Larsen / Sakakeeny / Oberlin Contemporary Music - Full Moon in the City - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Chaucer's world in words and music. The lively and colourful world of Chaucer's pilgrims is captured in extracts from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, intermingled with atmospheric music of the period songs, dances and instrumental pieces complement the compelling rhythmical language of the master poet.

Dance, dance, dance! This music will have you moving in no time, it's infectious good humour blowing away all the cobwebs. We may not all be TV stars, but we can all still enjoy the style and rhythm of this great music. Evocative titles and a fast paced music bring the sounds and scents of the real Cuba to life.

With his extensive artistic biography, Michael Formanek is one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary jazz - as a composer, as a bassist in ensembles, and as a soloist. In this formation, he brings together musicians who are among the most original and articulate voices in American and European jazz innovation. When Formanek envisioned this new ensemble, he started by asking the brilliant Alexander Hawkins to join him, with the specific plan to seat him behind a Hammond B3. He then summoned his long-time partners in Thumbscrew - Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara - then completed the mix with a triplet of adventurous horn players - John O'Gallagher, Chet Doxas and João Almeida. InchFrom beginning to end, New Digs is a stunning display of Formanek's engaging writing, exploring an array of different musical ambiences, often diving the group into small units that follow their own path - conscious of being in a bigger picture, but almost independent of each otherInch, writes Gonçalo Frota in the liner notes and adds InchImaginative and versatile as ever, this is Michael Formanek at the top of his gameInch.