.

McCoy and the bassist Jonathan Bremer started making music together back in 2012 when they were still in school. At first the Danish duo played dub. It’s hard to imagine that that’s how they started when you listen to the ethereal sounds they make now, but the influence becomes clearer when you see them live: they insist on traveling with their own sound system.

For Bremer/McCoy, making music is all about what happens in the room. That’s why they go through the trouble of carrying their own equipment, and it’s why they record analog. When they write music, they aim for direct transmission—idea straight to composition.

Natten, which means “The Night” in Danish, draws inspiration from the end of day, that regenerative time under the constellations when our lives look different. “We felt a greater freedom this time around because we now have a much deeper understanding and grounding in what we’re doing,” says Bremer. “This allows us to venture further out than ever before, because we know that things typically fall into place.”