On their second ECM duo album Romanian pianist Lucian Ban and US violist Mat Maneri find fresh inspiration as they follow the trail of Béla Bartók, revisiting the folk music that spurred the imagination of the great Hungarian composer who, in the early 20th century, collected and transcribed numerous pieces from Transylvania. For the duo these songs have become “springboards and sources of melodic material” for arrangements “that capture the spirit of the original yet allow us to improvise and bring our own world to them. If you go deeper into the source material, new vistas open up. These folk songs teach us many things.” (Steve Lake, album liner notes). Recorded live in October 2022 in the context of the Retracing Bartók project in Timișoara, these performances also bear testimony to the finely attuned understanding that Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri have achieved in their long-running musical partnership.

Called “A name to watch" by The Guardian and “one of the most gifted pianists to move to New York" (B. Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery), Lucian Ban is a Transylvanian born, NYC based pianist & composer known for his amalgamations of Transylvanian folk with improvisation, for his mining of 20th Century European classical music with jazz, and for his pursue of a modern chamber jazz ideal. His music has been described as “emotionally ravishing" (Nate Chinen, New York Times/WBGO), a “triumph of emotional and musical communication" (All About Jazz), “Unorthodox but mesmeringly beautiful" (The Guardian) and as holding an “alluring timelessness and strong life-force" (Downbeat Magazine). Lucian Ban has released 20 albums under his name for labels such as ECM, Sunnyside Records, CIMP, Clean Feed featuring a wide array of ensembles and some of the most important jazz musicians of today.

Violist and composer Mat Maneri is a master of improvisation. He follows in the footsteps of stellar improvisers Paul Bley and Paul Motian with a sound that is distinctly his own and developed over years of discovery and practice. Considered as one of the original and compelling musicians of exploratory music, Maneri has collaborated with countless musicians including Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Lucian Ban, and Craig Taborn, among others. Pianist Matt Shipp called him “one of the five greatest improvisers on the planet.”

The evolution of Maneri’s remarkable and individual sound began with his initial forays into classical violin. His discovery of Baroque music and his explorations of modern classical and improvisation led him to develop his own practices. Through the influence of his father, woodwind player and educator Joe Maneri, he was able to find a way of vocalizing on the violin or viola in his own unique manner, channeling Ben Webster and Miles Davis.

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells:

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells is an American electric bassist, sound sculptor, and experimental music artist. He is a pioneering figure in the world of free jazz and improvised music, with a career spanning over four decades. In the 1970s, Wells played with the seminal German band Embryo, solidifying his presence in the avant-garde music scene. Over the years he has collaborated with prominent experimental musicians like Bob Belden, Jaron Lanier, Tony Scott, and Karl Berger, and was a founding member of the improvising band Machine Gun. Wells also founded the Meeting Interdisciplinary Arts Festival in Stockholm, Sweden. Born on October 13, 1958 in Tacoma, Washington USA and raised in southern Germany. He moved to New York in 1978, where he attended Tulane University in New Orleans, performing with local jazz and rhythm and blues musicians. He also studied with Richard Payne and discovered the music of Harry Partch. In 1980, he returned to New York and began work-study with saxophonist Ken Simon, meeting Anthony Braxton and studying his music.

Jair-Rohm is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of musical expression. His artistic pursuits encompass various paths, including the Chapman Stick, computer aided composition and ambisonic mixing. Notably, he was in residence at EMS in Stockholm in 2017, where he embarked on composing his avant-garde music opera, #blacbuc, using the Buchla and Serge modular systems.

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