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npo trio
Meg Okura, Sam Newsome, Jean-Mihel Pilc
jean-michel pilc   sam newsome   meg okura

"a captivating hour-long set of music....the three musicians have an instantly-apparent rapport, with a synthetic vision that provides impressive cohesion and focus, despite the fully-improvised nature of the performance.  ...an album that offers such an inventive, expansive approach to music-making."

- Troy Dostert, ALL ABOUT JAZZ

THE BEST JAZZ ON BANDCAMP:

March 2018

Following the 2017 release of the duo album by Sam Newsome and Jean-Michel Pilc"Magic Circle", the duo meets an addition, Meg Okura on the violin,  multiplying its dimensions and taking it to other places! This debut album is a live recording from a concert by the trio at the STONE in East Village during the week of Meg Okura's residency in April of 2016. The music is improvisational, yet you will hear hints of familiar melodies including well-known Yiddish songs and even Coltrane.
NPO TRIO LIVE AT THE STONE
CHANT RECORDS
MEG OKURA, violin & electric violin
SAM NEWSOME, soprano saxophone

JEAN-MICHEL PILC, piano

Recorded live by Blaise Dupuy

Mixed and Mastered by Alfonso Almiñana at Audiomagic (Valencia, Spain) www.audiomagic.es

Cover art by Meg Okura

  1. A Four Forty (5:58)

  2. Bells, Whistles and Sirens (5:01)

  3. Oyfn Pripetchik-ish (7:17)

  4. Travels (6:26)

  5. Exodus and Emancipation (8:48)

  6. Pleading (5:38)

  7. Unkind Gestures (6:54)

  8. Yiddish Mama No Tsuki (18:54)

LINER NOTES

    

     Live at The Stone was recorded at an April 2016 concert by the NPO Trio led by Meg Okura during her residency at the Stone in East Village. The entire concert consisted of three extensive improvisational parts. The first part, which continues for 38 minutes, is divided into 6 shorter, individually titled segments for the purpose of this album.

     The melody often quoted during these first six tracks is Oyfn Pripetchik, a famous Yiddish song by Mark Warshawsky (1848–1907). The song is about a rabbi teaching his children about the value of education and perseverance. It also mentions exodus, reminding us of the sacrifices made by our ancestors, which allows us the freedom we have today.

     Track 7, “Unkind Gestures”, is a shorter improvisation. The series of notes played as a run were derived from Coltrane’s Giant Steps. The trio, however, pays tribute to these notes without regard to the original chord changes or rhythm.

     Track 8, “Yiddish Mama No Tsuki”, is derived from two similar melodies taken from two very different cultures: Jewish and Japanese. My Yiddish Mama and Kojo No Tsuki, both very famous songs, are first played by Okura as a virtuosic cadenza, then followed by an Argentinian Tango feel. It turns into a series of group improvisations and eventually adopts a swing feel to end the concert.

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